Riff Tone

My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

Guitar1953 Gibson Les Paul 'Old Black' (heavily modified, Bigsby vibrato, Firebird mini-humbucker in bridge, P-90 in neck)

Amp1959 Fender Tweed Deluxe (5E3 circuit, with Whizzer remote control device)

PickupsBridge: Firebird mini-humbucker (Gibson), Neck: P-90 (Gibson)

Amp Settings

gain6

bass6.5

mid7

treble6.5

reverb1

presence5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1978 (Rust Never Sleeps sessions). Neil Young's 'Old Black' Les Paul into his 1959 Fender Tweed Deluxe, with the Whizzer device to control amp settings. No evidence of additional pedals or effects on the riff section; tone is amp-driven. No effects loop. All sources point to this being the canonical setup for this song and era.

Tone Character(10)

gritty and earthywarm, vintage crunchdynamic and touch-sensitiveraw and expressivegarage rock aestheticbrutal and batteredlegendary gritty tonesotherworldly low end fuzzthick, saturated midrangeresponsive to picking dynamics

Difficulty

The riff is rhythmically straightforward but requires aggressive strumming and dynamic control to achieve the signature crunch and expressiveness. The challenge lies in controlling the amp's touch sensitivity and avoiding muddiness at high gain.

Sources

Neil Young's guitar rig: from Old Black to his Fender Deluxe | Guitar World The 25 greatest classic rock guitar tones of all time | Guitar World Hey Hey My My, by Neil Young. How do I find that tone? - Reddit Crazy Horse Members, Gear & Sound | Equipboard Crazy Horse & Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps - Gear & Equipment Used on the Album | Equipboard

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