Riff Tone

Jumpin' Jack Flash

The Rolling Stones

Guitarrock1960s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson Hummingbird (acoustic, standard tuning, Nashville tuning overdub)

AmpPhillips or Norelco portable cassette recorder (used as amplifier, overloaded mic preamp)

PickupsPiezo (acoustic, no magnetic pickups on original studio riff track)

Amp Settings

gain6

bass5.5

mid6.5

treble7

reverb0

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1968. The main riff was tracked with a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic (open E or open D with capo), compressed and overdriven via a cassette recorder mic preamp. A second acoustic in Nashville tuning was overdubbed. No electric guitar or traditional amp was used for the main riff. Live versions used electric guitars and amps, but this is not relevant for the studio riff tone.

Tone Character(10)

compressed and saturatedmidrange-forwardpercussive and bitinglo-fi crunchbright and cuttingtight, punchy rhythmslightly fuzzyno ambience or reverbraw, aggressive attackdistinctly acoustic timbre with electric-like distortion

Difficulty

The riff is rhythmically straightforward but requires familiarity with open tunings, tight percussive strumming, and blending two acoustic guitar parts for the signature sound.

Sources

Keith Richards' guitars: his classic Rolling Stones gear | Guitar World Stop...Smell the Tone Roses - Premier Guitar Keith Richards' Guitars, Gear & Amps | Equipboard

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account