Nail the ToneThe Strokes

Last Nite

The Strokes · Is This It · 2001

The opening riff is Nick Valensi's Epiphone Riviera with hotwired P-94 pickups into a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12, lightly dirtied by a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde. Producer Gordon Raphael mic'd each amp with a single Sennheiser MD 421 into an API preamp with no EQ, which is why the tone is so dry and midrange-forward. Aim for bridge pickup, guitar tone knob wide open, low gain, trimmed bass, and just a touch of reverb.

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

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard tuning, no capo; the intro is Valensi's single-note C riff jumping between octaves, with Hammond Jr.'s staccato chord part as a second guitar in the same tuning.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Epiphone Riviera (1995) · Gibson P-94 (replaced the stock mini-humbuckers) · bridge pickup
  • Fender Stratocaster (1985 '72 reissue, Olympic White) · single-coils · bridge pickup

Amp

Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12

GAIN
3.0
BASS
3.5
MID
6.5
TREBLE
7.0
PRESENCE
5.5
REVERB
2.0

Producer Gordon Raphael confirmed both guitarists tracked through Fender DeVille combos, mic'd with a Sennheiser MD 421 straight into an API preamp with no EQ; the drive channel is only lightly pushed here, with dirt coming from the pedal. Raphael described Valensi's guitar as a semi-hollow Gibson with an old single-coil P90 — it was in fact an Epiphone Riviera loaded with P-94s, as Valensi and later gear features confirm.

Pedals

  • Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde · overdrive/distortion · Overdrive side, low-to-moderate drive with tone bright — just enough grit to fuzz the note edges
  • MXR Micro Amp · clean boost · Kept for lead/solo lift rather than the main riff

Tone character

bright single-coil bite · forward mids · light amp breakup · dry and upfront · garage-rock grit

easy

The riff is a single pitch moved between octaves in steady eighth notes, so the challenge is clean position jumps and tight muting rather than anything for the fingers.

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.

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Sources