Song Rig
Love Hunter
John Sykes · Love Hunter · 1979
Tone Overview
What Makes This Sound Unique
Sykes's earliest major recording with Whitesnake — the 1979 tone is rawer and more direct than the polished 1987 productions. The Les Paul through the Marshall without the studio processing of the later records has more pick noise, string squeal, and natural amp character.
Signal Chain
- 1Gibson Les Paul (1979 era, standard humbuckers)
- 2Marshall JMP 100W (earlier Marshall than the JCM800)
Amp Settings
Rawer and more direct than the 1987 recordings — the 1979 Whitesnake albums were recorded quickly with less studio processing, giving the guitar a more live, immediate character.
Technique
How to Play It
Blues-influenced hard rock playing — the early Whitesnake albums show Sykes in a more blues-influenced context than his later virtuosic approach, with string bends and conventional pentatonic vocabulary used more prominently.
Budget Alternative
Achievable With
Les Paul → Marshall JMP or JCM800 → no effects. The 1979 tone is the most straightforward version of the classic British rock guitar sound.
Your Gear
Adapt to My Amp
More from John Sykes
Other Song Rigs
Still of the Night
Whitesnake · 1987
Possibly the heaviest, most authoritative British hard rock riff tone of the 198…
View rig →Is This Love
Whitesnake · 1987
The counterpart to Still of the Night on the same album — Sykes demonstrates his…
View rig →Thunder and Lightning
Thunder and Lightning · 1983
Sykes's work with Thin Lizzy — a harder, slightly rawer tone than the polished 1…
View rig →Bad Boys
Whitesnake · 1987
From the Whitesnake self-titled album — Sykes's Les Paul/Marshall combination at…
View rig →Give Me All Your Love
Whitesnake · 1987
The most commercial-sounding Sykes track — a radio-ready hard rock song where th…
View rig →