How to Get Neil Young's Live Guitar Tone with 3 Boutique Pedals | Reverb Potent Pairings

[@emcg.9655]

Great to hear people even attempt to emulate Neil's tone. He holds such a special place in my heart, neil young and crazy horse are favorite band of all time.

[@nickklok4955]

It's funny right?! I never hear people say I wanna sound like Stephen Stills or David Crosby.

[@starcloud4959]

@@nickklok4955 i would love to sound like David Crosby off If Only I could Remember My Name.

[@nickklok4955]

@@starcloud4959 You're the first sir ;)

[@ludlow555]

Neil’s tone on Weld is my Holy Grail.

[@flatsixx]

Amen

[@angusorvid8840]

Yes. It's awesome.

[@Hallalo]

Great tone! Neil Young, Gary Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore are my favorites!

[@trish9614]

I was at that show.

[@haze_playzRB]

Yes

[@leetintary2074]

There was a guitarist back in the late 90s in LA named Josh Schwartz with a Neil Young cover band called The Hubcaps and if you closed your eyes, he really sounded exactly like Neil.

[@cgavin1]

Was sad to see he passed away in 2017. :(

[@martinwebb2578]

Great stuff! Something to add to the recipe is that Neil's Fender reverb tank and Echoplex are in front of his amp, and it's the cranked amp that's the source of all the overdrive. If you put the overdrive pedal AFTER the delay and reverb they get super dynamic as the overdrive compresses them - it's a big part of those wild explosive sounds he gets.

[@michaelkay611]

This is what I was wondering about. Maybe I'm cognitively impaired but what is the pedal order in this video? Because as you say, Neil is running his reverb and delay into the exploding amp, not running the distortion first. Andy sounds amazing as always.

[@mikeroadblock]

Good question. Verb, Delay, Amp?

[@markferguson3745]

Young has one gorgeous, raw sound: generally speaking, I avoid old school, "guitar hero" players like the plague in favor of virtually unknown "garage" guys, but Neil is an exception; he can be both .He truly understands the raw power of the instrument( and I think part of that is taking what it gives you).

[@stubkar]

While I don't want to step on your guitar virtues, you really should find the old Yardbirds, Page/Beck etc, in addition to the live Who materials from the early seventies. You'll be well served by these.

[@jeremyg7972]

I mean he kind of pioneered that sound and attitude

[@markferguson3745]

@@jeremyg7972 Indeed , - if you mean that he played what he thought best expressed his ideas; can't call that a "genre" or a movement, or of any school; just a guy who recognized that the raw touch sensitivity of a combination of elements equally captured anger, sadness, or love.What a lot of white dudes from the period initially responded to, but soon lost sight of.

[@Tomsdrawings]

In the old days at ProGuitarshop Andy, you did a Powderfinger that moved me very much and I bought the pedal. You’ve got the mojo, man.

[@AndyDemos]

Tomsdrawings Thanks very much, it’s one of my favorite songs! I think that may have been the Catalinbread Formula 55?

[@youngmrjazz]

AndyDemos I got chills when you opened a video with Neil’s song LA. Hell of a riff.

[@Tomsdrawings]

AndyDemos precisely! And I must say I’m a little bit starstruck talking to you, legend. Your life’s work really matters because of the spirit you put into it. Thank you for all your effort.

[@AndyDemos]

@@Tomsdrawings Much appreciated Tom! I'm happy to help.

[@isildur241]

@@AndyDemos You did the Lovepedal High Power Tweed Twin at some point, right? I still want that pedal someday.

[@ia5662]

Neil's got a hell of a tone, he influenced Daniel Lanois's tone too. Daniel's got a very Neil setup, but he also runs his pedal steel through it and it sounds epic!

[@edadpops1709]

"Close enuff for rock n roll I think" awesome take on an epic tone

[@vincent8833]

I'm a bass player, but also a huge Neil Young fan. This video made me wanna learn to play the guitar. This sound is so powerful and yet it seems quite simple to play. Thank you Andy for the inspiration !!

[@isildur241]

The polytune has no place on a Neil Young board! If you're as in tune at the end of the set as the start, you're doing it wrong!

[@miaoupha2370]

Neil use the Bigsby to tune his guitar...

[@stevenvandemsky7290]

Neil uses big old Strobe Tuners from Conn (Conn ST-11) since ages. He uses 5 of them, one for each string. kzbin.info/www/bejne/moK3aKWlorZgf5I

[@matiasmoulin2126]

@@stevenvandemsky7290 well, for a guy that can hear the power cycle in his tone or the amount of lead soldered to the wires, that sounds appropriate. He's a true legend!

