Keith Richards' Satisfaction Guitar Tone | Friday Fretworks

How did Keef get THAT guitar tone on Satisfaction?!
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[@ryanc2465]

“Arguably” one of the most arguable arguments any arguer has ever argued.

[@LennyJohnson5]

You arguably make a strong argument.

[@chipsterb4946]

Ryan Carrico that’s not an argument! It’s just a contradiction :)

[@CJJC]

ChipsterB No it isn’t.

[@flatsixx]

With 90% accuracy, but there's only a 30% chance of that.

[@mjh5437]

Yes,you are inarguably correct Sir..

[@markknight6445]

You kept a straight face when you said “I’m going to use my Way huge swollen pickle” BRAVO .🤭😁

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

Ha! I’m too pure 😂

[@dagnabbit3383]

HA! Great point, good job on that Chris.

[@briancorcoran8266]

Closest anybody has ever been to the satisfaction tone on the internet. Amazing job bro. Thanks for posting

[@RandomButtonPusher]

When the song was recorded and released in '65, I was 13 and living in a Kalamazoo suburb. I had no awareness then that two of the tools for this iconic sound had come from downtown. Still have my '68 LG-1 acoustic made at the Kalamazoo facility.

[@zerohourdrift]

Although I’m a long time follower of yours, ive only just starting to listen to your newest record.... I must say, HOT DAMN😂 the guitar work on this one is amazing... I especially love the re-recorded versions of some of your older songs... I’ve known you’re an incredible guitarist but I’m absolutely floored by how good the licks and solos are on it. Keep it up Chris!!!

[@loumonte658]

Best reproduction I've heard. I've been a fan of the stones since the early 70s.

[@jhoskins5630]

The Stone's Gear book says Kieth played his Firebird on that track Maestro.

[@jordandangelo180]

Saw the notification as soon knew it would be featuring some gnarly vintage fuzz tones. Always wanted a Maestro Fuzz Tone . My father had one along with a Mosrite Fuzzrite in the 1960’s when he played guitar in several bands but he sold all of his gear never thinking the value would be what it is today.

[@breft3416]

Good job. Back in the 60's a friend had a Maestro fuzz that I played through my Vox Berkeley 2. It was Satisfaction, sharp and clear- an indelible memory for me.

[@dustyjeans9748]

Hi,,,Keith was using a Fender Showmwan..The Duel Showman was taller and had a reverb tank at the bottom of it.

[@daleandrews3552]

Wow! Being a complete novice when it comes to guitar and technical jargon, you went way over my head. I played guitar with friends as a 12-14 year old kid but quit. A friend of mine I played and learned with in the early days kept at it and became quite the accomplished rock guitarist. He was in a small band in Louisiana during the '70's but they eventually disbanded. He went on to pursue a career in a television studio. He moved out to California where he was employed for a number of years. Anyway, that's another story. Thanks for the breakdown on this sound. Through the years I've always wondered how it was achieved. I appreicate your post and efforts to explain it for all of us oldies lovers.

[@EpicStuffMan1000]

you also have to account for how the mics/recording console/whatever the engineer did to it changed the sound. not something that's super important for modern recordings but back then with recording not being a presice art it must have been very different in that room. that said, sounds great

[@joeric3509]

Great job. I was just in a shop tonight and came across a Swollen Pickle. Might have go back and pick it up.

[@TheRachelal8na]

It's all in the FUZZ! My very first guitar was a1964 Gibson ES-125 TCD (semi hollow, single cutaway, 2 dog ear P90s, trapeze tailpiece) and a Gibson GA-19RVT Falcon (2 6V6, 1 12" speaker, 15 watts, brown tolex). I could barely play, but when this song came out the next year, I begged my parents for a fuzz, which was this Maestro. I would sit for hours, much to my parents chagrin, and play "dat,dat,...dat,dat,dat" while I had the record playing on my phonograph. It sounded EXACTLY like the record. So yes, while gilding the lily with the perfect guitar and amplifier approaches perfection, the Maestro is really the secret sauce.

