GuitarDistortedRiff
Keep Me Riff Guitar Tone Settings — The Black Keys
The Black Keys · 2000s · blues
studio
Original Recording
Guitar
Harmony H78 (vintage, semi-hollow, 3 gold foil pickups, 1960s)
Pickups
DeArmond Gold Foil single coils (original, 1960s, wired in series/parallel options)
Amp
Fender Silverface Twin Reverb (early 1970s, studio recording)
Pickup Position
Neck pickup (DeArmond Gold Foil, Harmony H78)
Studio recording for 'Keep Me' (2003, Thickfreakness album). Dan Auerbach was known to use a Harmony H78 into a cranked Fender Twin Reverb for early Black Keys recordings. No evidence of live/touring rig for this song. Gear confirmed by multiple rig rundowns and interviews for this era.
Amp Settings
Mids6
Bass6.5
Gain6.5
Reverb2
Treble6.5
Presence5
Effects Chain
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (likely Russian or NYC reissue, era-correct) · fuzz
Harmony H78 (neck pickup) → Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi → Fender Twin Reverb (spring reverb low)
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Tone Character
- fat and saturated
- lo-fi and gritty
- thick, woolly midrange
- raw garage rock edge
- slightly compressed attack
- harmonically rich fuzz
- pushed tube amp breakup
- touch-sensitive dynamics
- loose, saggy low end
- aggressive, biting top end