Hocus Pocus
Focus
A heavy distorted riff broken up by yodeling, flute and whistling.
What is the Hocus Pocus guitar tone?
The Hocus Pocus guitar tone is a heavy distorted riff broken up by yodeling, flute and whistling, heard on Focus' 1970s prog rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Focus reportedly tracked it with a late-1960s Gibson Les Paul Custom with its stock humbuckers and ultra-light .008 strings, which Guitar World names as Jan Akkerman's guitar on the sessions, into a solid-state Fender SS1000 Super Showman, a three-channel preamp head with built-in effects driving power amp and speaker cabinets, run clean; the distortion came from a Colorsound Power Boost, one of the first overdrive pedals, rather than the amp's built-in fuzz, and the bright switch and high treble settings on the amp and the pedal made the Les Paul sound almost like a Strat, with a few overdubs played through the amp's third channel for its spring reverb; Guitar World credits the clean amp with keeping the grit clear on the major 7th chords; the song, written by Thijs van Leer and Akkerman, takes the form of a rondo in which the riff and drum breaks alternate with yodeling, organ, accordion, scat singing, flute and whistling, and opens Focus' second album Moving Waves (1971); the edited single reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 20 in the UK in early 1973. Here the grit comes from an early overdrive pedal into a clean solid-state amp, bright and trebly, so the riff stays clear rather than thick.
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.
Hocus Pocus amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 4, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 5
- Bass 5
- Middle 7
- Treble 5
- Presence 5
- Reverb 4
- Signal chain
- Colorsound Power Boost → Clean solid-state amp, bright switch on
- The control that matters most
- Treble, and a pedal into a clean amp. Akkerman got his grit from a Colorsound Power Boost into a solid-state amp running clean, with the bright switch on and the treble high on both, so keep the amp clean, take the drive from a pedal, and push the treble further than usual so the chords stay defined.
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.
Does the Hocus Pocus tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
Published settings
What amp settings did Jan Akkerman use on Hocus Pocus?
Volume 7, fuzz 0, bass 3, mid 7, treble 9 and master 6 with the bright switch on, on channel 1 of a 1970 Fender SS1000 Super Showman head into two XFL1000 4x12 cabinets, with a Colorsound Power Boost set to treble 7, bass 2 and volume 2, and the Les Paul Custom'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 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 Jan Akkerman's guitar tone on Hocus Pocus
What gear did Focus use on Hocus Pocus?
A late-1960s Gibson Les Paul Custom with its stock humbuckers and ultra-light .008 strings, which Guitar World names as Jan Akkerman's guitar on the sessions, into a solid-state Fender SS1000 Super Showman, a three-channel preamp head with built-in effects driving power amp and speaker cabinets, run clean; the distortion came from a Colorsound Power Boost, one of the first overdrive pedals, rather than the amp's built-in fuzz, and the bright switch and high treble settings on the amp and the pedal made the Les Paul sound almost like a Strat, with a few overdubs played through the amp's third channel for its spring reverb; Guitar World credits the clean amp with keeping the grit clear on the major 7th chords; the song, written by Thijs van Leer and Akkerman, takes the form of a rondo in which the riff and drum breaks alternate with yodeling, organ, accordion, scat singing, flute and whistling, and opens Focus' second album Moving Waves (1971); the edited single reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 20 in the UK in early 1973.
Sources: Guitar World: the secrets behind Jan Akkerman's guitar tone on Hocus Pocus, Wikipedia: Hocus Pocus (song)
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 Hocus Pocus tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Hocus Pocus
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Hocus Pocus tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Hocus Pocus?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 4, 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 heavy distorted riff broken up by yodeling, flute and whistling from different positions.
What amp did Jan Akkerman use on Hocus Pocus?
Amp: 1970 Fender SS1000 Super Showman, solid-state, run clean. Guitar: Late-1960s Gibson Les Paul Custom. Sources: Guitar World and Wikipedia.
How do you get Jan Akkerman's tone on Hocus Pocus?
Treble, and a pedal into a clean amp. Akkerman got his grit from a Colorsound Power Boost into a solid-state amp running clean, with the bright switch on and the treble high on both, so keep the amp clean, take the drive from a pedal, and push the treble further than usual so the chords stay defined. Play it with the bridge pickup.
What tuning is Hocus Pocus in?
Standard tuning: E A D G B E, low string to high, according to Guitar World.
Source: Guitar World: the secrets behind Jan Akkerman's guitar tone on Hocus Pocus
Can you get the Hocus Pocus 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.
