Nail the ToneThe Who

Baba O'Riley

The Who · Who's Next · 1971

The electric rhythm on "Baba O'Riley" is Townshend's studio rig from Who's Next: the 1959 Gretsch 6120 on the bridge Filter'Tron, through an Edwards volume pedal into a cranked tweed 3x10 Fender Bandmaster, close-miked by Glyn Johns with an SM57. Aim for a loud, grungy, mid-forward crunch rather than high gain — the dirt is the small tweed amp working hard, not a pedal. Capo the 1st fret and hit the F5-C5-Bb5 shapes hard; a J-200 acoustic capoed at 3 thickens the track underneath.

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

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo · Capo at fret 1

The electric rhythm is played with a capo at the 1st fret using E-shape power-chord voicings (F5-C5-Bb5); a doubling Gibson J-200 acoustic part sits behind it capoed at the 3rd fret, and the record runs about 2% fast, so it sits slightly sharp of concert pitch.

Part: Rhythm

Guitar

  • 1959 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body · Filter'Tron · bridge pickup
  • 1968 Gibson J-200 (acoustic layer)

Amp

1959 Fender Bandmaster 3x10 (tweed)

GAIN
10.0
BASS
5.0
TREBLE
7.0
PRESENCE
5.0

Knob values are Guitar World's documented positions for this exact session rig on the sister track "Won't Get Fooled Again" (Instrument Volume 10, Mic Volume 0, input 1) — note the tweed dials read 0-12, so 10 is not fully open, and the amp has no mid or reverb control. Townshend has also said that on "Won't Get Fooled Again" he doubled the Gretsch part with his stage rig (SG with P90s into a Hiwatt), and Glyn Johns confirms Townshend sometimes tracked through the bigger Hiwatt, so a Hiwatt layer on this track can't be ruled out.

Pedals

  • Edwards Light Beam volume pedal · volume · Ridden by foot: amp cranked to the edge of feedback, pedal used to swell in and back off
  • Whirlwind coiled cable · cable (tone loading) · Part of the documented chain; its capacitance rolls off some top end — a long cable does the same job

Tone character

loud tweed breakup · hollowbody thump · forward mids · bright Filter'Tron bite · edge-of-feedback sustain

easy

Three power chords with a capo at the 1st fret, but the right hand carries the whole part — hard, accurate downstrokes with suspended-chord flourishes, and the double-time outro strumming is the only real workout.

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