TONEDB

lead guitar from “icky thump” by the white stripes | ToneDB

icky thump

the white stripes

lead guitar

AI generatedv1.0

Tone Profile

A raw and aggressive fuzz tone, characterized by its thick, distorted sound and gritty texture. It's the kind of tone that punches through a mix with authority.

Gear

Gretsch Rancher Falconinstrument
Reverb$675Sweetwater
Sears Silvertone 1485amp
ReverbSweetwater
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Piprocessing
ReverbSweetwater

ToneDB may earn a commission from purchases made through these links.

The Story

Jack White's lead guitar tone on "Icky Thump" was created using a Gretsch Rancher Falcon hollow-body guitar fed through an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz pedal into a vintage Sears Silvertone 1485 amplifier. The track was recorded at Blackbird Studio in Nashville with Joe Chiccarelli engineering. The combination of the hollow-body guitar's natural resonance and the Big Muff's thick fuzz creates the song's signature aggressive, gritty lead tone.

Production Credits

Producer: Jack White

Engineer: Joe Chiccarelli

Recorded at: Blackbird Studio (Nashville, TN)

Signal Chain

Instrument: Gretsch Rancher Falcon

Amp: Sears Silvertone 1485

Processing: Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi

Recreation Tips

  • Start with a hollow-body guitar, as this is crucial to the tone. A semi-hollow can work as well.
  • Use an EHX Big Muff Pi to get a similar fuzz sound. Adjust the tone and sustain knobs to taste.
  • A vintage tube amp like a Silvertone or a similar low-wattage amp will help capture the original tone. Experiment with different amp settings and speaker combinations to dial in the sound.
  • If you don't have access to a vintage amp, try using an amp modeling plugin or pedal to emulate the sound of a Silvertone or other similar amp.

Original Gear

  • Gretsch Rancher Falcon(guitar)
  • Sears Silvertone 1485(amp)
  • Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi(pedal)

Substitutions & Recommendations

Epiphone Wildkat$400-$500

Alternative to: Gretsch Rancher Falcon

Budget hollow-body with similar P90-style pickups that provides the essential hollow-body resonance and bite needed for this fuzz tone

ReverbSweetwater
Gretsch G5422TG Electromatic$500-$600

Alternative to: Gretsch Rancher Falcon

Modern Gretsch hollow-body that captures the original's tonal character with Filter'Tron pickups and similar construction

ReverbSweetwater
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi$80-$100

Alternative to: Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi

The exact same fuzz pedal used on the original recording, still manufactured today with the same thick, sustaining fuzz character

ReverbSweetwater
Supro Delta King 10$400-$500

Alternative to: Sears Silvertone 1485

Low-wattage tube amp that captures the raw, vintage character of the original Silvertone with similar breakup and compression

ReverbSweetwater
Universal Audio Oxide Tape$150-$200

Alternative to: Sears Silvertone 1485

Plugin that models vintage amp saturation and tape compression, helping recreate the raw recorded character of the Silvertone

ReverbSweetwater

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Community Insights

No community insights yet. Be the first to contribute!