Riff Tone
Riders On the Storm
The Doors
Guitarrock1970s
Original Gear
Guitar1967 Gibson SG Standard
AmpFender Twin Reverb (blackface, with JBL speakers, studio recording)
PickupsGibson PAF-style humbuckers (original spec, not P90s on this model/year)
Amp Settings
gain3
bass6
mid6.5
treble6
reverb7
presence5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1970/1971 for L.A. Woman. Krieger used his 1967 SG Standard into a Fender Twin Reverb with onboard spring reverb and tremolo. No evidence of distortion/fuzz pedals on the original studio riff section; all gain from amp. Effects are amp-based. Live setups and later years sometimes differ.
Tone Character(10)
lush and atmosphericwarm and smoothslightly compressedmodulated by amp tremolorich spring reverb washclear note separationmild amp breakup (edge-of-clean)fingerstyle articulationsubtle, not aggressiveambient, haunting
Difficulty
The riff is technically straightforward but requires nuanced fingerstyle playing, control of dynamics, and sensitivity to the amp's tremolo and reverb for authentic tone.
Sources
Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear
Create Free AccountGuitarrock1970s
Original Gear
Guitar1967 Gibson SG Standard
AmpFender Twin Reverb (blackface, with JBL speakers, studio recording)
PickupsGibson PAF-style humbuckers (original spec, not P90s on this model/year)
Amp Settings
gain3
bass6
mid6.5
treble6
reverb7
presence5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1970/1971 for L.A. Woman. Krieger used his 1967 SG Standard into a Fender Twin Reverb with onboard spring reverb and tremolo. No evidence of distortion/fuzz pedals on the original studio riff section; all gain from amp. Effects are amp-based. Live setups and later years sometimes differ.
Tone Character(10)
lush and atmosphericwarm and smoothslightly compressedmodulated by amp tremolorich spring reverb washclear note separationmild amp breakup (edge-of-clean)fingerstyle articulationsubtle, not aggressiveambient, haunting
Difficulty
The riff is technically straightforward but requires nuanced fingerstyle playing, control of dynamics, and sensitivity to the amp's tremolo and reverb for authentic tone.
More The Doors tones
- People Are Strange · riff
- Roadhouse Blues · riff
- Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) · riff
- Break On Through (To the Other Side) · riff
- Cars Hiss By My Window · riff
- Gloria (Live) [2007 Remaster] · riff
- Gloria (Live) [2007 Remaster] · solo
- Gorgeous Kanye · riff
- Hello, I Love You · riff
- L.A. Woman · riff