[@50Something]

Epic and inspirational guitar tones from my youth. Nobody sounded like Neil, and I wore out a few of his 8 tracks. The Falcon seems to be the way to go! Thanks for doing this Andy!

[@drprick7432]

Cortez is one of my favorite all time songs. Really sad I missed the short "tour" of Crazy Horse last year. I'll bet someone here saw it and will chime in to make me jealous. Thanks, @AndyDemos!

[@taterfight]

My falcon is one of my favorite pedals. Has excellent low gain tones on the '61 side.

[@sph33_]

Oh man Andy playing Neil is a video made exactly for me. I feel targeted.

[@flatsixx]

Same here.

[@jonlohrenz5446]

Or you could just turn your tweed amp all the way up...and get the cops called on you.

[@starcloud4959]

@5150Torpedo euwee i'm all ears🐷

[@flatsixx]

Done that a few times before I moved rural.

[@andtrea.]

Andy always nails it, but imho his best Neil Young tone recreation is in the Lovepedal High Power Tweed Twin video, really unbelievable!

[@chrisnagy1429]

Hi, Andy and thanks for the video. Inspirational as always. Very Neil sounding. One thing that got me as my downstairs neighbor would always crank that Neil Young and Crazy Horse live album, I forget which one, but it was the atmosphere. It sounded like it was being played in a cavern or an underground tunnel, it was beautiful and what you showed today I think solves the riddle, it's that spring reverb with the echo with a gritty tube amp. Anyway, thanks a lot!!!

[@davemahan1993]

It’s not a live track, but I’ve always loved his work on the Dead Man soundtrack. It’s just Neil in a room with his cranked amp playing some somber cowboy music.

[@manulaudic]

Part of Neil young tone is that the fender being cracked up compresses so heavily that the delay and reverb do get pumped in between played notes. To achieve that without turning the amp all the way I would place the delay and reverb before the falcon. That way you can get that "in between" notes smash. Amazing video regardless, super ready tones. Neil young is a true guitar hero

[@oilyfool]

Or...you just run a power soak / attenuator on a 5e3 tweed circuit, set at 0.5 W...

[@paulloughran3892]

Ahh Andy, I remember when you demoed the functionfx clusterfuzz on pgs, played cinnamon girl and it sounded absolute killer! You still nailed it in this video too but I never had any doubt :)

[@jon210478]

Nailed it again man, you would be knighted for services to tone if you lived over here in England. Nice job

[@BrockBarr]

Brilliant. The Andy video I've been wanting for about the last 4 years! Better late than never. I never considered the Spring as part of the chain. We'll done Andy and Reverb team.

[@revolversoul03]

@REVERB Can you please either: a) go back to the format where you put up pictures of the pedals themselves and the settings you use in the videos or b) go back to the format where you put up diagrams of the pedals and the settings you use in the videos? Thanks

[@Guitarslinger72001]

I just picked up a Greer Brown Bomber - think a cranked Fender Concert in a box, and it is SUPER for getting said Neil tones..!

[@StuBiddyBop]

Thanks a lot for this Andy… I’ll be saving up for a tweed overdrive pedal now!

[@silverlightphotodesign]

Well Andy, this is the demo that sold me on a Reverend Guitar!!! Thanks for breaking down Neil’s sound! 🤘🏽

[@jordanlaughlin4060]

Andy, what's the signal path? You said he runs the reverb and delay into the preamp but as. You are using the falcon as a cranked fender emulator are you running the rev and delay into that or after that and into the amp?

[@texanfournow]

Me thinks Andy really enjoyed making this video...and it shows in superb rendering of Neil's sound.

[@miaoupha2370]

One should check the Catalinbread Formula 55 for Neil Young sounds... Andy did a demo a long time ago. Quite an amazing pedal.

[@jixxxxer17]

Thanks I was wondering about the Catalinbread pedal he mentioned, thank you

[@edadpops1709]

CTK been waiting years for this, thanks you nailed it.

[@mitchweber2423]

What is the chain order?!

[@MC-oo2gq]

Andy spectacular playing as always. I felt that the F55 nailed Neil a lot better than the Falcon. I would love to see the same songs with a full Catalinbread setup.

[@jahjah67]

Agreed. I’ve not heard a closer Crazy Horse sound than the Formula 55.

[@robbyhlove9695]

I vote for the Falcon.

[@ueillevx5027]

Best pedal vid ever! Thanks. I’ll be studying this one closely for all those tasty riffs because those are my favorite NY electric tunes.

