Rock Riffing with Power Chords

Description

I’m using a SuperStrat style guitar for this tutorial, but any electric guitar is suitable. I’ve selected the bridge pickup for a bright, clear tone.

Rock tones range from clean sounds all the way through to heavy hi-gain distortion. Start somewhere in the middle with a basic crunch sound, as this is the most common rock tone. It thickens up your guitar sound and adds plenty of sustain and aggressiveness.
To add more gain, kick in an overdrive or distortion pedal like a Tube Screamer. To clean up the sound, roll down the guitar’s volume knob or reduce the Drive control on the amp.
A Marshall tube amp is a great choice for this as it’s a Rock staple. To dial in a crunch sound, set the Preamp Gain to around 50%, Bass to 50%, Mids to 55%, Treble to 60%, and Presence to 60%.

Add some reverb for depth.

I’m using regular light gauge strings that are 10-46 along with a heavy pick to dig right in.

SETTINGS:
Marshall Plexi Model:
Preamp Gain: 50% Bass: 50% Mid: 55% Treb: 60% Presence: 60%

Tube Screamer (for hotter crunch sound):
Gain: 60% Level: 60%

Plate Reverb:
Wet/Dry: 40%