Elle King - Ex's and Oh's - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

Fender Telecaster

Elle King uses the Telecaster's bright, country-tinged bite on cleaner passages and rhythm work, balancing the thicker Les Paul tones in her rock arrangements. A hot bridge single-coil or single-coil-sized humbucker keeps the necessary grit while maintaining note clarity for her percussive playing style.

Gibson Les Paul Standard

The Les Paul Standard's PAF-style humbuckers deliver the warm, punchy attack that defines Elle King's sustained riff work and heavier rock passages. Its midrange focus cuts through without excessive compression, preserving dynamics for her garage-rock aesthetic.

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Custom's hot humbuckers provide the thick, sustained tone Elle King needs for heavy riff work while maintaining the warm punch that characterizes her recording sound. This setup handles her classic rock crunch with natural tube saturation.

Vox AC30

Driven hard with master volume around 5 to 7, the Vox AC30 captures Elle King's gritty-but-not-saturated overdrive heard on tracks like 'Ex's & Oh's' through natural tube breakup. Its chime and compression perfectly complement her raw, garage-rock approach.

Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9

Elle King uses the TS9 set with low gain and boosted mids to push her clean amp into the right territory, adding minimal coloration while enhancing her natural tone. This keeps the emphasis on amp-first character rather than pedal-driven effects.

Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

The SD-1's transparent overdrive drives Elle King's amp into gritty saturation when set low with mid-boost, serving as subtle seasoning to her core tube amp tone. It preserves her guitar's natural dynamics while adding the slight edge needed for her rock crunch.