[@jimmymarchisotto8152]

I've gotten good Neil tones from most any Fender tube amp and a low budget Gretsch. I even had a Stratocaster with Filtertron pickups that did a good job as well. He has a ragged kinda sound so a fuzz unit that will let you control the INPUT tho the gainstage to get that spitty type of sound works well too.

[@davidjameschamberlain]

Part of why I got a Gretsch was because of Neil. So much of the early stuff was on a White Falcon

[@flynncurt8717]

Does anyone know what the internal screws marked 1 & 2 effect? I can't find any mention in the manual or online.

[@pauloleary7792]

Great stuff Andy! You inspire me to play more (and play more Neil!)

[@jedjeffries686]

Just a question as to what order have you got these pedals in as I have just bought these 3 units. Thankyou.

[@lincolnshaw5667]

Did you ever get an answer or figure out a good combination. Just grabbed the True Spring and wondering whether to put it before or after the delay/echo. Any suggestions? Can’t figure out if Andy is putting the reverb into the delay or vice versa

[@thomaslester1190]

Any answer about the signal chain? Anyone?

[@Ohms_vs_Draaggs]

great live neil tune is speakin out on live at the roxy

[@pdg887]

Favorite live Neil Young tune (besides maybe the Weld version of Cortez that Andy mentions) = Slip Away from Year of the Horse Disc 2

[@onechewtreefaw818]

@andydemos echo before or after dirt in this demo?

[@TheJehuva]

CORTEZ. Nailed it. Great combo of pedals

[@GobBass]

I feel the Strymon Deco does a fine Neil saturated sound.

[@brockdinbarr]

I have the Deco and never thought of it for a NY sound. I'll try it but I'm not convinced that the amp sag will come through

[@shckltnebay]

Close I use it for all my low to mid gain tones

[@mattgilbert7347]

Never thought of that. I'll try it, maybe stacked with a germanium Fuzz up front.

[@starcloud4959]

Heck forgot auto-knob wizz , the underground plate and secret sauces, but honestly i think Neil keeps edging ever closer to the holy grail like some type of steampunk Tesla Coil Hadron Collider.

[@rolandjgutierrez5839]

Man dude you nailed it im speachless or textless thank you and reverb and you're music teacher.

[@RobFlaxMusic]

That Falcon sounds SO GOOD.

[@scrummyvision]

extremely useful vid. I have a half-built prototype of a knockoff Durham crazy horse, it's just a tube screamer into a fuzz with an awesome bias knob. it's just two separate boards strung together, but that was my first cut at getting this tone. now I know the key is a tweed overdrive! the voltage starve circuit in the crazy horse dims the voltage to both the op amp and the transistor stages, so I'm wondering if tweed OD into a fuzz or something else would be a better ticket. I have to finish v1 first I suppose...

[@mono.isgtds]

His best tone is in the dead man theme IMO.

[@CHodgy]

Thats a monster tone, fo sho

[@PhaseLockedLoop]

such an incredible movie and soundtrack!

[@RJD18437]

Rust never sleep and weld are amazing! And I love the high powered electric crazy horse version of “hey hey my my.. out of the blue”🤓🙌🏽🤘🏽🎸🎛📻📽

[@nicksimms3771]

Sounds great, but I felt like something was missing, and then I realized what it is: your guitar is in tune! 😂

[@idiosyncraticmushroom3030]

Get you a guitar with p-90s and a bigsby. get either the catalinbread formula 51 into a clean amp or a tube tweed style amp, ive got a tweed blues junior that does it perfectly. Turn the reverb up to like 3 and leave it there. Turn the gain up to about 6 for a clean tone and all the way for a grimy tone. Get another distortion pedal, something like a klon clone or a ts-9, and dime it for an even grimier tone and solos. If you want into the black, get an octave pedal and dont turn the low octave all the way up

[@WScott-gd2mj]

Always pick up something cool watching Andy's demos. In this case, playing the Powderfinger riff so it sounds like two guitars....

[@francissreckofabian01]

Like a Hurricane is my favourite Neil Young live performance.

[@SleepyBoBos]

Oh yeahhh!

[@starcloud4959]

Yeah yeah yeah.

[@ThatHuskyisCrazy]

I have a Rust Driver. I also saw a pedal at GC called a Rusty Fuzz. I’m thinking rust equals Neil. I saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse do a 45 minute version of Like A Hurricane because there was a hurricane down south at the time.

