Riff Tone

Is This Love (2017 Remaster)

Whitesnake

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson Les Paul Custom (John Sykes, 1978 Black Beauty, likely used for clean parts on 1987 album)

AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ Head (studio recording, 1986-1987)

PickupsStock Gibson humbuckers (likely T-Top or Tim Shaw era, passive, covered)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass6

mid6

treble6.5

reverb3.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

chorusUnknown Chorus rack unit (model unknown, likely Roland Dimension D or similar)

Notes

Studio recording for 'Is This Love' (1987, 2017 Remaster is a remaster of this). John Sykes played all guitars on the original recording. Clean tone is likely the Les Paul into a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ with rack chorus. No evidence of Steve Vai or Adrian Vandenberg on the original studio track. Effects are rack-based, not stompboxes. No evidence of live rig or alternate guitars for the studio clean riff.

Tone Character(10)

lush and spaciouscrystal-clear cleanwarm and rounded lowssparkling highssmooth sustainslightly compressed attackshimmering chorus modulationstudio-polished clarityno audible breakupnot brittle or harsh

Difficulty

The clean riff is accessible to most players but requires careful dynamics and muting to achieve the studio-polished, chorus-laden sound. The main challenge is maintaining clarity and timing with the lush effects.