Hotel California Tone Search

[Omri Bazelet]

I’ve recently began to get obsessed with Hotel California’s guitar solo tone.
I began to research and try figure a close point but something is missing.
I used a Fender Tweed deluxe jumped, and boosted it with bender fuzz, and the tape preamp section helped but there’s something missing
My tone is still WAY MORE HiFi than the original which a sort of “Nosy and boxed”. It feels like I have the gain structure closed in hand but not the general harmonics and That Boxed tone
Any ways you would think to achieve it?

 

[Budda]

Concede you arent the player and havent developed an identical style, lean into yours and enjoy?

 

[Jamie383]

Do you have a 70’s type phase shifter on? This will absolutely make it sound more authentic.

 

[mr_fender]

Yep it's supposedly a script Phase 90 on Joe Walsh's parts. I've seen conflicting info on the amp. Supposedly either a Tweed Deluxe or a Tweed Champ. Guitar was a 70's Tele and there's a touch of Echoplex tape delay on Joe's parts too. Don Felder played his 59' Les Paul burst into a Tweed Deluxe with no effects. Reverb was added to both tracks in post.

 

[Jesse Segovia]

That original 70s MXR Phaser Shifter on slow mode on guitar parts always eluded me. I never knew Van Halen, Frampton, etc., were using it in their hard rock leads until years later. It's such a subtle, fantastic guitar solo effect!

 

[Guitarzan69]

That original 70s MXR Phaser Shifter on slow mode on guitar parts always eluded me. I never knew Van Halen, Frampton, etc., were using it in their hard rock leads until years later. It's such a subtle, fantastic guitar solo effect!

The Script 90's were fantastic for solos. Added a bit of brightness to the sound as well which helped to cut in the mix.

 

[Ventanaman]

Yep it's supposedly a script Phase 90 on Joe Walsh's parts. I've seen conflicting info on the amp. Supposedly either a Tweed Deluxe or a Tweed Champ. Guitar was a 70's Tele and there's a touch of Echoplex tape delay on Joe's parts too. Don Felder played his 59' Les Paul burst into a Tweed Deluxe with no effects. Reverb was added to both tracks in post.

Listening to the isolated tracks is always so eye opening. Besides the great tone, all of the slight imperfections bring a realness to the performance.

 

[Omri Bazelet]

Yep it's supposedly a script Phase 90 on Joe Walsh's parts. I've seen conflicting info on the amp. Supposedly either a Tweed Deluxe or a Tweed Champ. Guitar was a 70's Tele and there's a touch of Echoplex tape delay on Joe's parts too. Don Felder played his 59' Les Paul burst into a Tweed Deluxe with no effects. Reverb was added to both tracks in post.

I actually did hear a delay on Don’s parts. What differs between the sounds is truly the phaser

 

[nomoretubes]

That original 70s MXR Phaser Shifter on slow mode on guitar parts always eluded me. I never knew Van Halen, Frampton, etc., were using it in their hard rock leads until years later. It's such a subtle, fantastic guitar solo effect!

It’s an eye opening discovery and once you become aware you start to hear it everywhere.

 

[Omri Bazelet]

Well I must say I got to some surprising results from unexpected friend
I actually opened the Mesa Boogie Lone… ahem
Texas Star on the Lead channel
And if you lower the presence to almost nothing and raise the mids
Lowering treble
And entering the Tape Preamp that’s way more boxier and sensitive then I thought
For Joe’s tone I used the same preset but with a BB Pre upfront (since my strat has less gain than my les paul) and a phaset
BOOM.
I will record it and share my results soon

 

[LiamH]

I actually did hear a delay on Don’s parts. What differs between the sounds is truly the phaser

Agreed. But also the aggression level. Felder plays smoothly with a guitar that has a bit more output available. And then Walsh rips in with a really aggressive answer to it on the Telecaster. An amazing example of 2 exceptionally gifted guitar players duelling, but giving one another enough space to shine, then successively outdoing one another.

I'd spotted the Phase 90 on Joe's guitar when I first tried to learn both parts a while back. Might even have recorded with the same Tweed Deluxe as each other I guess, but with it backed off for Don's Les Paul, and cranked for Joe's Telecaster. I always felt it was more in the fingers than the equipment. A rare example of really great players knowing how to weave together.

 

[ben ifin]

In terms of just the tone, its all mids. Very little low end and not a lot of high end. I'd put a steep cut/slope from 125hz on down and a steep cut/slope from around 3.8kHz on up and tweak from there.