Take Me Out
Franz Ferdinand
A choppy, staccato riff that drops into a slower disco-beat groove.
What is the Take Me Out guitar tone?
The Take Me Out guitar tone is a choppy, staccato riff that drops into a slower disco-beat groove, heard on Franz Ferdinand's 2000s indie rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Franz Ferdinand reportedly tracked it with the band's own amps, Alex Kapranos's battered old Selmer and bassist Robert Hardy's Fender Bassman 100, which Sound On Sound's feature on the album says carried nearly all of Kapranos's and Nick McCarthy's guitar parts, their tried and trusted setups, with guitars no source read here names; the two swapped rhythm and lead, McCarthy tending to funky Talking Heads and Devo style parts and Kapranos to the more orthodox rock ones; producer Tore Johansson recorded as much as he could live in the main room at Gula Studion in Malmo, Sweden, during a month of sessions from June 2003, with the amps as loud as in rehearsal and on stage, and both sources say the tempo change was played live, with no editing beyond compiling the best take; Wikipedia says the fast first section breaks the notes of a chord into single notes, an idea from Giorgio Moroder, before a slower second section with disco hi-hat patterns, that the call and answer riff came from Howlin' Wolf, and that Johansson used several echo effects for a marching, industrial feel; Domino released it as the album's second single on 12 January 2004 in the UK, where it reached number 3, and it reached number 3 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. Here the crunch is two guitars through loud amps played live, with the notes of a chord picked out one by one, so attack and timing carry it more than gain.
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.
Take Me Out amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 5
- Bass 4
- Middle 6
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Amps as loud as on stage → Echo effects added by the producer
- The control that matters most
- Attack and timing. Both guitar parts went through loud amps with the band playing live, and the riff is single notes picked out of a chord, so use a bright, loud crunch with modest gain and play the notes short and even.
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 Take Me Out 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 Franz Ferdinand use on Take Me Out?
The band's own amps, Alex Kapranos's battered old Selmer and bassist Robert Hardy's Fender Bassman 100, which Sound On Sound's feature on the album says carried nearly all of Kapranos's and Nick McCarthy's guitar parts, their tried and trusted setups, with guitars no source read here names; the two swapped rhythm and lead, McCarthy tending to funky Talking Heads and Devo style parts and Kapranos to the more orthodox rock ones; producer Tore Johansson recorded as much as he could live in the main room at Gula Studion in Malmo, Sweden, during a month of sessions from June 2003, with the amps as loud as in rehearsal and on stage, and both sources say the tempo change was played live, with no editing beyond compiling the best take; Wikipedia says the fast first section breaks the notes of a chord into single notes, an idea from Giorgio Moroder, before a slower second section with disco hi-hat patterns, that the call and answer riff came from Howlin' Wolf, and that Johansson used several echo effects for a marching, industrial feel; Domino released it as the album's second single on 12 January 2004 in the UK, where it reached number 3, and it reached number 3 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Sources: Sound On Sound: recording Franz Ferdinand, Wikipedia: Take Me Out (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 Take Me Out tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Take Me Out
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Take Me Out tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Take Me Out?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 7, 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 choppy, staccato riff that drops into a slower disco-beat groove from different positions.
What amp did Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy use on Take Me Out?
Amp: Album rig (Alex Kapranos's old Selmer amp and Robert Hardy's Fender Bassman 100). Guitar: Not named in the sources read. Sources: Sound On Sound and Wikipedia.
What were Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy's amp settings on Take Me Out?
None of the sources cited on this page gives Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy's full amp settings on Take Me Out. The numbers here are a starting point for that kind of part, not the settings from the session, and Tonelify rewrites them for the amp and guitar you own.
How do you get Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy's tone on Take Me Out?
Attack and timing. Both guitar parts went through loud amps with the band playing live, and the riff is single notes picked out of a chord, so use a bright, loud crunch with modest gain and play the notes short and even. Play it with the bridge pickup.
Can you get the Take Me Out 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.
