Tone Profile

A powerful, anthemic rhythm guitar sound featuring gritty, overdriven chords from a Les Paul into a Fender amp, defined by its immense space from studio plate or hall reverb.

Signal Chain

Recording Notes

• Recorded at Hotel2Tango in Montreal, primarily engineered by Mark Lawson and the band.
• Win Butler, the primary songwriter and guitarist, often used his Gibson Les Paul Custom through a Fender Twin Reverb for the album 'Funeral'.
• The spacious, epic sound heavily relies on high-quality studio reverbs like the EMT 140 plate, AKG BX-10 spring, or digital units like the Lexicon PCM70, applied during mixing.
• The song features multiple guitar layers, but the main rhythm part provides a strong, driving foundation.
• Performances were captured with a focus on energy and emotional delivery, contributing to the anthemic quality.

Recreation Tips

• Use a humbucker-equipped guitar, such as a Gibson Les Paul or similar.
• Set your amplifier (ideally a Fender Twin Reverb or similar clean, high-headroom amp) to be mostly clean or at the very edge of breakup.
• Employ an overdrive pedal like a ProCo RAT (or similar versatile overdrive/distortion) for the main grit. Dial in enough gain for sustain and power, but ensure chord voicings remain relatively clear.
• The reverb is crucial: use a high-quality plate or hall reverb. If using plugins, emulations of EMT plates or Lexicon hall reverbs are ideal. Set a long decay time and a generous mix level.
• Consider double-tracking the rhythm guitar part and panning each take slightly to the left and right to achieve a wider, fuller sound.
• Focus on strong, consistent strumming, particularly downstrokes for the main driving sections, to capture the song's energy.

Recommended Gear

• Gibson Les Paul Custom(guitar)
• Fender Twin Reverb(amp)
• ProCo RAT 2 Distortion Pedal(pedal)
• Shure SM57(mic)
• Universal Audio EMT 140 Plate Reverb(plugin)
• Valhalla Plate(plugin)
• Eventide Space Reverb Pedal(pedal)
• Strymon BigSky Reverberator Pedal(pedal)