[@AndrewSnowden007]

With Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe, Trus Srrping Reverb and Falcon does the order of the pedals matter when connected together? If so can you tell me the order of pedals in video above please? Thanks

[@Diax1324]

It’s actually insane how good the CTS Falcon sounds. I bought it because of this demo.

[@loukabarone]

Could've had a bonus round for the octave tone from Hey Hey My My, but awesome video!

[@mattheweastel129]

Excellent choices, I can see he has it really wet with reverb, but that drive pedal is exceptional!

[@backlom]

Love your work Andy!! Keep on rocking...

[@puffinwrangler7557]

Very moving, thank you. Waves of nostalgia.

[@puffinwrangler7557]

Like barns and silos crumbling before the soundwaves.

[@danboylan2449]

This made my morning! Great work!

[@christianwheeler8386]

Full tone fat boost into an already pushed deluxe can do the Neil gain thing pretty well

[@darwinsaye]

Fun fact for anyone interested in chasing Neil’s tones. Straight from Neil’s longtime gear tech, Larry Cragg: The very first thing Neil’s guitar sees is his outboard spring unit. Yup. Spring reverb is first thing in his chain.

[@davidcomesanagonzalez5540]

Andy! You must have read my mind, because for the last 3 weeks i've been thinking on getting THE perfect drive for saggy neil young tones. I know you are a marshall guy, and so do i. I have my jtm45 set at the verge of breakup. What would you suggest me trying that would work with my setup? I've been considering the jhs superbolt or some of the catalinbread formulas, but after seeing you picking for this video the falcon... i'm starting to have headaches. Way too much pedals! Anyway, even if you are reading this, hope you are having a good day! This video is one of the most beautiful sounding gear related videos on youtube, you made my day!

[@nickklok4955]

My name is Nick, :P but can recommend the Catalinabread formula 5 (the old red ones). I use mine with 18v (don't worry they are made for it), gives some more grit. Make sure the volume goes up and the effect level (I think it's called 'Drive' is up. Than you can use the volume knob on your guitar to clean it up if wished. That works the best if you only wish to use one channel on your amp. Also pickups are very important, buckers seem to work great with the catalinabread and it's a really good pedal! You can reply if you need more help and good luck!

[@starcloud4959]

@@nickklok4955 what is the difference between the earlier Formula 5 and the newer Formula 55?

[@nickklok4955]

@@starcloud4959 Hi Star Cloud, sorry missed your message. Therefor my reaction almost 2 weeks later. From own experience, I cannot judge, I only own the older 'crimson red' Formula 5. From what I've heard, the older ones have more 'raw' / dirty tones in it. If you can find one of those, I would definitly look them up, mostly sales are on marketplaces or Reverb. Else I think the newer 55, is pretty good, but not as solid. That's my experience, but you can always check it out for yourself! Cheers!

[@alexwalton593]

killer cortez tone

[@seansabu310]

Any john martyn by chance? Solid air is bitchin , i delight in what neil young did for the movie "dead man" any one know what he used for that soundtrack ?

[@buckhorncortez]

First - start with "Old Black"...

[@fabioconsonni3232]

second: try to get his right hand way to hit the strings

[@MYGAS21]

Ok nice video as allways Andy but I must say I was expecting the legendary tone Neil had for the soundtrack of the masterful film DEADMAN .

[@mattbastubee5255]

I've had luck with a big muff through my blues jr. I am gonna check out a falcon now though.

[@nickklok4955]

You can check the Catalinbread Fn5 or Formula 5 aswel. Those are a bit cheaper and do the same thing. I own the older Formula 5. Wampler also makes a Tweed pedal, but those are pricier.

[@mattbastubee5255]

Nick Klok thanks for the recommendations Nick.

[@nickklok4955]

@@mattbastubee5255 Don't worry brother, and keep in mind. It doesn't matter who says what, just buy what you think is the best. :)

[@blakevickrey]

I used to use a Realistic electronic reverb box from radio shack into a crate bx25 bass amp to get a Neil Young sound and play along to my tape of Weld.

[@Killstrike6660]

Blake Vickrey that’s awesome! I used a rat and a fender 25 watt bass amp. Did not have a reverb pedal. Still had fun with it though. Keep rockin!

[@amaj7313]

Nice pedals but where can I get an invisible pick?

