Solo Tone

Smoke on the Water

Deep Purple

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Stratocaster (early 1970s, likely 1968-1971 model, maple neck, stock single coils)

AmpMarshall Major 200W head (model 1967), 4x12 Marshall cabinets

PickupsFender single-coil pickups (stock Stratocaster, late '60s/early '70s)

Amp Settings

gain6

bass7.5

mid7

treble4.5

reverb2.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

boostHornby-Skewes Hornby-Skewes Treble Booster

Notes

Studio recording, 1971-1972. Ritchie Blackmore used a Stratocaster with a Hornby-Skewes Treble Booster into a Marshall Major head. No other pedals confirmed for the solo. Settings are from studio context, not live.

Tone Character(10)

singing sustainfat and saturatedbiting upper midsclassic British crunchslightly compressed attackdynamic pick responseclear note separationharmonic overtonesnot overly scoopedtouch-sensitive

Difficulty

The solo requires intermediate to advanced control of pentatonic licks, expressive bends, and dynamic picking, but does not involve extreme speed or complex techniques beyond classic rock vocabulary.

Sources

Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water | Wiki @ Ultimate-Guitar.com Ritchie Blackmore on Deep Purple and his Rainbow revival The Melodic Side of Ritchie Blackmore - Premier Guitar

This tone has been researched 11 times by the community

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