GuitarDistortedRiff
(Oh) Pretty Woman Riff Guitar Tone Settings — Van Halen
Van Halen · 1980s · rock
studio
Original Recording
Guitar
Frankenstrat (custom-built Strat-style, maple neck, single humbucker, Floyd Rose tremolo)
Pickups
Seymour Duncan Custom PAF-style humbucker (bridge position, wax-potted, high output)
Amp
Marshall Super Lead 1959 100-watt (modded, variac, EL34s, no master volume)
Pickup Position
Bridge pickup
Studio recording, 1981-1982 for 'Diver Down' album. No pedal distortion; amp driven hard with variac. Effects added via pedals, not amp. No evidence of live rig or later chorus pedals used on original studio recording.
Amp Settings
Mids7
Bass5.5
Gain7.5
Reverb0.5
Treble7
Presence6
Effects Chain
- Chorus pedal (likely MXR Analog Chorus or similar) · chorus
Frankenstrat → Chorus pedal (MXR Analog Chorus or similar) → Marshall Super Lead 1959 (variac, no reverb)
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Tone Character
- British crunch
- aggressive bridge pickup attack
- tight palm muting
- modulation shimmer (chorus effect)
- punchy midrange
- articulate pick attack
- slightly compressed
- harmonic overtones
- classic 'brown sound'
- clear note separation