Ritchie Blackmore Tone

[funkyguitarman]

Hey guys I am huge fan of Deep Purple and Ritchie Blackmore. However I am wondering how to achieve his tone on Made in Japan and Burn albums. I have a Fender Thin Skin 62 Stratocaster which is fantastic but I feel the pick ups are too weak for what I want. An recommendations on a single coil pick up that is higher output. Thanks

[5F6-A]

I think it depe4nds on the amp too!

[Shawn Fate]

Doesnt he play the Engl Blackmore now ?

Engl Amps - Engl Amps E650 Blackmore

[AndyC]

Didn't he use some kind of old reel to reel tape machine as a pre-amp into his amps?

I loved his tone too. "In Rock" was the first album I ever bought. I've always been more of a Les Paul guy, but I have a Strat because of Ritchie. Great vibrato.

[funkyguitarman]

I have a Marshall DSL 100 running through a Marshall 1960A 4x12. The Marshall sounds absolutely ear melting with my Gibson Les Paul Standard. Getting a great tone with the gibson is really easy thanks to the burst bucker pros which sound full and warm and can really scream. However my strat does not push the amp as hard and sounds at times a little too thin. While I accept that a strat can never sound like a les paul and vice versa I would really like to get a little bit more out of the strat. I am contemplating which pick ups would work as well as a overdrive pedal to give a little more boost. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by AndyC

Didn't he use some kind of old reel to reel tape machine as a pre-amp into his amps?

I

That's exactly what he did to fatten the tone--in the old days anyway. I'm not sure he still does that and maybe he gets everything he needs from the Engl now.

Mark

[LoKi]

Marshall Majors, modified to be *apparently* 500 watt. CRANKED.

That is his tone in a nutshell. He also had some sort of 'treble booster' that was more of a clean boost between his heads and cabs, on the backline. A Rangemaster or something similar from back in the day. In those days they would approach electricians to make devices for tone, the most common being simple boosters.

He also only used the neck and bridge pickups in his Strats. Cut out the middle pickup altogether.

I've heard about the reel to reel in front of his amps too, but I don't know how much it did other than warm it up a bit.

[Masa]

He was using a HS treble booster back then. And, yes, a modded Marshall Major! He started using the Aiwa tape thing in the later years. I'm sure he didn't have it during Made in Japan.

A couple of recordings I made, when I was modifiying/testing my Marshall. I used a strat and a treble booster.

SoundClick artist: Masa (CA) - page with MP3 music downloads

SoundClick artist: Masa (CA) - page with MP3 music downloads

[tarddoggy]

Originally Posted by Masa

He was using a HS treble booster back then. And, yes, a modded Marshall Major! He started using the Aiwa tape thing in the later years. I'm sure he didn't have it during Made in Japan.

A couple of recordings I made, when I was modifiying/testing my Marshall. I used a strat and a treble booster.

SoundClick artist: Masa (CA) - page with MP3 music downloads

SoundClick artist: Masa (CA) - page with MP3 music downloads

HOT DAMN Brother,sounds really good

[Monster]

I'd check on replacing pickups with Lollars, Fralins, WBs, or one of the other "boutique" pickups discussed on the board.
For amps, you want something Marshall flavored. For sane volume levels I'd probably pick something about 50 watts. I get pretty close with a Traynor YBA-1. The other posters are correct it will help to use a booster.
Another route to go is to use a Marshall flavored pedal into a cleaner amp.

[Wooderson]

I seem to recall Blackmore used Schecter and SD Quarter Pounder pickups at various times.

[Masa]

Yeah, he used Quarter Pounders, but it's later. I think he started using them from Down to Earth.

During Purple Mk II, I think he was using the stock pickups, boosted with a treble booster, and cranked the amp.

[Lester B. Flat]

You aren't likely to get any closer with a pickup swap. As others have said, the amp is most important. I saw a Youtube video where he was playing a 335. Still sounded the same as his strat basically.

[Wooderson]

Originally Posted by Lester B. Flat

You aren't likely to get any closer with a pickup swap. As others have said, the amp is most important. I saw a Youtube video where he was playing a 335. Still sounded the same as his strat basically.

I was thinking about this last night but too lazy to amend my original post.

You are right: Blackmore sometimes played a 335, at least live. I have seen photos! I am not enough of a Blackmore freak to be able to tell you whether he used a 335 on any recordings, and if so, where.

Blackmore also played a lefty Strat flipped righty, at least occasionally in concert. And his Strats were in general far from stock.

Rumor would also have it that most of Blackmore's classic studio recordings were made using a Vox AC-30. I have no idea whether that is true.

Dawk of Dawk Sound might be able to confirm, and there was also some dude who machined tremolo arms for Blackmore. Apparently he kept breaking them.

[specter1001]

Originally Posted by Masa

He was using a HS treble booster back then. And, yes, a modded Marshall Major! He started using the Aiwa tape thing in the later years. I'm sure he didn't have it during Made in Japan.

A couple of recordings I made, when I was modifiying/testing my Marshall. I used a strat and a treble booster.

SoundClick artist: Masa (CA) - page with MP3 music downloads

SoundClick artist: Masa (CA) - page with MP3 music downloads

sounds amazing man

[uOpt]

Blackmore's sound is very hard to reproduce.

Apart from factors mentioned, he also uses a LCR network (his ol Roadie calls it the "MTC"), which is a tone control that removes impedance from the pickup circuit and "sweetens" the sound. You can hear that with many of his softer neck pickup soli. He's using that from somewhere in the Rainbow area.

