Song Rig
Strange Times
Dan Auerbach · Attack & Release · 2008
Tone Overview
What Makes This Sound Unique
Psychedelic, fuzz-drenched departure — Attack & Release saw the Black Keys working with Danger Mouse and reaching for a wider sonic palette. Strange Times features a thick, woolly fuzz tone from an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff with a detuned quality, almost like a baritone guitar through an overdose of fuzz.
Signal Chain
- 1Silvertone or Harmony guitar (vintage neck pickup)
- 2Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
- 3Fender amp (clean platform)
Amp Settings
The amp is kept relatively clean — all the gain comes from the Big Muff. Bass high for the woolly, bottom-heavy fuzz character. The combination of a vintage single-coil guitar, Big Muff and clean amp creates the specific textured fuzz quality.
Technique
How to Play It
Loose, rhythmically non-precise strumming into the fuzz — the imprecision is intentional and part of the psychedelic aesthetic. Notes blur into each other through fuzz saturation. Slide used on some passages for additional pitch smearing.
Budget Alternative
Achievable With
Vintage single-coil guitar (Squier Classic Vibe Strat works) → EHX Big Muff Pi → any clean amp with bass pushed.
Your Gear
Adapt to My Amp
More from Dan Auerbach
Other Song Rigs
Lonely Boy
El Camino · 2011
El Camino marked the Black Keys's commercial breakthrough and Auerbach's most po…
View rig →Tighten Up
Brothers · 2010
Brothers was a stripped-back, deliberately lo-fi album recorded in a historic Mu…
View rig →Howlin' for You
Brothers · 2010
Howlin' for You has a slightly more aggressive guitar tone than Tighten Up — the…
View rig →Gold on the Ceiling
El Camino · 2011
Hard-driving two-piece blues rock at its most anthemic — El Camino was a sonic s…
View rig →She's Long Gone
Brothers · 2010
Lo-fi, raw blues rock — Brothers was famously recorded in a short time in a shar…
View rig →