Hey Joe
A slow, bluesy riff with the raw edge of a very loud Marshall stack.
What is the Hey Joe guitar tone?
The Hey Joe guitar tone is a slow, bluesy riff with the raw edge of a very loud Marshall stack, heard on Jimi Hendrix's 1960s blues rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Jimi Hendrix reportedly tracked it with a Marshall twin stack, which Chas Chandler says Hendrix played so loud at the session that the studio picked up rattles and noises, and when Chandler would not let him play as loud as he wanted, Hendrix said he might as well go back to New York; Noel Redding remembered the Marshalls being too much for the microphones, the distortion that came with them becoming part of the band's sound, with no limiters, compressors or noise reduction yet; Guitar.com has Hendrix buying at least two Marshall Super 100 heads and four 4x12 cabinets that autumn and using them on a French tour from 13 October 1966, and playing a white Fender Stratocaster soon after he reached London in September, with a second, black Strat bought around November, though it does not say which guitar is on the record; the backing track was cut at De Lane Lea in London on 23 October 1966, the band's first day of recording, in a two-hour session, all Chandler could afford, with Hendrix's vocal and the Breakaways' backing vocals added later; his slower arrangement recalls Tim Rose's single, and Hey Joe was the first song Chandler heard him play; it came out in December 1966 as his first single, backed with Stone Free, and reached number six in the UK. Here the drive came from Marshalls played louder than the studio's microphones could take, with no limiters or compressors, so amp volume and a raw edge matter more than any pedal.
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 Joe amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 4, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 4
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Marshall twin stack, played loud
- The control that matters most
- Master volume, not gain. The edge on the record came from a Marshall stack turned up louder than the studio's microphones could take, so set the amp loud with the gain low and let the volume and your picking hand do the work.
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.
Does the Hey Joe tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
What gear did Jimi Hendrix use on Hey Joe?
A Marshall twin stack, which Chas Chandler says Hendrix played so loud at the session that the studio picked up rattles and noises, and when Chandler would not let him play as loud as he wanted, Hendrix said he might as well go back to New York; Noel Redding remembered the Marshalls being too much for the microphones, the distortion that came with them becoming part of the band's sound, with no limiters, compressors or noise reduction yet; Guitar.com has Hendrix buying at least two Marshall Super 100 heads and four 4x12 cabinets that autumn and using them on a French tour from 13 October 1966, and playing a white Fender Stratocaster soon after he reached London in September, with a second, black Strat bought around November, though it does not say which guitar is on the record; the backing track was cut at De Lane Lea in London on 23 October 1966, the band's first day of recording, in a two-hour session, all Chandler could afford, with Hendrix's vocal and the Breakaways' backing vocals added later; his slower arrangement recalls Tim Rose's single, and Hey Joe was the first song Chandler heard him play; it came out in December 1966 as his first single, backed with Stone Free, and reached number six in the UK.
Sources: Ultimate Classic Rock: the Jimi Hendrix Experience's first studio session, Louder: how Jimi Hendrix recorded Hey Joe, Guitar.com: the gear used on Are You Experienced, Wikipedia: Hey Joe
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 Hey Joe tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Hey Joe
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Hey Joe tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Hey Joe?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 4, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, 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 slow, bluesy riff with the raw edge of a very loud Marshall stack from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Hey Joe tone?
Master volume, not gain. The edge on the record came from a Marshall stack turned up louder than the studio's microphones could take, so set the amp loud with the gain low and let the volume and your picking hand do the work.
Can you get the Hey Joe tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with a Marshall twin stack, which Chas Chandler says Hendrix played so loud at the session that the studio picked up rattles and noises, and when Chandler would not let him play as loud as he wanted, Hendrix said he might as well go back to New York; Noel Redding remembered the Marshalls being too much for the microphones, the distortion that came with them becoming part of the band's sound, with no limiters, compressors or noise reduction yet; Guitar.com has Hendrix buying at least two Marshall Super 100 heads and four 4x12 cabinets that autumn and using them on a French tour from 13 October 1966, and playing a white Fender Stratocaster soon after he reached London in September, with a second, black Strat bought around November, though it does not say which guitar is on the record; the backing track was cut at De Lane Lea in London on 23 October 1966, the band's first day of recording, in a two-hour session, all Chandler could afford, with Hendrix's vocal and the Breakaways' backing vocals added later; his slower arrangement recalls Tim Rose's single, and Hey Joe was the first song Chandler heard him play; it came out in December 1966 as his first single, backed with Stone Free, and reached number six in the UK, 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 Hey Joe a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Jimi Hendrix's 1960s blues 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 it takes a plan, charged when you subscribe: 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.
