Riff Tone

Little Black Submarines

The Black Keys

Guitarrock2010s+

Original Gear

GuitarGibson Les Paul Standard

AmpMagnatone (model unspecified, likely Twilighter or similar vintage model)

PickupsHumbuckers (likely stock Gibson Burstbuckers or PAF-style)

Amp Settings

gain5

bass6.5

mid7

treble6.5

reverb2.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording for 'Little Black Submarines' riff section, from the 2011 album 'El Camino'. Gear confirmed for studio use; live setups may differ. No explicit pedal use for the riff section; core tone is guitar straight into amp.

Tone Character(10)

warm and richedge-of-breakup crunchtouch-sensitiveslightly grittyopen and dynamicvintage amp characterfull-bodiedarticulate chord definitionclassic American pop-rock influenceminimal pedal coloration

Difficulty

The riff requires moderate control of dynamics and articulation, with some subtlety in picking and muting, but no advanced techniques or fast passages.

Sources

Little Black Submarines Tone and Amp Settings Resource Interview: Guitarist Dan Auerbach Discusses Gear, Influences and the Latest Black Keys Album, 'El Camino'

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account