Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 90

In his work with Blackmore's
Night - this year marking
its 20th anniversary - he
uses instruments like
this Fylde mandala.

the quick chicken-pickin' lines. The tone
remains overdriven Strat heaven.
After the organ intro for "Lazy," Blackmore delivered sweet blues licks and slippery
runs that pay more homage to the British
blues of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac, and Ten Years After. Note his
overall volume and gain are lowered for a
cleaner, airier tone. He cranks it up, but not
until well after the five-minute mark and,
even then the Fender's quack is clear as a bell.
"Pictures of Home" has another fiery solo,
this one featuring whammy-bar jiggles and
serious string bends. As a rare treat, we also
get a short bass solo from Roger Glover,
adding fast upward chromatics on what
sounds like his Rickenbacker 4001 Stereo.
It's rum stuff.

STILL TRUCKIN' FORWARD
It's great to realize that, even 45 years after
Machine Head, the 72-year-old Blackmore
is still rocking the universe with his Stratocaster and Engl amps. We asked what's on
his schedule the rest of the year.
"We will be doing four electric shows with
the Rainbow lineup, then straight afterwards

I'll tour with Blackmore's Night for our 20th
anniversary tour. That's a Renaissance folkrock band with my wife Candace and quite a
change from Rainbow. When I play electric
guitar, I have to have short fingernails on
my right hand. Then, after a month off, I
have to grow them back to play fingerstyle;
sometimes I resort to acrylics to make them
stronger for playing. We'll be putting out
various recordings of the Rainbow and
Blackmore's Night lineups."
No question, Blackmore is busier than
ever. Welcome back, sir.
Thanks to HP Newquist, Tom Guerra, Dave Hunter,
Tom Mulhern, and Don Arney for their input. Lyrics
to "Smoke On The Water" are copyrighted by Sony/
ATV Music.
As part of the celebration marking 40 years since
the release of Machine Head, Eagle Records will offer
Re-Machined - A Tribute To Deep Purple's Machine
Head, set for release September 25. The disc features
track-by-track covers performed solo or in groups
by superstar guitarists Steve Vai, Carlos Santana,
Joe Bonamassa, Joe Satriani, Steve Stevens, and
more. Learn more at www.kayosproductions.com/
cddvd.php?id=928.
VINTAGE GUITAR

90

September 2017

Ritchie Blackmore: Michael Keel.

PURPLE TONE!

Using conventional gear, a team of VG
tone-ologists tried to replicate Ritchie
Blackmore's Machine Head tone. Among
the tools were Fender Stratocasters made
in the U.S. and Mexico, a Squier Classic Vibe
'50s Strat, and a Music Man Cutlass all fed
into a basic overdrive pedal and a Britishstyled tube combo from Musicvox. After
extensive experimentation, we achieved
something very close to Blackmore's woody,
powerhouse Strat tone.
First, you should use a tube amp with
signifcant output and preferably no Master
Volume control; if yours has one, don't turn
the Gain past 1 o'clock. This creates more
power-amp overdrive than modern "saturated" preamp distortion. Like Jimmy Page
or Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blackmore used far
less crunch than you might think, which is a
good lesson for us all. You should also back
off the Treble on your amp or guitar so it's
not too bright - Blackmore reputedly liked to
deploy the midrange as his upper-frequency
control and leave the treble off.
Of course, you'll need a Stratocaster or
one of the countless Strat-style solidbodies
on the market, as long as it has single-coil
pickups (a purist would prefer passive, but
David Gilmour uses actives and his Strat
tone is legendary in its own right). Singlecoil-sized humbuckers, however, are not
recommended.
Ultimately, the magic Machine Head
formula is a combination of a classic Strat
or something similar, an old-school tube
amp with a good bit of volume on it, and
an overdrive/booster stompbox in front.
For that "Smoke on the Water" lead tone,
add tape echo or thick analog delay. Again,
don't overdo the gain or distortion, but do flip
between neck and bridge pickups frequently.
In our tests, we got even better results by
backing down the guitar's Volume to the
sweet spot. You'll need to experiment with
your own rig, but suffice to say, less is more.
Bottom line? You'll know you're on the
right track if your Strat still quacks like a
Strat when you crank it up loud. Just like
the Man in Black. - Pete Prown
Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open

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