Solo Tone

The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney)

Michael Jackson

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Stratocaster (Steve Lukather's main studio guitar, 1982 Thriller sessions)

AmpFender Twin Reverb (commonly used by Steve Lukather for clean studio tones in early 1980s, no evidence of Marshall or high-gain amp for this part)

PickupsFender single-coil pickups (stock Stratocaster configuration, likely neck or neck+middle position for clean tone)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass5.5

mid5.5

treble7

reverb4

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, April 1982 at Westlake Studios, Los Angeles. Steve Lukather credited for guitar on this track. No evidence of live performance gear or alternate guitars for the solo section. Gear inferred from Lukather's known Thriller session rig and era-appropriate studio practices.

Tone Character(10)

crystal-clear and cleanwarm and roundedbright and articulate highssmooth and dynamic responsesubtle spring reverb ambiencestudio-polished clarityno audible distortionno modulation effectssoft attackslightly compressed, even sustain

Difficulty

The solo is technically straightforward but demands clean execution, dynamic sensitivity, and precise articulation to match the polished studio sound.

Sources

The Girl Is Mine - Wikipedia "The Girl Is Mine" session • March - April 1982 • The Paul McCartney Project

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