Song Rig

East-West

Mike Bloomfield · East-West · 1966

Tone Overview

What Makes This Sound Unique

The track that brought Indian raga thinking to rock guitar — a 13-minute improvisation over a static drone that incorporates modes and pitch patterns from Indian classical music. Bloomfield's Les Paul through a Fender amp produces a warm, sustaining tone well-suited to the meditative, drone-based structure.

Signal Chain

1Gibson Les Paul Standard (1964 model, PAF-style humbuckers)
2Fender Bandmaster or Super Reverb
3Light studio reverb

Amp Settings

Gain / Volume5

Bass7

Mid7

Treble6

Reverb3

Warm and moderately driven — Bloomfield uses the Fender amp at moderate volume rather than high gain, providing warmth and sustain appropriate for extended modal improvisation. The tone sits between clean and overdriven.

Technique

How to Play It

Modal raga improvisation over a single drone — East-West stays on a single scale (related to the Mixolydian mode) for the entire 13 minutes, similar to an Indian raga's alaap section. Bloomfield builds tension through melodic repetition, rhythmic displacement, and gradual acceleration rather than chord changes.

Budget Alternative

Achievable With

Les Paul → Fender amp at medium gain → set up a drone note on an open string (or use a drone pedal) → improvise using a single mode (Mixolydian or Dorian) without changing chords. The challenge is sustaining musical interest without harmonic movement.

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