Keith Richards — £500 · Sweet Spot Tone

• 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
• Tele bridge pickup at moderate amp gain creates the essential raw, slightly nasty quality
• No overdrive pedals needed — chase natural amp saturation from volume
• Keith's rhythm sits slightly behind the beat with a rolling, swinging quality
• Capo at the 2nd fret in open G to play in A (Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women)
• Open strings ringing against fretted notes create the signature jangly texture
• Amp EQ: treble 7, mid 6, bass 4 — bright but not harsh

• ✗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.
• ✗Setting bass too high on a Fender spring reverb amp — at high bass settings the reverb tank produces a "booming" quality that muddies the tone. Start with bass at 4-5.
• ✗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.