Song Rig
Heroes
Robert Fripp · Heroes · 1977
Tone Overview
What Makes This Sound Unique
One of the most innovative guitar recordings of the 1970s — Fripp created the studio guitar layers for David Bowie's Heroes using 'Frippertronics': a tape loop system where the guitar signal passes through two Revox tape recorders, creating sustaining, self-layering ambient loops. The guitar itself never plays a conventional chord or riff.
Signal Chain
- 1Gibson Les Paul or ES-335
- 2Two Revox A77 tape recorders (loop system)
- 3Roland RE-201 Space Echo
Amp Settings
The Frippertronics system: guitar signal → Revox 1 record head → long tape loop → Revox 2 playback head → back into the signal chain. Each loop iteration adds a new layer that sustains while the previous loops continue. The amp setting is secondary to the loop system.
Technique
How to Play It
Frippertronics ambient looping — single notes and short phrases are played into the loop system, where they accumulate and sustain. Fripp controls the density by choosing when to play and when to allow the existing loops to develop independently.
Budget Alternative
Achievable With
Any guitar → Boss RC-300 loop station or TC Electronic Ditto X4 (modern Frippertronics equivalents) → set a long loop time (4–8 seconds) → play single notes slowly, allowing the loops to accumulate. The technique is meditative, not technical.
Your Gear
Adapt to My Amp
More from Fripp
Other Song Rigs
21st Century Schizoid Man
In the Court of the Crimson King · 1969
The opening track of King Crimson's debut — Fripp's guitar through a fuzz pedal …
View rig →Starless
Red · 1974
King Crimson's most emotionally devastating piece — a 12-minute composition that…
View rig →Red
Red · 1974
The most aggressive King Crimson tone — a biting, sustaining Les Paul through a …
View rig →Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part One)
Larks' Tongues in Aspic · 1973
The most textural and experimental of Fripp's early tones — this track incorpora…
View rig →Discipline
Discipline · 1981
Fripp's new wave King Crimson era — the interlocking guitar patterns between Fri…
View rig →