Riff Tone

Retard Girl

Hole

Guitarpunk1990s

Original Gear

GuitarUnknown (likely Fender Mustang or Fender Stratocaster, based on era and Courtney Love's known gear at the time)

AmpUnknown (likely Marshall JCM800 or similar high-gain amp, based on 1990s punk/grunge studio standards)

PickupsSingle-coil (likely stock Fender pickups, model unknown)

Amp Settings

gain7

bass6

mid7

treble6.5

reverb1.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

distortionUnknown Distortion pedal (model unknown)

Notes

Studio recording, 1990/1991. No direct evidence for exact guitar or amp model for 'Retard Girl' riff section. Gear inferred from era, genre, and known band equipment for early Hole recordings.

Tone Character(10)

raw and abrasivemid-heavy and cuttingaggressive, saturated fuzzlo-fi, noisy texturepercussive and chaoticslightly scooped but not thinunpolished and feedback-pronewall-of-sound rhythmnotably little clarity or definitionpunk-inspired attack

Difficulty

The riff is straightforward in terms of chord shapes and rhythm, but requires aggressive, consistent strumming and the ability to control feedback and noise from a high-gain, lo-fi setup.

Sources

Some recurrent themes in Hole songs part 2 : r/hole Your opinions on Pretty on the Inside by Hole? : r/grunge The Defining Guitarists and Gear of '90s Hardcore Punk - Reverb

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account