Is This Love Riff Guitar Tone Settings — Whitesnake
Whitesnake · 1980s · rock
studio
Original Recording
Studio recording, 1987. John Sykes used his Gibson Les Paul Standard through a Mesa Boogie Mark III Coliseum amp during the recording of 'Is This Love'.
Amp Settings
Effects Chain
- Chorus pedal (model unknown) · chorus
- Delay pedal (model unknown) · delay
- Reverb pedal (model unknown) · reverb
Guitar → Chorus pedal → Delay pedal → Reverb pedal → Mesa Boogie Mark III Coliseum
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Tone Character
- warm and smooth
- singing sustain
- touch-sensitive dynamics
- melodic phrasing
- expressive bends
Playing Technique
- Let upper chord voices remain audible · difficulty 3/5Fret each shape close to the wire and use only enough pressure for a clean note. The part depends on harmony inside the distortion; squeezing too hard or flattening the pick angle makes the voicing sound like one block.
- Use a measured chord attack · difficulty 2/5Strike through the strings with a medium stroke instead of a hard metal downstroke. The gain should add bloom after the attack, leaving room for the vocal rather than creating a sharp transient on every change.
- Give fills slow, controlled vibrato · difficulty 3/5When a sustained note answers the vocal, move the string from the wrist and return to pitch evenly. Fast, narrow vibrato loses the broad 1980s melodic character and can sound nervous over the ambience.
- Mute the low strings between changes · difficulty 3/5Release the fretting hand and settle the picking palm as chords end. Reverb and gain extend every mistake, so a clean stop keeps the next harmony large instead of muddy.
Sources
Tone Story / Why This Tone Works
- Style and eraIs This Love belongs to Whitesnake's polished 1987 breakthrough, where blues-based hard rock was reshaped into a widescreen power ballad.
- John Sykes's voiceSykes recorded the album's guitars with a thick humbucker sound, controlled vibrato, and singing sustain, although a later lineup appeared in the videos.
- Why moderate gain mattersThe riff needs enough saturation to smooth chord edges and hold melodic fills, but not so much that keyboards and layered vocals lose their space.
- Why it worksWarm mids and long sustain give the ballad weight while clear chord changes preserve its intimate pacing and pull toward the chorus.
What Fans Are Saying About This Tone?
A current fan called it the perfect soundtrack for a night drive.
Vote your takeOne listener tied the song to a high-school romance that became a decades-long marriage.
Vote your takeFans still use the track as shorthand for wanting the sound and feeling of the 1980s back.
Vote your takeFor some couples, the ballad became a lifelong song carrying both love and loss.
Vote your takeAnother highly liked reaction described the performance as timeless and impossible to manufacture.
Vote your take