[@jeff-cu4ct]

Your a great Guitar player. I've watch some of your fretworks video's then watched your live performances. You have inspired me to start playing more guitar.

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

Thank you Jeff, that's very kind of you! Enjoy :)

[@seeburg10]

That's going to be as close as anyone gets it. Good sleuthing and playing as usual!

[@codymcgrew4015]

More reverb and you’re there 👌

[@barristerh5379]

Pretty close for my ears. I didn't hear any reverb on your track. I thought I heard a little in original track. Not sure though. While you're fuzz is still hooked up, how about spirit in the sky?

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

I love these episodes 😎🎸✅

[@Dang...]

Fun, thanks!

[@MarkPritchardGuitar]

Nailed it Chris!

[@maciejkowalski2759]

Tbh the guitar sound on Satisfcation does resemble a brass section to such extent, that I never was able to truly believe that this riff was actually being played on guitar. For years whenever I saw this song on some list of greatest guitar riffs ever, I was like, what they are all talking about, it's a great riff for sure, but it's only a guitar riff when played live, it was never a guitar riff on the original recording. Now i know better :D

[@jacksaintjack2844]

I just ordered the Electro Harmonix Satisfaction fuzz pedal. I will put it first in the chain then into a 6 band EQ pedal and then into my Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. I have 2 guitars to choose from. A Silvertone 1303 and a Parker Fly Deluxe. As long as I can get close, I'll be happy.

[@stihlearning046]

Would love to see what you would be able to come with on Marty Robbins song "Don't Worry". A lot of information out there on the recording but to come close to it would be cool.

[@ColdSlayerFan]

1:35 when he said 55 year old information,I said in my mind "supposed to fire my imagination" 😆

[@williama-d6]

sounds good

[@schwenke069]

Close enough brother ... nice job! Only way too have that tone exactly, involves a time machine to access all the equipment used on that recording (including room, board, speakers, mic ... etc.). One shot deal. If it had sounded any different ... that's what we'd be looking for. Thanks.

[@willk-lander5791]

I would lean toward Gibson gifting the pedal as mentioned. In keith's autobiography he does say that Gibson also gave them two firebirds and lots of other gear.

[@lotharroberts5978]

I think it was a Guild Bluesbird. I believe he said so himself.

[@Slovy_]

Waddy Wachtel says in his Rig Rundown that Keith used a LP Jr. I can’t remember if it was his LP Jr that he owns. Electro Harmonix makes a fuzz called Satisfaction that’s maestro fuzz clone for like $50 new theres used ones cheap on EBay

[@SolePilatesNYLocustValleyNY]

great work! well done and thought out. I think the original had more reverb and chorus, But you nailed the basic sound

[@sophiemilton5939]

Chorus did not exist at that time, nor did flanging or any other time-delay/modulation effect. That was all some years down the line and would begin slowly with the first modulation effect of any kind, the Univox Univibe. - I think that came out in 1969

[@aangtonio5570]

@@sophiemilton5939 You're right about chorus,, but... overdubbing, double tracking AND tape flanging were already known studio techniques by the mid '60s, which can actually do the chorus-detune effect pretty well (in a different way and sound than latter stompboxes do, of course). You could also get a very "chorusy" effect with a very short tape echo, because of the natural wow and flutter thing. By the way, despite the "chorus" labeling, Uni-Vibes are electronically and sonically way closer to harmonic tremolos and phasers than actual chorus and flangers.

[@DisFunctor]

This is amazing, liked and subbed! What settings did you have on the pedal?

[@sergeforest5070]

Nice tone Chris. It is the right setting on your Swollen Pickle as per video ?

[@Hitperson]

great Chris, all you need to add is you stepping on a stapler to give the sound of the "click" every time Keith stepped on the pedal :D

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

Haha. I was going to include that in the video but was a little concerned about using too much of the original track for fear of KZbin flagging it as copyright infringement!

[@Hitperson]

@@ChrisBuckGuitar very true mate!

