Riff Tone

What's My Age Again?

blink-182

Guitarpunk1990s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Stratocaster (likely American Standard, late 90s, maple neck, stock single coil pickups)

AmpMesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier (set clean, studio recording, 1999)

PickupsFender single coil (stock Strat pickups, late 90s)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass6

mid6

treble7

reverb1.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording for 'Enema of the State' (1999). Tom DeLonge used a Fender Stratocaster for the clean riff sections, plugged into a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier set to a clean channel. No pedals or additional effects confirmed for the clean riff. This is based on multiple interviews and gear rundowns for the album era, but explicit studio settings for the clean part are not published.

Tone Character(10)

bright and articulateglassy single coil claritytight and percussive attackminimal sustainno audible overdrive or breakupslightly scooped mids but not thinsnappy, staccato pickingvery little reverb or ambiencepresent but not harsh treblefocused, punchy clean sound

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, accurate alternate picking and string skipping to maintain clarity at tempo, but does not involve advanced techniques beyond this.

Sources

Trying to recreate the Whats My Age Again guitar tone for a ...How to sound like blink-182 on the guitar? : r/Blink182 Thomas DeLonge's Guitar Gear Did Tom use a footswitch or a Distortion pedal when ...

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