Hey Bulldog
A gritty unison riff doubling the piano, with a raw fuzz solo.
What is the Hey Bulldog guitar tone?
The Hey Bulldog guitar tone is a gritty unison riff doubling the piano, with a raw fuzz solo, heard on The Beatles' 1960s psychedelic rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and The Beatles reportedly tracked it with a 1964 Gibson SG Standard on its bridge pickup into a Vox Conqueror, a solid-state amp with a 2x12 cabinet, which Guitar World identifies from the film shot at the session, where the amp's red power light shows in the 1999 Hey Bulldog video around 2:30; the Conqueror's built-in fuzz, a germanium-transistor circuit similar to a Tone Bender, gave the gritty distortion on the 20-second solo and on the overdub that doubles the piano, bass and guitar unison riff, and its Distortion knob blends the fuzz in parallel with the amp's clean tone; Guitar World has George Harrison as the only guitarist on the song, with John Lennon on piano and Paul McCartney on bass, but Wikipedia, following Ian MacDonald, has Harrison on rhythm guitar and Lennon playing the lead solo on Harrison's borrowed SG, so the sources differ on who played the solo rather than on the guitar; the Beatles recorded the song at EMI Studios on 11 February 1968, in a session booked to film a promotional clip for Lady Madonna, finishing it in ten takes over ten hours with George Martin producing and Geoff Emerick engineering; it came out on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album in January 1969. Here the grit is a fuzz circuit blended in parallel with a clean amp, so the riff keeps its clean attack under the fuzz.
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.
Hey Bulldog amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 6, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the riff, with the bridge pickup. There is a second setting for the solo below.
- Gain 6
- Bass 6
- Middle 6
- Treble 5
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Vox Conqueror's built-in fuzz, blended with the clean tone
- The control that matters most
- The fuzz blend. Guitar World has the Conqueror's fuzz mixed in with its clean tone rather than replacing it, so blend a fuzz with a clean signal, keep the clean attack audible on the riff, and turn the amp's volume and treble up for the solo.
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. A first plan starts with 7 days free, $0 today.
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.
Second sound
Hey Bulldog amp settings for the solo
For the solo, start at Gain 6.5, Bass 6, Middle 7, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6.5
- Bass 6
- Middle 7
- Treble 5
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Vox Conqueror's built-in fuzz, blended with the clean tone
- Where the song switches
- Guitar World's settings box turns the Conqueror's volume and treble up for the solo, with the same fuzz blend as the riff.
- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
The same reference as the panel above: positions on a generic five-knob amp, a starting point rather than the settings on the record.
Does the Hey Bulldog tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far. It works from the setting for the riff.
Published settings
What amp settings did George Harrison use on Hey Bulldog?
Volume 5 for the rhythm part and 8 for the solo, bass 3, treble 5 for the rhythm part and 9 for the solo, distortion 8, the MRB on with its effects switch on 3, and the reverb off, on the brilliant channel of a Vox Conqueror with a 2x12 of Celestion alnico speakers, and the SG's bridge pickup with volume and tone on 10. That is Chris Gill's settings box in Guitar World's feature on the song, which reads the rig from the session film but does not say where the numbers came from, so read them as the magazine's reconstruction rather than a note from the session.
Source: Guitar World: the secrets behind George Harrison's guitar tone on Hey Bulldog
What gear did The Beatles use on Hey Bulldog?
A 1964 Gibson SG Standard on its bridge pickup into a Vox Conqueror, a solid-state amp with a 2x12 cabinet, which Guitar World identifies from the film shot at the session, where the amp's red power light shows in the 1999 Hey Bulldog video around 2:30; the Conqueror's built-in fuzz, a germanium-transistor circuit similar to a Tone Bender, gave the gritty distortion on the 20-second solo and on the overdub that doubles the piano, bass and guitar unison riff, and its Distortion knob blends the fuzz in parallel with the amp's clean tone; Guitar World has George Harrison as the only guitarist on the song, with John Lennon on piano and Paul McCartney on bass, but Wikipedia, following Ian MacDonald, has Harrison on rhythm guitar and Lennon playing the lead solo on Harrison's borrowed SG, so the sources differ on who played the solo rather than on the guitar; the Beatles recorded the song at EMI Studios on 11 February 1968, in a session booked to film a promotional clip for Lady Madonna, finishing it in ten takes over ten hours with George Martin producing and Geoff Emerick engineering; it came out on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album in January 1969.
Sources: Guitar World: the secrets behind George Harrison's guitar tone on Hey Bulldog, Wikipedia: Hey Bulldog
Tonelify's tone matcher 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 Hey Bulldog tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Hey Bulldog
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Hey Bulldog tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Hey Bulldog?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 6, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the riff, with the bridge pickup, and at Gain 6.5, Bass 6, Middle 7, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the solo, 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 gritty unison riff doubling the piano, with a raw fuzz solo from different positions.
Does Hey Bulldog use one amp setting or two?
Two. Guitar World's settings box turns the Conqueror's volume and treble up for the solo, with the same fuzz blend as the riff. On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 6, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the riff, and at Gain 6.5, Bass 6, Middle 7, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the solo.
What amp did George Harrison use on Hey Bulldog?
Amp: Vox Conqueror, solid-state, with its built-in fuzz. Guitar: 1964 Gibson SG Standard. Sources: Guitar World and Wikipedia.
How do you get George Harrison's tone on Hey Bulldog?
The fuzz blend. Guitar World has the Conqueror's fuzz mixed in with its clean tone rather than replacing it, so blend a fuzz with a clean signal, keep the clean attack audible on the riff, and turn the amp's volume and treble up for the solo. Play it with the bridge pickup.
What tuning is Hey Bulldog in?
Standard tuning: E A D G B E, low string to high, according to Guitar World.
Source: Guitar World: the secrets behind George Harrison's guitar tone on Hey Bulldog
Can you get the Hey Bulldog tone without the original gear?
Yes. The parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order, and those translate to other equipment. Tonelify's adaptation step works them out for the amp and guitar you own.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
A match for your own gear takes a plan, and a first plan starts with 7 days free with nothing charged that day: 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.
