Smoke on the Water Amp Settings
by Deep Purple
Smoke on the Water features the most recognizable guitar riff ever written. Ritchie Blackmore's tone is thick and aggressive — a Strat through a cranked Marshall Major 200W, creating a uniquely crunchy sound that's brighter than typical heavy rock.
What Makes This Tone Iconic
Most people learn this riff wrong — Blackmore plays it using fourths (two-note power chords), not single notes. The tone comes from pushing a massive 200W Marshall Major into overdrive, which requires extreme volume to break up. A Strat's brighter pickups through this setup creates a crunch that's articulate yet heavy, different from the typical Les Paul-into-Marshall sound of the era.
Key Tone Elements
- Marshall Major 200W head — massive clean headroom pushed into overdrive
- Fender Strat with bridge/middle pickup for brightness through heavy gain
- Played with fourths (two-note chords), not single notes
- Treble booster (Hornby Skewes) to push the amp harder
- Very loud amp volume for natural tube saturation
Original Recording Settings
Original Gear
- Guitar
- 1961 Fender Stratocaster (modified)
- Pickups
- Stock Fender bridge single coil (bridge (only pickup))
- Amplifier
- Marshall Major 200W into Marshall 4x12 cabs
- Channel
- Single channel, cranked
- Tuning
- standard
- Pickup Selector
- bridge
- Strings
- 0.010-0.048 (Picato)
Recorded at Grand Hotel Montreux using Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.
Amp Settings
Effects Chain
Playing Technique
Iconic riff played using parallel fourths (not power chords). Medium, precise pick attack.
Sources+
- Guitar World: Ritchie Blackmore gear retrospectives
- Equipboard.com - Ritchie Blackmore
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