Riff Tone

Risk It All

Bruno Mars

Guitarrock2010s+

Original Gear

GuitarCollings I-35

AmpUnknown (studio amp not specified, likely boutique clean/edge-of-breakup combo)

PickupsLollar Imperial Humbuckers

Amp Settings

gain4

bass6

mid6.5

treble6.5

reverb3

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 2024. Guitar confirmed as Collings I-35 (gifted to Chris Payton by Bruno Mars, used in studio context per MusicRadar). No explicit amp or pedalboard details for this song/section. No live rig info relevant.

Tone Character(10)

warm and smooth midrangeslightly compressed attackarticulate and clear note separationtouch-sensitive crunchvintage-inspired edgemild breakupdynamic response to pickingstudio-polished claritynot heavily saturatedsemi-hollowbody resonance

Difficulty

The riff requires intermediate-level rhythmic precision, dynamic control to maintain clarity in a semi-crunch tone, and clean muting for articulation, but does not involve advanced lead techniques or high speed.

Sources

"I picked up the acoustic guitar and noodled around, and Bruno was freestyling and singing along. That started the whole idea, and we were like, 'OK, this is where we go'": Why Bruno Mars' new single Risk It All could have ended up sounding very different | MusicRadar

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account