Delicious Audio: The Secrets of a Perfect Surf Guitar Tone

From Delicious Audio, by Howie Statland

Surf Rock experienced a Renaissance in the last few years, influencing a wave of new indie artists. The ultimate surf guitar tone has several elements: a guitar, the amplifier, reverb, tremolo, and vibrato, but the sound starts with the guitar itself.

Ampeg Reverberocket

A Fender Stratocaster, Jaguar or Jazzmaster would be my personal choice. One of the secrets to the tone are the single coil pickups. There’s quite a difference between the vintage ones and the new ones, the older ones sound more organic, with more of a bell tone, and more surf like. There’s also a difference in price, so you make do with what you can.

I highly recommend a Fender amp to get the signature surf sound (which is a clean one), one with a spring reverb tank in it. A Fender Twin Reverb, Super Reverb, Princeton Reverb, Dual Showman Reverb, etc. – the key is reverb. An Ampeg Reverberocket (pictured) would also sound great.

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