[@JohnStevensletterartist]

Good job, but Any chance a sax is doubling the notes and mixed in? (with some studio wizardry). I'm thinking also of how much work is on the opening Hard Days Night chord. thx.

[@tonyvardy2399]

That's bollocks Chris, surely he was using the electric lightning ⚡️

[@track1219]

Nice job!

[@robinjgill]

Amazing how some riffs like this and the Black Dog riff you did a while back sound so, so much better in the mix. Your own tone however is totally the opposite. It sounds best totally bare.

[@Victorzrx1200r]

Great

[@dwaynemcallister7231]

Is that '59 burst the one he later sold to Mick Taylor 2 years before he joined the Stones?

[@GLENNKEARNEY1]

love it

[@simonplimbley5778]

Top 👍😘

[@braden2112]

I feel that your close, but your not at the same time because that tone is so legendary and the original rig setup is super expensive to have with a 59 Les Paul, a Fender dual showman, and a maestro fuzz pedal. It’s just so crazy, but in all do respect you did get the tone very very close to the original. Keep it up your doing really good!

[@alexbreyer6921]

Swollen Pickle is a big muff variant. Fairly different type fuzz from a Maestro.

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

Agreed - I used it in this video primarily because of its filter control which allows infinitely more versatility than your average Big Muff. And if I say so, got pretty close to the original sound…

[@Jkautsky]

Ironically, in the actual audio of the Stones playing Satisfaction on the Ed Sullivan Show, Keith's tone was horrible and sounded nothing like he recording and you could hear Brian Jones better than you could hear Keith.

[@mikeymank]

I read somewhere that the battery in the fuzz pedal was dying during the performance

[@raybrown1725]

@@mikeymank If I were playing Sullivan, I would have fully charged it that day

[@sophiemilton5939]

@@raybrown1725 Rechargeable batteries did not become available for about anothet twenty years. In those days there were no pedal power supplies not sockets on a pedal to plug them into - you just put a new PP3 battery in. It's quite possible that all sounded fine at sound-check but if he left the lead plugged into the unit then it remained on which might have flattened the battery to problem level by the time the Stones actually played. :-)

[@raybrown1725]

@@sophiemilton5939 Thank You; you have ruined everything.

[@vonslagle]

Didn’t Kieth record the fuzz “demo” track in his bedroom?

[@jordanlake471]

The riff was written in his sleep, he sat up and recorded a version of in his room so he didn’t forget it

[@KaiSoDaM]

@@jordanlake471 i wish i could record thing that goes through my mind when I'm bored :(

[@christianscharlipke3504]

Ever tried the neck pickup for even more authenticy ?

[@LPCustom3]

Keith use the neck pickup of a Gibson Firebird VII into the Fuzz into a Fender Dual Showman. It’s well documented. This is from the engineer Dave Hassinger. Gibson gave The Stones Two Firebird VII’s & a Hummingbird. Dave said he did “a lot of EQ’ing” to get it sounding fat.

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

I’ve read numerous quotes from Dave but none made mention of the Firebird. I’ve taken a bit of a leap of faith with the LP (I’m quite willing to be proved wrong!) but the the most in-depth quote of his I found was the following, which doesn’t make any reference to the actual guitar. "I changed the sound of that a little bit. I operated a lot on the way I heard things. The way they had that fuzz guitar was very "thin" sounding. I thought it sounded like a bumble bee going around, so I fattened it up by the way I equalized it. I would take out various frequencies rather than boosting something. You can take some things away, but boosting...when you're fooling around with the curve of the sound means you have to be very careful. So, I took a lot of the midrange out of the guitar. To me, it was like a saxaphone line, something like a saxaphone would play. Basically, I just fattened it up. I really dug the way that sounded. We never discussed things like that. They always came to me because they trusted me, I guess. We would never discuss the "sound". They would always leave that up to me."

