Nail the ToneDeep Purple

Smoke on the Water

Deep Purple · Machine Head · 1972

The riff is a big-headstock CBS-era Strat on the bridge pickup, through a 100-watt Marshall with a 4x12 that Blackmore himself named, goosed by a Hornby-Skewes germanium treble booster he also confirmed. The gain is lower than people expect — this is a loud amp on the edge of breakup, and the size comes from the cabinet being miked at a distance in an empty theater plus Jon Lord's overdriven Hammond doubling the line. Blackmore's solo, cut later at the Grand Hotel, is documented as neck pickup; the pickup position for the riff itself is not documented, and bridge is a judgment call from the attack on the record.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard tuning in G minor; the riff is harmonized parallel fourths plucked with the fingers in third position, doubled in unison by Jon Lord's distorted Hammond, which is a big part of the record's weight.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Fender Stratocaster (CBS-era, large headstock) · vintage-style single-coils · bridge pickup

Amp

Marshall 100-watt head with 4x12

GAIN
7.0
BASS
4.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
7.0
PRESENCE
5.0

Blackmore told Vintage Guitar in 2017 he used "a 100-watt Marshall amp with four 12\" speakers" on Machine Head; the non-master-volume Marshall has no gain control, so the gain value is Volume I. The riff was cut at Le Pavillon with the cab distance-miked, not close-miked, which is where the huge ambient girth comes from — his often-cited 200W Marshall Major stack and the Aiwa TP-1011 tape preamp belong to the live rig and to 1974 onward, not this session.

Amp

Vox AC30

GAIN
7.0
BASS
4.0
TREBLE
6.0

Contested second account: Blackmore added "I probably would've also been using the Vox at that time," Ian Gillan recalls "a Vox AC30 and/or a Marshall," and forum lore attributes to engineer Martin Birch the claim the AC30 was still in use through Machine Head. AC30 has no mid or presence control; the gain value is the Normal/Brilliant volume.

Pedals

  • Hornby-Skewes Treble Booster · germanium treble booster · Boost high, straight into the amp's input — adds bite and mild breakup rather than fuzz
  • Plate reverb (mix) · reverb · Short plate, low in the blend; echo on the solo only

Tone character

thick mid-forward crunch · edge-of-breakup, not high gain · room ambience around the notes · bright single-coil attack · tight, plucked note starts

easy

Two-note fourths on adjacent strings held as one shape and moved up the neck — easy under the fingers, but plucking both notes dead together with the fingers and holding the laid-back groove is the real work.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources