Jumpin' Jack Flash

Description

Any electric guitar is suitable to play this song. In fact, the original recording used only acoustic guitars, but they were recorded "hot" through a primitive tape recorder, producing a crunchy, distorted sound. Also, Guitar 2 on the original recording used "Nashville Tuning", where the lower 4 strings are an octave higher than standard tuning. This difference in tuning is most prevalent on the original recording when that guitar doubles Guitar 1's riffs. The riffs sound an octave higher than Guitar 1, producing a thicker wall of sound. However, all of Guitar 2's parts we'll learn in this tutorial use the high B and E strings, so standard tuning will work fine.

We recommend playing the song on electric, since the Stones have always played this song live using electric guitars. Switch to the bridge pickup for a more clear and powerful tone. Of course, if you want to get authentic with the original recording, feel free to play it on acoustic!

As far as amps go, any Fender-style tube amp is a fine choice. Set the amp for a clean sound with a touch of grit. Set the Drive to 50%, Bass to 45%, Mid to 45%, Treble to 70%, and Presence to 75%.

Add some reverb for depth.

I used a 10-46 string gage, with a heavy pick so I can dig right into those riffs with a hard, aggressive attack!

Here are the settings I used:

Fender Deluxe Model:
Drive: 50% Bass: 45% Mid: 45% Treb: 70% Presence: 75%
Spring Reverb:
WetDryMIX: 45%