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Motley Crue

14 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Glam Metal

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Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Mötley Crüe emerged from the Los Angeles Sunset Strip in 1981 and defined the Glam Metal era. Led by guitarist Mick Mars, the band created a heavier, grittier sound than their hair metal peers by blending chunky, blues-rooted riffing with punk attitude and arena hooks. From their raw debut 'Too Fast for Love' through the polished heaviness of 'Dr. Feelgood,' they delivered iconic 1980s guitar riffs that remain essential for intermediate electric guitarists building real-world rock chops.

Playing Style and Techniques

Mick Mars is an underrated rhythm guitarist with a deceptively sophisticated style. He favors open-string drones, drop-tuned power chords, and a thick, scooped tone bridging classic Blues Rock and Thrash Metal. His lead work draws from pentatonic and blues scales delivered with raw, aggressive vibrato and melodic phrasing. Rather than shredding, Mars excels in tone, feel, and phrasing. Songs like 'Dr. Feelgood,' 'Kickstart My Heart,' and 'Looks That Kill' showcase his talent for instantly memorable, satisfying-to-play riffs.

Why Guitarists Study Motley Crue

Mötley Crüe songs hit the sweet spot for intermediate players, relying on palm-muted power chords, open-position chord stabs, and rhythmic precision over blistering speed. The catalog teaches essential skills: locking in tight rhythm parts, nailing expressive bends, and developing heavy palm-muting technique. Solos range from approachable melodic lines in 'Home Sweet Home' to moderately challenging work in 'Dr. Feelgood,' demanding solid pentatonic phrasing and controlled vibrato. The band is essential for building rock vocabulary.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Mötley Crüe material sits at intermediate difficulty, making it ideal for guitarists developing their rock foundation. Most riffs emphasize technique fundamentals rather than speed, while solos demand accurate string bending and vibrato control. The catalog spans accessible introductory pieces like the iconic 'Dr. Feelgood' riff to the galloping aggression of 'Kickstart My Heart.' These songs provide thorough education in 1980s Hard Rock guitar while building practical chops applicable across multiple rock styles.

What Makes Motley Crue Essential for Guitar Players

  • Mick Mars's palm-muting technique is central to the Crüe sound. Songs like 'Dr. Feelgood' and 'Kickstart My Heart' rely on tight, chugging muted power chords that require precise right-hand control and a consistent picking attack to get that punchy, percussive tone.
  • Mars frequently uses open-string drones underneath power chord progressions, listen to 'Looks That Kill' and 'Shout at the Devil' for prime examples. This technique creates a fuller, heavier sound from a single guitar and is a great skill to develop for any rock guitarist.
  • His lead style is rooted in the minor pentatonic and blues scale with an emphasis on wide, aggressive string bends and slow, controlled vibrato. The 'Dr. Feelgood' main solo is a masterclass in melodic phrasing over blues-based shapes, no wasted notes.
  • Many Mötley Crüe songs use rhythmic gallop patterns and syncopated strumming that demand tight coordination between the picking hand and fretting hand. 'Kickstart My Heart' features a fast alternate-picked gallop reminiscent of classic metal that builds serious right-hand endurance.
  • Mars occasionally employed slide guitar and detuned tunings to thicken his tone, particularly on later albums. His use of heavier gauge strings and lower action contributed to his signature buzzy, aggressive attack, worth experimenting with if you want to replicate that gritty Crüe tone.

Did You Know?

Mick Mars suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative spinal condition that has caused his spine to fuse over the decades. Despite chronic pain, he developed a unique hunched playing posture that actually contributed to his heavy, deliberate picking style, proof that limitation can fuel creativity.

The main riff of 'Dr. Feelgood' was partially inspired by Mick's love of ZZ Top and Aerosmith. He tracked much of the album using a combination of Les Pauls and a customized Kramer fitted with a Floyd Rose, running through modified Marshall heads for maximum saturation.

For the 'Shout at the Devil' album, producer Tom Werman had Mars layer multiple rhythm guitar tracks with slightly different EQ settings to create the massive wall-of-sound effect. This studio layering trick is why the album sounds so much heavier than the band's live sound.

Mick Mars famously answered a newspaper ad that read 'Loud, rude, aggressive guitarist available' to join Mötley Crüe, he was already 30 years old when the band formed, nearly a decade older than the other members, bringing seasoned blues chops to the party.

The iconic intro riff of 'Kickstart My Heart' was reportedly inspired by the sound of a motorcycle engine revving. Mars achieved the effect by combining a heavily distorted guitar tone with rapid alternate picking and a wah pedal sweep.

On 'Home Sweet Home,' Mars played a melodic guitar solo over a piano ballad, an unusual move for a glam metal band in 1985. The solo's lyrical quality and restrained phrasing became one of the band's most recognizable musical moments and a great study in expressive bending.

Mick Mars's tone on 'Girls, Girls, Girls' was achieved by cranking a modified Marshall JCM800 with the mids scooped significantly, a departure from the typical British mid-heavy sound. This scooped approach became a hallmark of the entire LA glam metal scene.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Dr. Feelgood album cover
Dr. Feelgood 1989

This is Mötley Crüe's tightest and best-produced album, and it's a guitar technique playground. The title track teaches you palm-muted riffing, blues-scale soloing, and dynamic control across multiple sections. 'Kickstart My Heart' builds alternate-picking endurance and rhythmic precision, while 'Same Ol' Situation' offers catchy open-chord rock rhythm work.

