Song Rig
Monster
Eric Gales · Middle of the Road · 2017
Tone Overview
What Makes This Sound Unique
Aggressive and powerful — Gales at his most intense. The heavy blues-rock track demands a full-on Marshall tone with natural power-amp saturation. The inverted Strat character is audible in the aggressive attack of the overdriven notes.
Signal Chain
- 1Fender Stratocaster (inverted left-hand)
- 2Marshall Super Lead or JCM800 (cranked)
Amp Settings
Marshall cranked for maximum saturation — Gales goes full Hendrix/Vaughan territory here, using the Strat into a loud Marshall to get the interactive power-amp compression that defines heavy blues-rock.
Technique
How to Play It
Explosive bends and fast runs from the inverted position — Gales's technique involves bending strings downward (toward the floor) rather than upward, producing a different tonal character on the same bends.
Budget Alternative
Achievable With
Stratocaster bridge pickup → JCM800 clone or Suhr Badger → push the amp hard. The essential characteristic is power-amp saturation, not pedal gain.
Your Gear
Adapt to My Amp
More from Eric Gales
Other Song Rigs
South Side Stomp
The Eric Gales Band · 1991
Eric Gales' debut at age 16 — a raw, powerful blues-rock track that announced a …
View rig →Shadow Dancing
Picture of a Man · 2017
Gales' comeback album after personal difficulties — a mature, darker tone that r…
View rig →Boomerang
Relentless · 2022
Eric Gales at his most recent and refined — the Relentless album shows a mature,…
View rig →You Don't Know What Love Is
Middle of the Road · 2017
Deeply emotional blues — Gales's upside-down left-hand playing (strung for right…
View rig →Transformation
Transformation · 2019
Raw and honest — the sobriety-inspired Transformation album is Gales at his most…
View rig →