Riff Tone

Hotel California (Live at the Los Angeles Forum, 10/20-22/76)

Eagles

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

Guitar1970s Gibson Les Paul (Don Felder, main riff live version)

AmpFender Deluxe Reverb (5E3 circuit, cranked, live 1976)

PickupsGibson PAF-style humbuckers

Amp Settings

gain5

bass6

mid7

treble6.5

reverb3.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Live at the Los Angeles Forum, October 1976. Don Felder played the main riff on a Gibson Les Paul through a Fender Deluxe Reverb. This is the live version, not the studio recording. No confirmed pedal use for the riff section; amp is cranked for natural breakup.

Tone Character(10)

warm and smoothslightly overdrivenrich midrangeclear and articulatetouch-sensitivedynamic responseclassic 1970s rock crunchsmooth sustainnot heavily saturatedamp-driven breakup

Difficulty

The riff requires intermediate skill due to its arpeggiated picking, clean chord transitions, and the need for dynamic control to achieve the touch-sensitive amp-driven tone.

Sources

Eagles – Hotel California (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition) - Gear & Equipment Used on the Album | Equipboard Hotel california last guitar solo - forum topic | Ultimate Guitar The Eagles Announce 40th Anniversary 'Hotel California' Deluxe Reissue | Guitar World

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