Kickstart My Heart
Mötley Crüe
A revving, motorcycle-like intro, a fast hard rock riff and a prominent talk box.
What is the Kickstart My Heart guitar tone?
The Kickstart My Heart guitar tone is a revving, motorcycle-like intro, a fast hard rock riff and a prominent talk box, heard on Mötley Crüe's 1980s hard rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Mötley Crüe reportedly tracked it with Mick Mars' rig for Dr. Feelgood, recorded with producer Bob Rock at Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver: Guitar Player names his main amplifier as a 1973 100-watt Marshall Super Lead modded by José Arredondo, and Mars says he used Mesa/Boogie amps for most of the low-end parts, blended with a Garnet amp Rock brought in, which he first thought sounded horrid and came round to, although which amps are on this song is not documented; he played so loud that Aerosmith, recording Pump next door with Bruce Fairbairn, asked him to turn down because he was leaking into their vocals; the song opens with Floyd Rose whammy work that sounds like a motorcycle, and its prominent talk box is a habit Mars traces to playing Joe Walsh's Rocky Mountain Way in a cover band; Nikki Sixx wrote the song on acoustic guitar during the sessions after he had been clinically dead for two minutes from a heroin overdose, and it came out as the album's second single in 1989; which guitar Mars played on it is not documented. This is a mid-forward sound rather than a scooped one, and it usually sits closer to the edge of breakup than to full saturation.
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.
Kickstart My Heart amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Modded Marshall Super Lead (album rig) → Talk box
- The control that matters most
- The whammy bar and the talk box. The song opens with Floyd Rose dives that sound like a motorcycle and leans on a talk box, so those do more for it than any amp setting. Under them keep a Marshall-style crunch with the mids up: Mars blended a Mesa/Boogie with a Garnet that producer Bob Rock liked because it sounded trashy, so a slightly rough, thick rhythm tone gets closer than a polished one.
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 Mötley Crüe use on Kickstart My Heart?
Mick Mars' rig for Dr. Feelgood, recorded with producer Bob Rock at Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver: Guitar Player names his main amplifier as a 1973 100-watt Marshall Super Lead modded by José Arredondo, and Mars says he used Mesa/Boogie amps for most of the low-end parts, blended with a Garnet amp Rock brought in, which he first thought sounded horrid and came round to, although which amps are on this song is not documented; he played so loud that Aerosmith, recording Pump next door with Bruce Fairbairn, asked him to turn down because he was leaking into their vocals; the song opens with Floyd Rose whammy work that sounds like a motorcycle, and its prominent talk box is a habit Mars traces to playing Joe Walsh's Rocky Mountain Way in a cover band; Nikki Sixx wrote the song on acoustic guitar during the sessions after he had been clinically dead for two minutes from a heroin overdose, and it came out as the album's second single in 1989; which guitar Mars played on it is not documented.
Sources: Guitar Player: Mick Mars on his Dr. Feelgood amps, Guitar World: Mick Mars on the Dr. Feelgood Garnet amp and Aerosmith's Pump, Ultimate Classic Rock: Mick Mars interview, 2024, Guitar World: Mick Mars' final Kickstart My Heart with Mötley Crüe, Wikipedia: Kickstart My Heart, Wikipedia: Dr. Feelgood (album)
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 Kickstart My Heart tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Kickstart My Heart
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Kickstart My Heart tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Kickstart My Heart?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, 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 revving, motorcycle-like intro, a fast hard rock riff and a prominent talk box from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Kickstart My Heart tone?
The whammy bar and the talk box. The song opens with Floyd Rose dives that sound like a motorcycle and leans on a talk box, so those do more for it than any amp setting. Under them keep a Marshall-style crunch with the mids up: Mars blended a Mesa/Boogie with a Garnet that producer Bob Rock liked because it sounded trashy, so a slightly rough, thick rhythm tone gets closer than a polished one.
Can you get the Kickstart My Heart tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Mick Mars' rig for Dr. Feelgood, recorded with producer Bob Rock at Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver: Guitar Player names his main amplifier as a 1973 100-watt Marshall Super Lead modded by José Arredondo, and Mars says he used Mesa/Boogie amps for most of the low-end parts, blended with a Garnet amp Rock brought in, which he first thought sounded horrid and came round to, although which amps are on this song is not documented; he played so loud that Aerosmith, recording Pump next door with Bruce Fairbairn, asked him to turn down because he was leaking into their vocals; the song opens with Floyd Rose whammy work that sounds like a motorcycle, and its prominent talk box is a habit Mars traces to playing Joe Walsh's Rocky Mountain Way in a cover band; Nikki Sixx wrote the song on acoustic guitar during the sessions after he had been clinically dead for two minutes from a heroin overdose, and it came out as the album's second single in 1989; which guitar Mars played on it is not documented, 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 Kickstart My Heart a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Mötley Crüe's 1980s hard 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.
