Rig Builder
Budget Rig Breakdown
Signal Chain
Essentials
Complete Your Rig
The accessories every serious guitarist needs — cables, strings, and the rest.
Ernie Ball Power Slinky Strings (11-48)
Heavier gauge for drop tunings and tighter pick attack — standard for modern metal.
ISP Decimator II Noise Gate
Essential for high-gain amps and extended-range guitars. No noise gate — no clean metal tone.
Planet Waves American Stage Guitar Cable 10ft
Solderless ends and lifetime warranty. The cable most session guitarists trust.
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner Pedal
The professional standard for live tuning. True bypass, powers other pedals, ultra-accurate.
Levy's M8 Guitar Strap
Quality leather strap used by touring guitarists. Genuine comfort for 3-hour sets.
Technique
Key Tone Tips
- Crank the amp — Young's tone lives at the edge of natural breakup, not through a pedal
- A Les Paul Junior with P-90 or a single-coil-equipped LP is the most authentic choice
- Set the amp's volume high and tone controls mid-forward — no scooping
- Let notes ring out and allow natural feedback from amp proximity
- Vibrato bar (Bigsby) adds subtle wobble — not a heavy Floyd Rose sound
- Study 'Hey Hey, My My', 'Cinnamon Girl', and 'Like a Hurricane' for feedback approach
Background
About Neil Young's Sound
Neil Young's raw P-90 tone through a cranked Tweed Deluxe defined an entire approach to guitar noise. 'Old Black' — his 1953 Les Paul with added Bigsby and Firebird pickup — produces massive natural feedback sustain. Young's approach to controlled noise directly inspired the Seattle grunge scene.
Tone History
Neil Young's Tone Evolution
Neil Young's tone is inseparable from his mythology — a 1953 Gibson Les Paul called Old Black, a customised Fender Deluxe amp, and a massive wall of feedback achieved at low gain. His approach is the opposite of hi-fi: raw, live-feeling, and intentionally unpolished. Old Black has never been "correctly" set up, which is precisely the point.
Full timeline: 3 eras →