Keith Richards — £2,500 · Premium Tone

• The Fender '65 Twin Reverb stays cleaner longer than a Marshall-style amp — push it with a low-gain overdrive (gain at 2–3, level up) rather than cranking its own gain. Set treble at 6, bass at 4, and let the guitar's volume knob handle the dynamics.
• Open G tuning: remove the low E string entirely — GDGBD from low to high
• Bar the 5th fret with your index finger in open G to play a C chord, open strings ring freely
• Study "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Start Me Up" for definitive open-G riffing
• Open G tuning (DGDGBD) with the low E string removed gives the 'Exile' and 'Let It Bleed' sound — the five-string open G allows the characteristic riff shapes of 'Brown Sugar,' 'Honky Tonk Women' and 'Start Me Up.' The root note pattern is built around the open chord, not barre shapes
• The Telecaster bridge pickup is the foundation — Richards almost exclusively uses the bridge pickup. The brightness and twang cut through the band even when the amp is set clean, and when the amp breaks up, the bridge pickup adds an extra edge that the neck pickup cannot provide
• Practice the rolling rhythm technique — Richards plays rhythm guitar with a loose, slightly delayed strumming feel that sits behind the beat. The right hand moves with a rocking motion that emphasises the downstroke but allows the upstroke to ring naturally. Listen to 'Gimme Shelter' to hear the technique

• ✗Setting the TS9 gain above 5 into a clean amp — at high gain settings the TS becomes a distortion pedal that colours the tone heavily. Below 4, it's a boost and focus pedal. Single coils into a TS above 5 gets nasal and harsh
• ✗Ignoring the neck pickup position as a usable tone — the neck pickup on a Tele produces a warm, jazz-like sound completely unlike the bridge. It is not an afterthought.
• ✗Adding compression to fix flat clean tone — a flat, lifeless clean tone usually means the amp gain or presence is wrong, not that compression is needed. Compression on a flat tone just makes it louder.
• ✗Choosing a pick that is too heavy — thin to medium picks give edge noise and articulation that heavier picks smooth away. That edge is part of the sound.
• ✗Setting amp gain at 5 or higher — blues tone lives at the edge of breakup (gain 3-4), not in full saturation. High gain compresses away all the dynamic feel.

If you like Keith Richards's tone, these players use a similar approach — same gear philosophy, comparable sound characteristics.