[@Relayer6a]

@@ChrisBuckGuitar Just to expand on the taking sound away part. You can take away anything that's there but you can't boost something that isn't. Now, not the say that there was no bass but if you tried to boost it then you would also be boosting anything else in that range, like noise.. But people still insist on trying to add to a sound rather than taking what's around it away.

[@LPCustom3]

Buck And Evans page # 171 in Andy Babiuk’s great book “Rolling Stones Gear” . Recorded at RCA Studios in Hollywood in mid-May 1965 on a Four Track machine. All tracks done in one day.

[@teddyboy9116]

It was recorded on an Acoustic, on an old tape recorder that made the guitar sound fuzzy,...

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

I think you're thinking of Jumpin' Jack Flash. Satisfaction was a Les Paul into a Maestro Fuzz into a Dual Showman. Or at least every independent account of the studio session would say...

[@teddyboy9116]

@@ChrisBuckGuitar no it was deffo satisfaction....keith had just bought a Philips cassette recorder and played an Acoustic got the riff in his sleep...hes says that in alot of interviews abt the limiters in the tape recorders that distorted the sound so he left the original demo as it was in the master....straight from the horses mouth!

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

Check this video out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpSbfJ6dlLSclZY "As aware as I am that I was the bugger that started the foot pedal with Satisfaction, to me that was a one-off effect."

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

...as an interesting aside, listen to Satisfaction and at 34 seconds, you can hear Keith click the fuzz pedal back on :)

[@teddyboy9116]

@@ChrisBuckGuitar the first part of the intro is from the Acoustic demo, then the overdub kicks in, we're both right I think haha

[@theearthenstar1355]

would have been spot on with reverb and reverse hammering notes yoou got it though!

[@thanovee5999]

You pretty much nailed the tone but you didnt jack up the reverb to get that sound.

[@nicolaspizarro629]

Engineer David hassinger add lots of eq on the riff. You clone the record sound, but it is not the room sound.

[@RedArrow73]

Did he not own the 3-PU Black Beauty at that time?

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

I’m pretty sure I’ve read that he bought his first Black Beauty in ‘66.

[@davitofarito]

I think some of the credit for that tone has to go to the engineers in the studio, because those original Maestros (both circuits) were pretty thin, shitty sounding fuzzes.

[@JasonClute]

Are the settings on the shot of the swollen pickle at 4:20 what you used to dial it in?

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

They are :)

[@aliceandersen]

So can you tell us what settings you used on the pedal to get that sound?

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

They’re the settings on screen at 4:23

[@julian65886]

Would have been closer to the sound with some reverb.

[@diegoschwartz3519]

Did he say "hearED"?? Lol ;)

[@coolmacatrain9434]

Didn't Keith use an Acoustic (with a pickup) for "Satisfaction"

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

That was for Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

[@coolmacatrain9434]

@@ChrisBuckGuitar I was sure I heard Keiths demo was used and it was a semi-acoustic... and I heard that back in the late 70's. Mind you, as you said, probably chinese whispers

[@briancorcoran8266]

Jumpin jack and street fighting man. Both overloaded acoustics from a tape recorder cranked over the loud speaker. Really cool idea actually especially at the time. Watch Keith Richards under the influence he shows how he did it with the tape recorder from 1967 plays the riff and everything. Really cool stuff

[@coolmacatrain9434]

@@briancorcoran8266 A'in't denying it buddy, but over the years I grew up it was always said that "Satisfaction" was done on an over-driven acoustic.

[@2424rocket]

Six minute video? This video should have been one minute. Far as I’m concerned you got the exact same sound. And why does it actually have to be the same sound?

[@zachgraves1617]

How many Bill Hicks fans here?

[@newgunguy4176]

The original sounds more vocally and yours sounds more nasally. Whatever I mean by that. Awesome, nonetheless.

[@briantaylor2.023]

This guy arguably used the word “arguably” arguably excessively and incorrectly in this video

[@Pimp-Master]

Sucky. A waste of time. I have two links on You Tube that nail the solo totally.

[@ChrisBuckGuitar]

Yet you still clicked on this one?

[@nemesiofernandez2410]

sooo much talking