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Is This It Garage Split — Riviera Rhythm & Strat Lead
The early Strokes rig centered on Fender Hot Rod DeVille amplifiers, a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde and an MXR Micro Amp, with Nick Valensi’s semi-hollow and Albert Hammond Jr.’s Strat-style guitar providing contrasting voices. Exact song-session knob positions were not documented, so the settings below are representative of the sparse Is This It setup. Source: Mixdown’s Strokes rig rundown and Gearnews’ “Last Nite” tone investigation.
Signal Chain
Epiphone Riviera with humbucker-sized P-90 pickups→Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde→Fender Hot Rod DeVille→Fender DeVille 2x12→Output
GuitarEpiphone Riviera with humbucker-sized P-90 pickups
Tone
8
PickupBridge
TuningE Standard
Volume
10
PedalVisual Sound Jekyll & Hyde
Tone
6
Level
6.5
Overdrive3.5
Distortion2.5
AmpFender Hot Rod DeVille
Bass
3.5
Gain
3
Mids
6
Master
5.5
Treble
7
Presence
5.5
Cab / IRFender DeVille 2x12
MicRepresentative close dynamic mic
Mic PositionOff-axis, cap-edge transition
Notes
Keep the two guitars separated: one warm and chordal, the other brighter and more pointed. Use almost no reverb so the interlocking rhythm remains dry.
Don't have this gear?
See the same signal chain mapped to another platform. Knob values carry over as starting points — gain ranges differ between platforms.