Keith Richards' Microphones

Used on Richards' electric guitar for "Brown Sugar", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Johnson in this September 21, 2018 ProSoundWeb interview.

On the guitar amplifiers, let’s see there were two different ones, on Mick’s I had a SM57, and then on the other I was using… I might have been using an RE15 on Keith. But I had a real problem with Keith because he was running a Fender Twin amp wide open, I mean that sucker was getting it.

I had a real problem with distortion going on, but I happened to remember that my maintenance guy, about a month before that, had left me a 20 dB pad that he had made, a homemade pad, so I just stuck it in between. So I dropped that level before it hit the front of the Universal Audio and it saved the day. Otherwise, I would have been hosed. I still thank God for that. I would have just been screwed. So on Keith’s amp… oh no, I remember what was on his amp, an RCA 77DX, because I was having to get that level down any way I could, it was a ribbon mic.

With the pad and that RCA, I made it, just barely. A lot of that had to do with how it sounded, and I was always real pleased with that guitar sound. (...) And the sound of Keith’s guitar is so good, and I really attribute it to that RCA DX77 with the pad, going into that Universal Audio tube console which warmed it up, too. Pretty wild, huh?

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Keith Richards uses a Shure SM7B microphone for his vocals, as seen in the official video for "I'm Waiting For The Man" (Lou Reed Cover) directed by Jane Rose and edited by Don Fleming on YouTube.

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Discography

Album Credits

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