Jeff Beck

• Ditch the pick — Beck's fingers-only technique produces the soft, vocal attack
• Tremolo bar is always in the right hand; use it for vibrato, swells and subtle bends
• Set up the Strat with low action and a well-balanced trem to allow light bar pressure
• Neck pickup for warm, vocal lead tones; bridge for brittle, glassy textures
• Study "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" for the definitive Beck ballad approach
• Volume knob swells with fingers create instant dynamics without a pedal
• Amp should be at the edge of breakup — Beck's dynamics push it from clean to crunch
• Use the bar to bend a note up to pitch after picking (reverse bend approach)
• Harmonics — both natural and artificial — are central to the Beck vocabulary

Jeff Beck was the most technically adventurous guitarist of his generation — he abandoned the plectrum in the late 1970s, controlling everything with his thumb and fingers. His Stratocaster-and-tremolo-bar vocabulary spanned blues, jazz, rock and electronics, every note shaped by whammy and touch.