Riff Tone

Tarot Woman

Rainbow

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

Guitar1974 Fender Stratocaster (Rosewood fretboard, scalloped neck, stock single coils)

AmpMarshall Major 200W head (model 1967/1968, EL34s, 4x12 cabinet, likely Celestion speakers)

PickupsFender single-coil pickups (stock 1970s Stratocaster)

Amp Settings

gain6.5

bass6

mid7

treble7

reverb1.5

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1976. Ritchie Blackmore's main studio setup for Rainbow's 'Rising' album. No evidence of pedal use for the riff section; Blackmore was known for plugging straight into the amp for rhythm/riff parts during this era.

Tone Character(10)

bright and mid-forwardtight palm-muted chugsarticulate attackcontrolled gainmoderate bass for clarityclassic British crunchpercussive and dynamicclear note separationnot overly saturatedresponsive to picking dynamics

Difficulty

The riff demands tight palm muting, precise rhythm, and dynamic picking to maintain clarity and drive, making it moderately challenging for intermediate players.

Sources

Ritchie Blackmore's 'Tarot Woman' Riff Is Only Three Power ...Let's talk about 70s Rainbow albums : r/LetsTalkMusic

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