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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Funk1979easy to fake

01Chic

Good Times

The 'hitmaker' Strat — Nile's 1960 Stratocaster ('the Hitmaker') in position 2 (bridge + middle) straight into a Fender amp, mostly clean with a hint of compression from the amp itself. The right hand is the entire effect — sixteenth-note muted strums with the picking hand never lifting from the strings. Tone is bright, percussive, and articulate. Every chord is a partial voicing, leaving room for the bass. Zero pedals; pure technique.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 0 pedals between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    1960 Fender Stratocaster ('The Hitmaker'), position 2

  2. Out
    Amp

    Fender Twin Reverb

03Field note

The secret sauce

The 'chucking' rhythm — left hand alternates between pressing chord and lightly muting. Right hand strums constant sixteenths. The chord only sounds for milliseconds at a time. Without that technique it sounds like nothing.