Little Wing
Hollow in-between chords with a rotating-speaker shimmer on the lead.
What is the Little Wing guitar tone?
The Little Wing guitar tone is hollow in-between chords with a rotating-speaker shimmer on the lead, heard on Jimi Hendrix's 1960s blues rock recording. It is a clean solo tone, and Jimi Hendrix reportedly tracked it with a Fender Stratocaster with the pickup selector set between the neck and middle positions for a hollow rhythm tone, and the lead fed through a Leslie organ speaker by engineer Eddie Kramer at Olympic Studios in London in October 1967. This lives right on the edge of breakup, where the volume knob on the guitar does the real work between clean and dirty.
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 clean channel on a modelling combo 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.
Little Wing amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the in-between neck and middle position, as on the rhythm part.
- Gain 2
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Leslie rotating speaker (lead)
- The control that matters most
- The pickup selector. The rhythm sits between the neck and middle positions for its hollow sound, and the shimmer on the lead is a rotating speaker, not the amp.
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
- In-between neck and middle position, as on the rhythm part
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 Jimi Hendrix use on Little Wing?
A Fender Stratocaster with the pickup selector set between the neck and middle positions for a hollow rhythm tone, and the lead fed through a Leslie organ speaker by engineer Eddie Kramer at Olympic Studios in London in October 1967.
Sources: Wikipedia: Little Wing, Strymon: the history of rotary speakers
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 Little Wing tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Little Wing
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Little Wing tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Little Wing?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the in-between neck and middle position, as on the rhythm part. 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 hollow in-between chords with a rotating-speaker shimmer on the lead from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Little Wing tone?
The pickup selector. The rhythm sits between the neck and middle positions for its hollow sound, and the shimmer on the lead is a rotating speaker, not the amp.
Can you get the Little Wing tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with a Fender Stratocaster with the pickup selector set between the neck and middle positions for a hollow rhythm tone, and the lead fed through a Leslie organ speaker by engineer Eddie Kramer at Olympic Studios in London in October 1967, 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 Little Wing a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo part with a clean 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 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.
Guides for this sound
How to get a clean tone on any ampKeep the gain low, get volume from the master and leave headroom. Clean tone settings for valve, solid-state and modelling amps, and what to fix first.
How to get a blues tone on any ampSet the amp on the edge of breakup, keep the mids up and let the guitar's volume knob do the work. Blues settings for valve, modelling and pedal rigs.
How to get any song's guitar tone on the amp you ownFind the documented rig, match the amp family, set the gain lower than you think and EQ against the record. A seven-step method, worked on a Boss Katana.
