🎸 Rock · 1990s

Celebrity Skin by Hole (Riff · Clean) — Guitar Tone

by Hole · riff

The Celebrity Skin by Hole guitar tone is built on a Randall Commander II RG-120 212, dialed in at gain 0/10, bass 5.5, mid 6.5, treble 7, presence 6 (community-researched baseline). Full breakdown below — then adapt every knob to your exact guitar and amp, free.

🎛️ These settings are for the original rig — re-dial them for YOUR amp in 10 seconds. Free, no signup →

Amp settings (0–10)

GAIN

5.5

BASS

6.5

MID

TREBLE

PRESENCE

REVERB

Community-researched baseline. Your rig is different — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials every knob for your specific guitar, amp and pickups.

How these settings compare

Measured against the 540 rock tones in our researched catalog: Gain 0 sits well below the rock average (4.8) — cleaner and more dynamic than typical rock; mids at 6.5 are right around average (6.2).

Guitar controls

8-9

VOLUME

7-8

TONE

Original gear

Guitar: Rickenbacker 360 · Amp: Randall Commander II RG-120 212

Studio recording, 1998. Guitar and amp confirmed as primary rig for Courtney Love during 'Celebrity Skin' era. No evidence found for alternate guitars or amps on the clean riff section. No evidence of pedal use for clean tone in studio; Big Muff Pi mentioned for fuzz/distorted sections only.

Gear used on this tone

🎚️ single-coil guitars songs & tones →🎚️ Big Muff songs & tones →🎚️ Rickenbacker songs & tones →🎚️ Randall songs & tones →

Don’t own this gear? GuitarToneAdapt re-creates the sound on the rig you actually have.

Pickups

Bridge pickup

Signal chain

Rickenbacker 360 → Randall Commander II RG-120 212

Effects

reverb

Amp effects: Reverb (spring, level 2)

Tone character

bright and articulate, jangly clarity, tight and percussive, present upper mids, clean, uncompressed attack, slightly scooped low-mids, pop-influenced shimmer, no audible breakup, studio-polished, distinct from fuzzed-out sections

Recording context

studio

How it’s played

straight, fast tempo, medium dynamics · clean distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the Celebrity Skin sound.

Difficulty

2.5/5 · Riff

The riff requires fast, steady alternate strumming and precise muting to maintain clarity at tempo, but uses straightforward chord shapes and no advanced techniques.

Worth knowing

Gain adjusted to 0 for clean tone
No direct source gives exact amp knob settings; values estimated based on typical Randall RG-120 clean settings for 1990s alternative rock.
No evidence of pedal or modulation effect use on the clean riff section; Big Muff Pi is associated with distorted sections only.
No direct studio documentation of pickup selector, but bridge pickup is most likely for the bright, jangly clean tone.
No isolated studio stems or official rig rundown for the clean section; all gear info is based on era-correct interviews and gear lists.
Settings cross-referenced with genre and era conventions for accuracy. Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson used high-gain Marshall and Mesa/Boogie amps in the late '90s, favoring a crunchy, mid-forward, and bright punk/alt-rock tone. The riff is aggressive but not modern-metal saturated, with clear upper mids and a tight low end, and the production is dry with minimal reverb.

⚡ Same tone, YOUR gear — re-dials the gain & EQ for your amp and pickups, free →

🎧 Can you guess the tone?

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Celebrity Skin guitar tone — FAQ

What amp settings do I need for the Celebrity Skin guitar tone?

Set your amp to roughly: gain 0, bass 5.5, mid 6.5, treble 7, presence 6, reverb 2. These are community-researched baselines — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials them for your exact guitar and amp.

What gear was used for the Celebrity Skin tone?

Original gear/effects: Guitar: Rickenbacker 360 · Amp: Randall Commander II RG-120 212; reverb.

Can I get the Celebrity Skin tone on a different guitar or amp?

Yes. Different guitars and amps need different knob positions to sound the same. GuitarToneAdapt models pickup output and wood brightness, then compensates so you match the record on your own rig.

How do I sound like Hole on Celebrity Skin — what gear and pedals?

Start with Bridge pickup, the amp EQ above (gain 0, bass 5.5, mid 6.5, treble 7, presence 6, reverb 2), and reverb. Then let GuitarToneAdapt compensate for the guitar, amp and pedals you actually own so it sits like the record.

Share this tone

Sources

Hole Members, Gear & Sound - Equipboard

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More like this

🎸 How to get Hole’s guitar tone → · 🎸 more Rock guitar tones → · 🎛️ best rock amp settings → · 🎸 more iconic guitar riffs → · 🎯 more scooped mids tones → · 📖 New to amp settings? What every knob does →

Settings are community-researched estimates, not official. GuitarToneAdapt adapts them to your gear. guitartoneadapt.com