
Rig Builder
Budget Rig Breakdown
Signal Chain
GuitarSquier Classic
ODBoss SD-1
AmpKatana 50

££ Mid-Range£289

£ Budget£59
Technique
Key Tone Tips
- The Whammy pedal is central to the "Just" and "Planet Telex" guitar sounds — set to octave up or two octaves up, it creates the screaming harmonics
- Jangly clean is equally important — "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" use clean Telecaster into AC30. Contrast between clean and extreme is the Radiohead guitar vocabulary
- Prepared guitar techniques — sticking objects on strings, playing with a bow, tapping on the body. These textural elements appear throughout OK Computer and Kid A
- Chord voicings avoid conventional root-position triads — inversions and suspended chords (sus2, sus4, add9) replace standard major and minor chords for a more ambiguous harmonic character
- The tremolo arm is used for controlled noise, not melody — a sharp downward dive followed by a slow rise creates the wrenching effect on some tracks
- Study "Just," "Lucky," "Karma Police" and "How to Disappear Completely" — four completely different approaches within the same band's catalogue
- Layering guitar and orchestral elements is a Greenwood strength — in solo orchestral work, he understands how guitars interact with string instruments
- Noise is composed, not spontaneous — the feedback and distortion are controlled and placed intentionally, not random
- Do not try to copy Radiohead by sound; copy by intention — understand why each guitar choice was made and apply that decision-making to your own playing
Background
About Jonny Greenwood's Sound
Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead is one of rock music's most creative guitarists — his approach draws from noise, classical music and jazz, building textures that are often unrecognisable as conventional guitar playing.