[@alexwalton593]

was literally looking up neil tone videos all of yesterday, reading my fucking mind

[@MacgyverMike1]

They need to do a sound like on mudhoney that would be awesome

[@MacgyverMike1]

@@salvageablefilth7383 they use other pedals besides the super fuzz and bigmuff

[@MacgyverMike1]

@@salvageablefilth7383 lol it was a good one

[@davidjameschamberlain]

@@MacgyverMike1 the DOD 250 is another big part of it

[@MacgyverMike1]

@@davidjameschamberlain yep that the mxr distortion + vox wah park fuzz and many more

[@johnlattimer350]

Don't really need the Falcon or True spring since I use a 64 Princeton w/matching 'verb tank.;) She Loves gettin' dirty!;D

[@AndrewSnowden007]

Falcon pedal vs Durham Electronics Crazy Horse pedal?

[@chrisearle1542]

Could anyone point me towards Neil's amp setting please?

[@caseymutzenberger5547]

Damn, now I gotta buy 3 more pedals! Great playing!

[@terojarvenpaa9223]

Thanks Andy! Great Cortez tone!

[@watkinscopicat]

so shouldn’t the ideal order be; True spring > Falcon??? since his reverb goes before his distorted amp? sounds great regardless 👍

[@JimBMusic1]

Awesome video Andy ! And I think this is not an easy sound to nail !

[@jixxxxer17]

I just saw Neil a couple nights ago, at 78 he is singing stronger than ever and his guitar tone on Old Black is even better than before, it's a bit more cleaner and it rings like a bell, No One Has a tone like Neil, I heard Joe Bonamassa say on a video about Neils tone, he said " turn your fender amp up all the way and turn off the reverb" and in this video he is talking about spring reverb, lol I just don't get shit like this , Peace !

[@blackfademedia6884]

sounds a tiny bit too clean till you got to cortez. where you NAILED it.

[@minionbong69]

I thought so too. I think the Falcon needed to be at the end of the signal (like a cranked up amp would be) and to use more gain to really get the live Neil Young amp-about-to-explode sound, it was just way too clean here.

[@joshualoveless20]

Sounds damn close but there needs to be deeper tones to give you a heavy "chug" , maybe turn up the bass and give it some more dirt. Lets not forget Neil loves his feedback! Keep on Rocking in the Free World!

[@jerahrichard9877]

Wow, awesome job! 👍🏻👍🏻

[@AntNuz]

Hi! How do you get the same tone with Guitar RIg 6?

[@ChrisH_UK]

Great video! I love the version of Powderfinger off Weld. "Juicy and succulent" as Greg Koch might say! Please do a video on Gary Moore's gear / sound!

[@joebryant8500]

Tuner on a Neil Young rig?

[@imlostinthewoods]

I like the Falcon so much... that I have two on my board! The Falcon truly gives you that amp "feel" if you know what I mean. I have one set to the 50's setting and one to the 60's.

[@TheCodeJockey]

Something is wrong with the front page of your website. When I click on a type of Strat I get a broken page error notice. Please check it out.

[@Reverb]

Apologies for any trouble here. Our Dev Team has been on the case and this should now be resolved. Let us know if you continue to experience issues!

[@revolversoul03]

Does anyone know why Reverb doesn't do this series anymore?

[@TauRiOneill]

That Cortez tho.❤️

[@caseymutzenberger5547]

what a killer

[@dariusliadon]

The tone was on point and Andy's playing really captured Neil's style. Great job all around!

[@ampman40]

Man that's close. Nice job.

[@batenich]

Nice Reverend!

[@chrisjohnstone6164]

How does the Falcon compare to the Benson for that awesome 'Fender-about-to-break' tone?

[@imlostinthewoods]

Chris Johnstone I like the Falcon so much... that I have two on my board! I've never played the Benson so I can't compare but the Falcon truly gives you that amp "feel" if you know what I mean. I have one set to the 50's setting and one to the 60's.

[@mahatmadoo2566]

I've been thinking about this subject all week. How did you .... oh, A.I. singularity must be here.

[@brandonv7830]

You too?

[@harrytuttle8161]

it's coming faster than you think . 1984 is here .

[@indigitalformat]

Andy thanks so much, huge Neil fan and you crushed it! A pretty expensive set of pedals, have any used for sale? Are there less expensive ones to get started? Love the Pegi Young photo credit! thx

[@DeliciousTasteTV]

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Cinnamon Girl right out of the gate!

[@samgrosvenor5012]

Cool video Andy. Thank you.

[@franktarant6033]

Down by the river, My favorite.

[@NoCoverCharge]

Glad to see the reverend back !

[@Keef_Guitar]

What model is that? I have a Sensei Jr that is really awesome but now I want this Reverend

[@chrisklassen7519]

Nice job Andy!!!