Girls, Girls, Girls guitar tone
Mötley Crüe · Mick Mars
Girls, Girls, Girls (1987)
half-step-down hard-rock crunch rhythm with boosted bluesy lead
The rig Mötley Crüe used
Researched from interviews, production write-ups and gear histories — not guessed.
Guitar
Kramer Baretta
Amplifier
Marshall JCM800 2203 (100W)
Cabinet
Marshall 1960A 4x12 (Celestion G12T-75)
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
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Why we think this is right
Mick Mars is the sole credited guitarist. Girls, Girls, Girls was recorded at Rumbo Recorders (Canoga Park, CA), produced by Tom Werman with engineer Duane Baron and mixed by Michael Wagener. Mars's peak-Kramer-endorsement era rig is repeatedly documented as a Kramer superstrat (single Seymour Duncan JB humbucker, Floyd Rose) into a Marshall JCM800 2203 driving a Marshall 1960 4x12, with a Boss SD-1 pushing the front end and a rack noise gate taming the gain (Guitar World / Guitar Player features, gear rundowns). The title track is a straight half-step-down (Eb) hard-rock riff — one amp voiced by guitar volume for the crunch verses/chorus and a boosted bluesy solo. Residual uncertainty: exact 1960 cab speaker (G12T-75 vs Greenback), the specific gate unit, and whether a Les Paul was used on any overdub rather than the Kramer.
Sources
- Guitar World / Guitar Player Mick Mars features (mid-late '80s)
- Girls, Girls, Girls album credits — Tom Werman (prod.), Duane Baron (eng.), Michael Wagener (mix), Rumbo Recorders