Somebody Told Me
The Killers · Hot Fuss · 2004
The main riff is Dave Keuning's Ibanez Destroyer on the bridge humbucker, running into a Fender Hot Rod DeVille — the rig he says covered about 90 percent of Hot Fuss — with a Big Muff-style fuzz doing most of the dirt. Tune down a half step to Eb standard or the high fretboard shapes won't line up with the record's Bb minor. Keep the mids up and the bass moderate so the fast dyads stay tight and cutting instead of woolly, and add just a hint of short delay for width.
Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record
Tuning
Eb standard (down a half step)
The record sits in Bb minor with the riff played as fifth/octave shapes high up the neck (12th–20th fret area); a synth doubles the same line, and the guitar part is layered/doubled on the record.
Guitar
- Ibanez Destroyer · stock humbucker · bridge pickup
Amp
Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12
Keuning told Guitar Player that this song, like about 90 percent of Hot Fuss, was his Ibanez Destroyer into a Fender Hot Rod DeVille; use the Drive channel and keep the Master low so the amp isn't flubby. Note that secondary lesson articles instead suggest a Stratocaster into a Vox AC30 or generic Fender-style amp for Hot Fuss tones — that is not what the player himself reports.
Amp
Fender Blues/Hot Rod-style 6L6 combo (substitute)
If you don't have a DeVille, any clean-ish 6L6 combo pushed by a fuzz gets close; the amp is mostly a loud, bright platform and the dirt comes from the pedal and the mix.
Pedals
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi · fuzz · Sustain ~7, Tone ~6.5, Volume to unity — his period fuzz (he wrote 'Mr. Brightside' with one); not confirmed pedal-by-pedal for this track
- Ibanez AD9 Analog Delay · delay · Short slap, ~90 ms, one repeat, low blend — inferred for the riff's width; documented as a long-standing Keuning delay
Tone character
fuzzy mid-forward distortion · bright cutting attack · tight, controlled low end · doubled, wide riff · new wave sheen
Steady eighth/sixteenth picking on two-note fifth and octave shapes way up at the 12th–20th frets, with quick position jumps between figures that have to land clean and in time.
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 gearSources
No published source — the settings below are estimated by ear.