Beat It
Michael Jackson
A lightly driven single-note riff under a pop vocal, then a wild two-hand tapped solo.
What is the Beat It guitar tone?
The Beat It guitar tone is a lightly driven single-note riff under a pop vocal, then a wild two-hand tapped solo, heard on Michael Jackson's 1980s rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Michael Jackson reportedly tracked it with Steve Lukather's 1959 Les Paul Standard through a Paul Rivera-modded blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb with the distortion backed off, the sound on the final record after Quincy Jones turned down his take through Marshalls as too big for pop and R&B radio, with Lukather playing the bass and every guitar part except the solo; Eddie Van Halen improvised two solos over a section his engineer Donn Landee edited together for him at Westlake, playing his Frankenstrat through his Echoplex and a modified Hartley Thompson amp borrowed from Allan Holdsworth, according to MusicRadar, in less than an hour, and after Landee's tape edit broke the sync between the song's two reels, Lukather and drummer Jeff Porcaro rebuilt the backing track around the vocal and the solo at Sunset Sound. Much of this character comes from an amp worked hard rather than from a pedal, so master volume and pickup output matter more than the gain knob.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Beat It amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 5
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Small Fender combo, distortion backed off → Echoplex on the solo
- The control that matters most
- Gain, lower than the record seems to need. Lukather's first take went through Marshalls and Quincy Jones sent it back as too metal for radio, so the riff on the record is a Les Paul into a small Fender Deluxe with the distortion backed off. Keep the gain moderate and the mids up; the solo is a different, much hotter sound from the amp Van Halen brought.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Michael Jackson use on Beat It?
Steve Lukather's 1959 Les Paul Standard through a Paul Rivera-modded blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb with the distortion backed off, the sound on the final record after Quincy Jones turned down his take through Marshalls as too big for pop and R&B radio, with Lukather playing the bass and every guitar part except the solo; Eddie Van Halen improvised two solos over a section his engineer Donn Landee edited together for him at Westlake, playing his Frankenstrat through his Echoplex and a modified Hartley Thompson amp borrowed from Allan Holdsworth, according to MusicRadar, in less than an hour, and after Landee's tape edit broke the sync between the song's two reels, Lukather and drummer Jeff Porcaro rebuilt the backing track around the vocal and the solo at Sunset Sound.
Sources: Guitar World: how Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather made Beat It, MusicRadar: Steve Lukather on re-tracking Beat It, MusicRadar: the story of Eddie Van Halen's Beat It solo, Wikipedia: Beat It
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Beat It tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Beat It
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Beat It tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Beat It?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same lightly driven single-note riff under a pop vocal, then a wild two-hand tapped solo from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Beat It tone?
Gain, lower than the record seems to need. Lukather's first take went through Marshalls and Quincy Jones sent it back as too metal for radio, so the riff on the record is a Les Paul into a small Fender Deluxe with the distortion backed off. Keep the gain moderate and the mids up; the solo is a different, much hotter sound from the amp Van Halen brought.
Can you get the Beat It tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Steve Lukather's 1959 Les Paul Standard through a Paul Rivera-modded blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb with the distortion backed off, the sound on the final record after Quincy Jones turned down his take through Marshalls as too big for pop and R&B radio, with Lukather playing the bass and every guitar part except the solo; Eddie Van Halen improvised two solos over a section his engineer Donn Landee edited together for him at Westlake, playing his Frankenstrat through his Echoplex and a modified Hartley Thompson amp borrowed from Allan Holdsworth, according to MusicRadar, in less than an hour, and after Landee's tape edit broke the sync between the song's two reels, Lukather and drummer Jeff Porcaro rebuilt the backing track around the vocal and the solo at Sunset Sound, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Beat It a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Michael Jackson's 1980s rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
