Riff Tone

Mississippi Queen

Mountain

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson Les Paul Junior (late 1950s, single P-90 pickup)

AmpSunn Coliseum PA head (KT88 tubes) into Sunn 4x12 cabinet with Eminence speakers

PickupsGibson P-90 single coil (bridge position)

Amp Settings

gain8

bass8.5

mid5

treble5.5

reverb0

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1970. No pedals or stompboxes used on the original recording. Amp was a tube PA head, cranked for distortion. No evidence of effects loop or outboard effects. All tone from guitar and amp. Settings from Leslie West interview.

Tone Character(10)

big, thick milkshakerich and chocolateydense, heavy guitar tonemonstrous explosive punchy toneBritish crunchaggressive bridge pickuptight, percussive attacksinging sustainfull-bodied midrangeraw, uncompressed power

Difficulty

The riff is iconic and requires a strong sense of timing, aggressive picking, and dynamic control, but does not involve advanced technical techniques or fast runs.

Sources

Interview: Leslie West Discusses Tone, Offers Advice, Answers Readers' Questions | Guitar World Mississippi Queen Tone | The Gear Page Leslie West | Equipboard The 25 greatest classic rock guitar tones of all time | Guitar World What pedal sounds like Mountain's Mississippi Queen tone - Reddit

This tone has been researched 7 times by the community

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