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Shout at the Devil album cover
Shout at the Devil 1983

The album where Mötley Crüe got heavy. 'Looks That Kill' is a masterclass in menacing power-chord riffs with open-string drones, 'Shout at the Devil' teaches aggressive downpicking and palm-muting, and 'Too Young to Fall in Love' features one of Mars's most melodic and technical solos. Essential for learning dark, heavy 80s rhythm guitar.

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Theatre of Pain album cover
Theatre of Pain 1985

Often overlooked, but this album contains 'Home Sweet Home', one of the best ballad solos to learn for developing expressive vibrato and controlled bending. 'Smokin' in the Boys Room' is a fun, bluesy rocker with a classic riff that teaches shuffle-inflected rock rhythm. Great for expanding your dynamic range beyond full-throttle distortion.

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Girls, Girls, Girls album cover
Girls, Girls, Girls 1987

The title track's main riff is one of the most recognizable in rock, a perfect study in driving eighth-note rhythm guitar with a loose, swaggering feel. 'Wild Side' opens with a massive, layered intro that teaches you how to build tension with riff construction, and the album overall showcases Mars's ability to blend blues and metal rhythm approaches.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Mick Mars is most associated with Gibson Les Paul Customs and Standards, particularly black and white models from the late 70s and 80s. He also used Kramer guitars fitted with Floyd Rose tremolo systems during the mid-80s era, and a custom Fender Stratocaster with humbuckers for certain recordings. On 'Dr. Feelgood,' he primarily used Les Pauls through Marshalls for that thick, sustained rhythm tone. His guitars were typically stock in terms of electronics, letting the amp do the heavy lifting.

Amp

Mars built his tone around modified Marshall JCM800 heads, often with gain stages modded for extra saturation. He ran them cranked with the mids scooped lower than a traditional British rock setting, typically bass around 7, mids around 3-4, treble around 7-8, with the preamp gain pushed hard. He also used Soldano SLO-100 heads in later years for their smoother high-gain character. The combination of a hot-rodded Marshall and a Les Paul's humbuckers is the core of the Mötley Crüe guitar sound.

Pickups

Mars relied primarily on Gibson PAF-style humbuckers in his Les Pauls, the stock Gibson pickups with moderate output around 8-9k ohms on the bridge. This gave him a thick, warm attack with enough clarity for riffs to cut through the mix without sounding overly compressed. On his Kramers, he used higher-output humbuckers (likely Seymour Duncan or stock Kramer pickups) that pushed the front end of his Marshalls harder for the more aggressive tones on tracks like 'Shout at the Devil.'

Effects & Chain

Mars kept his pedalboard relatively minimal, his tone was primarily amp-driven. Key effects included a Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal (used prominently on 'Kickstart My Heart' intro and various solos), a chorus pedal for clean and semi-clean passages, and occasional delay for lead work. He used an MXR Phase 90 on select tracks for added texture. For the most part, his signal chain was guitar straight into a hot-rodded Marshall with very little between, the distortion came from cranked tubes, not stompboxes.

Recommended Gear

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Mick Mars used custom Fender Stratocasters with humbucker pickups for specific recordings, providing tonal variety beyond his signature Les Paul thickness. The Strat's brighter character offered alternative textures while maintaining the aggressive humbucker-driven attack essential to Motley Crue's sound.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Mars' primary weapon throughout Motley Crue's career, the Les Paul Standard delivered the thick, sustained rhythm tones and warm PAF-style humbucker attack that define the band's heavy metal foundation. Its stock Gibson electronics and natural resonance let the cranked Marshall amp create the signature crunch without additional processing.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

Mars' most iconic guitar choice, the black and white Les Paul Customs from the late 70s and 80s provided the dense, aggressive tones that powered Motley Crue's biggest hits. The custom model's weight and construction contributed to the sustained, sludgy rhythm guitar sound that became the band's sonic trademark.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The core of Mick Mars' legendary tone, his heavily modified JCM800 heads with scooped mids and cranked preamp gain created Motley Crue's characteristic thick, saturated crunch. Driven hard with a Les Paul's humbuckers, this combination produced the warm yet aggressive distortion that defined 80s hair metal.

Soldano SLO-100
Amp

Soldano SLO-100

Mars adopted the Soldano SLO-100 in later years for its smoother, more refined high-gain character compared to the Marshall's rawer saturation. The Soldano's tighter response and cleaner articulation suited Motley Crue's evolution while maintaining the band's heavy, sustain-driven aesthetic.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Featured prominently on 'Kickstart My Heart' intro and various solos, Mars' Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal added dynamic expression to his otherwise amp-driven tone. The wah's sweeping character became an iconic texture in Motley Crue's arsenal of lead guitar effects.

How to Practice Motley Crue on GuitarZone

Every Motley Crue song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice Kickstart My Heart - Guitar TabPractice Dr. Feelgood - Guitar TabPractice Girls, Girls, Girls - Guitar Lesson