Sweet Child O' Mine guitar tone
Guns N' Roses · Slash
Appetite for Destruction (Geffen, July 1987), guitars tracked from January 1987 with producer Mike Clink. 125 BPM, 5:55 (songbpm.com); the band tuned to E-flat standard, which is why the record sits a semitone below where most people first learn the riff.
A modified 100-watt Marshall with one extra cascaded preamp stage and an added master volume, into a 4x12, with a Les Paul. Mid-forward, thick and vocal - the intro is a neck-pickup sound with the tone rolled back, not a bright bridge-pickup sound, and the solos are the same amp pushed with the guitar's own volume. There is no pitch device, no harmoniser and no clean amp anywhere on this track.
The rig Guns N' Roses used
Researched from interviews, production write-ups and gear histories — not guessed.
Guitar
Kris Derrig Les Paul replica with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Zebra pickups. guitar.com: 'Kris' guitars were not exact replicas, although they did have the Gibson logo on the headstock. Slash's was fitted with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Zebra pickups and had a thinner neck profile than a Gibson... Derrig's Les Paul copy was the guitar heard throughout the Appetite For Destruction album.' Note the timing, because it decides which parts it is on: Slash says he only got the guitar 'at the very last minute, right when I was going in to do guitar overdubs' - the basic tracks were started on a B.C. Rich Mockingbird and a Jackson archtop. NOTE ON THE PICKUP: the fetched source says Alnico II ZEBRA, not the later Seymour Duncan APH-1 'Alnico II Pro' production pickup. Both are Alnico II humbuckers and either will get you there; do not treat the distinction as a tone control.
Amplifier
The Studio Instrument Rentals Marshall known as Stock #36, modified by Frank Levi with an extra preamp stage and an added master volume. Slash had asked for a different modified head, Stock #39, but it was out on rental. Marshall's AFD100 was later modelled on #36.
Cabinet
Marshall 4x12 (Celestion 30s)
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 Sweet Child O' Mine for it — with a preset file you can load, not a list of knob positions.
Why we think this is right
Appetite for Destruction was cut in 1987 with Mike Clink. guitar.com's account, drawing on Slash's own book, says he asked Studio Instrument Rentals for a modified Super Lead, Stock #39, but it was out on rental and S.I.R. quietly sent Stock #36 instead: a different modified head with an added preamp stage and a master volume, and the amp Marshall later modelled the AFD100 on. The guitar is Kris Derrig's Les Paul copy with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups, named as the guitar heard throughout the album, into a Marshall 4x12. The warmth of the intro is the neck pickup with the tone rolled back; it is a distorted sound, not a clean one. No amp setting or microphone is documented.
Sources
- https://guitar.com/features/artist-rigs/the-gear-used-by-slash-guns-n-roses-appetite-for-destruction/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Child_o%27_Mine
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appetite_for_Destruction
- https://songbpm.com/@guns-n-roses/sweet-child-o-mine