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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Rock1971

01The Who

Baba O'Riley

Clean, slightly compressed acoustic-driven track where the electric only enters in the second half — a big, open-tuned ringing electric chord with substantial room. When the heavy power chords land, it's a Les Paul through Hiwatt with everything wide open: thick midrange, no fizz, just a wall of clean-edged saturation. The electric tone is famous for being huge without being scooped.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 1 pedal between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (mini-humbuckers)

  2. 01
    Light compression to glue the strums together
    Edwards Compressor (rackmount)
  3. Out
    Amp

    Hiwatt DR103 Custom 100

03Field note

The secret sauce

Hiwatts at volume don't compress the way Marshalls do — the attack stays sharp even when the speakers are screaming. That's why Townshend's chords always sound percussive, not melted.