Summer of '69 guitar tone
Bryan Adams · Keith Scott
Reckless (1984)
arena-rock crunch and soaring melodic lead
The rig Bryan Adams used
Researched from interviews, production write-ups and gear histories — not guessed.
Guitar
Fender Stratocaster (1976 modified)
Amplifier
Marshall JCM800 2203
Cabinet
Marshall 1960A 4x12 Cabinet
Microphone
Shure SM57
Signal chain
The order the original sound was built in. The exact settings get dialled for your own amp or modeller when you generate the tone.
Get this tone on your rig
Pick your amp or modeller and we’ll build Summer of '69 for it — with a preset file you can load, not a list of knob positions.
Why we think this is right
Recorded in 1984 at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver and mixed by Bob Clearmountain at Power Station in New York, 'Summer of '69' features Keith Scott playing his 1976 Olympic White Fender Stratocaster ('The Beast'), modded with a bridge humbucker for the Reckless sessions. Scott tracked through cranked 100-watt Marshall JCM800 heads pushed by an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer. Studio mixdown processing by Bob Clearmountain added Roland Dimension D stereo chorusing, Roland SDE-3000 rhythmic delay on the solo, and Power Station EMT 140 plate reverb.
Sources
- Guitar Player Magazine (December 1987) interview with Keith Scott on Reckless gear and recording
- Sound On Sound 'Classic Tracks: Bryan Adams / Bob Clearmountain'
- Premier Guitar Rig Rundown: Bryan Adams & Keith Scott (Craig Pattison & Dan Ely)
- Musicnotes Guitar TAB MN0087368 ('Summer of 69')
- Jim Vallance official songwriting and session notes for Summer of '69