If you want e.g. Made In Japan, good luck. There was nothing special at all going on aside from the treble booster and the tape, which were basically just preamps. His actual amps, the majors, did not produce any sound on their own, at least not in a deliberate manner. Of course these high-powered units overdrive the speaker chassis severely.

So the secret to his 1972 live tone is just "he was playing really, really LOUD".

Pickup-wise, of course in 1972 he just used whatever Fender had put in. Afterwards you see him with Quarter-pounder alikes (which are most likely Schecters F400s) and when he had the huge Rainbow cross the stage and couldn't do single-coil anymore at all he used some kind of blade single-coil sized humbucker, which almost certainly is a Barden S. Yet he still gets "his" sound out of all of these.

Myself, I find that I get satisfying Rainbow Dio-area sounds out of Strat-types with Ash body, maple neck and Seymour Duncan's Quarter-pounder. A LCR network also helps, I use Bill Lawrence's Q-Filter.

You must have a high-quality vintage-style tremolo, at least a Fender MIJ, with a real steel block. A hardtail works better for these sounds than a bad tremolo.

[Masa]

He used the 335 and the AC30, before he moved to Strats+Marshall. All the MK I records were mostly 335/AC30, so was the orchestra thing. I think most of the In Rock were also recorded with 335/AC30. After that, it's usually strat/AC30 or strat/Marshall. I think he stopped using AC30 by the end of Mk II.

I agree, the pickups are not as important as the amp and the treble booster. With the right Marshall and a HS treble booster, you should be able to get close.

Some riffs you hear were also helped by Jon Lord's B3. Jon was also using Marshall to get that cool distorted B3 sound.

[Masa]

I just recorded Burn for fun this evening. I used my 50W Plexi clone + HS Treble Booster + strat.

SoundClick artist: Masa (CA) - page with MP3 music downloads

[AndyC]

Great job, Masa! Whooo!

You really have a lot of Ritchie phrasing Sounds killer!

[Masa]

Thanks, Andy.

Ritchie is my #1 influence for sure. I used to have a band called Blackmore, and we played only Deep Purple and Rainbow songs. That was back in the early 90's. Whew, we're getting old.

[LoKi]

Saw a band on Friday that covered Perfect Strangers. Was GREAT. They didn't play it perfectly, and had no keys, and of course nobody sings like Gillian, but it was awesome to hear a band cover Deep Purple for once. I've been begging my band for years now.

I even learned Highway Star's keyboard parts on the guitar, and then on the keys and still no go.

[jhullin]

Deep Purple NoNoNo video - Putfile.com

I love this tone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[byljer]

Go here for the MTC tone circuit (it most probably is a cunning treble bleed) made by John Dawk Stillwell, former tech for Rainbow:

www.dawksound.com - Home

Go to this site for some other great Blackmore gear:

index

That's where I got my modified "Blackmore iconic" Strat, booster and tone circuit. Great stuff indeed, and not as pricey as the MTC.

[Splattle101]

I thought he had a series / parallel setup in his strat. So when it was in series he was in effect playing a dirty great humbucker.

The tape delay thing would add crunch and roll off some treble. At least, that's the effect of cranking my WEM Copicat into a non-master vol amp.

[Hawk]

Originally Posted by Masa

Thanks, Andy.

Ritchie is my #1 influence for sure. I used to have a band called Blackmore, and we played only Deep Purple and Rainbow songs. That was back in the early 90's. Whew, we're getting old.

Early 90's? Damn, I remember playing his music when I was in high school between 1976 and 1980...

[jimmypagekills]

Check this site out. It's got a buttload on Blackmore's tone, along with trademarks of his playing and vibrato style. Enjoy!


Ritchie Blackmore | Dinosaur Rock Guitar

[captain amazing]

just a rule of thumb for almost all 70s guitarists, they ALL had their amps dimed live, EVH page clapton, you get the picture

[st.bede]

just to throw out my thoughts....an mentioned before an boost would help...I also think that typical strat PU are a bit thin...some of the custom shop PUs are a bit fatter in tone...which could help or hurt depending on the amp and other factors....I also think an old DOD od 250 would maybe help...I am not really familuar with the marshall you own...peace

[MrRhoads]

Originally Posted by byljer

Go here for the MTC tone circuit (it most probably is a cunning treble bleed) made by John Dawk Stillwell, former tech for Rainbow:

www.dawksound.com - Home

+1 For Dawk

[mojo hobo]

It was because of blackmore and deep purple i started to play the guitar,I wanted to be richie.
I lived ,slept,deep purple 24/7,brought a tokai springy sound in 1983,a guitar i still have and put it through a old simms and watts head and 4 x 12 cabinet cranked,put on my purple records and learnt to play all the classics,note for note ,working out it out the best i could with a little impro
I had sessions that lasted 8 eight hours till i got fustrated and gave up?

As for his tone,never really thought about till i saw this post,with my tokai i sounded like him back then, that was good enough.
I always wanted a large head strat with a rosewood finger board ,my tokai has a maple board ,so i have just brought two 7okai silver stars.
Check this guy out he plays deep purple and jimmy page note for note,uncanny and spooky,i am sure he is mr page

most of you might have seen him before,but man i just get memerized by his playing

YouTube - Highway Star made in Japan Guitar Solo

YouTube - Highway Star made in Japan Guitar Solo

MOJO HOBO

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE OR A FOOL?