GuitarDistortedRiff
Last Riff Guitar Tone Settings — Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails · 1990s · metal
studio
Original Recording
Guitar
1990s Gibson Les Paul Standard (likely, based on era and studio gear at Sonic Ranch)
Pickups
Gibson humbuckers (likely 490R/498T or similar, stock for Les Paul Standard of the era)
Amp
Diezel VH4 (studio recording, Downward Spiral era)
Pickup Position
Bridge pickup
Studio recording, 1993; gear sourced from Sonic Ranch studio collection. Guitarist did not bring his own guitar/amp; used studio Les Paul and Diezel VH4. No direct evidence of live rig for this song's original recording.
Amp Settings
Mids5
Bass6
Gain8.5
Reverb1
Treble7
Presence6.5
Effects Chain
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (or similar Muff-style fuzz) · fuzz
- Fender Blender (or similar octave/fuzz, possibly stacked) · fuzz
Guitar → Big Muff Pi/Fender Blender (fuzz) → Diezel VH4 (room reverb low)
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Tone Character
- tight, grinding, and percussive
- compressed and saturated
- brassy, edgy fuzziness
- dense, harmonically rich distortion
- aggressive palm muting
- industrial metal wall of sound
- mid-gain crunch stacked with fuzz
- percussive attack
- slightly scooped but present mids
- high output, focused low end