Looking for great blues rock tone in 2026

[mentoneman]

When you hear that term blues rock what is the first player/tone that comes to mind?

my two faves are:


and


wanting to nail those sounds down in my rig once and for all without having to dime a fender combo or plexi!

 

[hammered]

 

[Nigel]

On the cheap: Rivera M100 with SRV suggested setting with JJ E34L’s. NAILS the tone!!

 

[CarlF]

 

[mentoneman]

nice stuff!

i love hendrix pushed clean tones on axis and think JM did justice to jimi on this one:

 

[mentoneman]

i dig joe’s playing and fire here, but i’ve never been a fan of silver jubilees. they always sound so stiff to me. i had my friend’s 50 watter at my place for a year.
but JB’s lead tone here was a motivator to pick up the Carol Ann OD2r i had and loved!

 

[mentoneman]

On the cheap: Rivera M100 with SRV suggested setting with JJ E34L’s. NAILS the tone!!

i had a Rivera TBR-1 which was a very cool amp but there didn’tseem to be any bluesy tones in it.

You reminded me of an amp i played about a year ago that really impressed me as one of the better blues rock amps i ever played;
the fuchs blackjack 21 mII. it was like the overdrive channel/tone all fender clean amps should have come with!

 

[Sick Michael]

Sorry, but this just owns everyone else.

 

[Sick Michael]

I totally dig this, and Im not a bonamassa fan, I might be more interested if he just stuck to one style - his own...for me he's one thing one day, another thing another day...at least with Hendrix and SRV and Gary Moore and Scott Henderson, and Johnny Winter...you know its them straight off the bat. Bonamassa is a chameleon. Granted a very good one.

 

[Sick Michael]

I think this is pretty sweet...I really like the Transformation Album

 

[LP Freak]

Sorry, but this just owns everyone else.

That vibrato

 

[Rackman]

i had a Rivera TBR-1 which was a very cool amp but there didn’tseem to be any bluesy tones in it.

You reminded me of an amp i played about a year ago that really impressed me as one of the better blues rock amps i ever played;
the fuchs blackjack 21 mII. it was like the overdrive channel/tone all fender clean amps should have come with!

There's a couple of flavors of TBR-1. 1SLs are Slave To The Grind type thrash. 1Ms are clean and mid-gain oriented. No suffix is somewhere in the middle.

I like a lot of the Fuchs amps for mid-gain stuff.

 

[LP Freak]

Then there’s this..

 

[GuitarVacation]

I think this is pretty sweet...I really like the Transformation Album

^^^^Yes!!

I was gonna post Eric Gales. As far as current active players that can fall in the "blues" category, Eric is special IMO.

Doesn't matter what Strat type guitar he's playing, what the current rig/endorsements are, backline, pick-up backing band, whatever. The music is just bursting out of him.

His execution is full of originality while simultaneously representing those that came before him.

I'm biased, obviously, I think EG is the top of the heap. I will say for anyone not familiar that wants to check him out:

His studio albums are great, especially as guitar candy, but for whatever reason the full EG magic doesn't fully translate. I'd start off watching his live stuff, there is plenty of it out there.

 

[Anje]

Hard not to start with the late great Gary Moore on this one, in his 90's period especially.

If we focus on strat tones, check out the '90 Montreux performance of Texas Strut:


Gotta be some Jeff Beck also:


Billy:


Mark:



Robin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KawRe3k0UJA&list=OLAK5uy_m7lUpwm1sqBYf67Vj2EL4CqRquRue2E-w&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhPluecrp6I&list=OLAK5uy_lTbh4qulv0MsKH7m1RFljntSxUDP2kYu0&index=8

Don't know if Eric fits the bill, but I'd throw that in too:
https://youtu.be/2xIboqXGlB4?si=1yMuGWRuGcB48Ne1&t=340

And last but not least, thinking about Chris Rea who left us recently, one of the best slide tones ever IMHO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p60exx7JR4

 

[CarlF]

Warren Haynes tones at just past the 4 minute mark. Lace Sensors on his Red Strat (that got stolen) and an SLO-100

 

[mentoneman]

I think this is pretty sweet...I really like the Transformation Album

that was great! i love EG and he is probably my favorite blues rock player out there at the moment. so funky and kaleidoscopic with his phrasing but something about his tone seems too skinny and not quite match up for his ability as a player. sounds like he needs a multiamp rig like SRV, Joe, Landau, Sayce..to fill in the spectrums.

josh smith is another killer and fuses blues into bebop so well:

 

[mentoneman]

That vibrato

his strat-marshall sounds way fatter than the silver jubes! great tones and agree wicked vibrato!

 

[mentoneman]

Hard not to start with the late great Gary Moore on this one, in his 90's period especially.

If we focus on strat tones, check out the '90 Montreux performance of Texas Strut:


Gotta be some Jeff Beck also:


Billy:


Mark:



Robin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KawRe3k0UJA&list=OLAK5uy_m7lUpwm1sqBYf67Vj2EL4CqRquRue2E-w&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhPluecrp6I&list=OLAK5uy_lTbh4qulv0MsKH7m1RFljntSxUDP2kYu0&index=8

Don't know if Eric fits the bill, but I'd throw that in too:
https://youtu.be/2xIboqXGlB4?si=1yMuGWRuGcB48Ne1&t=340

And last but not least, thinking about Chris Rea who left us recently, one of the best slide tones ever IMHO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p60exx7JR4

great references! these clips you folks are listing is really helping me envision what i would prefer this type of tone to sound like in my rig.

more like a fender blackface clean carefully mixed with a dirty pushed tweed/ overdriven plexi sound. but achieve sustain without too much distortion ala modern marshall lazer beams!

 

[Jakem]

Then there’s this..

This.