Loopy Demos

Skeleton Key - Funny Little Boxes

I am a huge Queens of the Stone Age fan. I adore Josh Homme's guitar tone and the way he writes riffs and uses textures.

The Skeleton Key is an extremely simple and effective way to get that mid-pushed, character drive sound that Josh Homme is known for. It's a great pedal to stack with other drives or to use standalone.

After initially plugging into the Skeleton Key, I was surprised by how low-gainish it actually sounds. But if you think about it, it makes sense. QOTSA songs "feel" heavy – especially on the earlier records – but there is much less gain going on than you think.

Most of the energy is coming from the down-tuned guitars (C standard), the way Homme writes riffs and that gnarly mid-push. Homme often uses texture-rich chords and riffs that clash in a beautiful way. He often lets the lower strings ring open and plays single notes on top, which creates this extra tension and harmonic richness.

The Skeleton Key pairs perfectly with a humbucker equipped, down-tuned guitar. My Fidelity Stellarosa has Lollar Firebirds in it. The bridge pickup is like a beefed up Tele bridge, so it has a lot of bite which balances well with lower tunings. The Skeleton Key provides that extra mid-push, bass-cut and texture to create that QOTSA tone.

I love how the Skeleton Key is the Occam's Razor to the QOTSA guitar tone question. It's the simplest way possible to get a pretty close approximation of that sound. And with the original artwork by Bone Face himself (who did the artwork for the "...Like Clockwork", "Villains" and "In Times New Roman..." albums), it's a no-brainer for any QOTSA fan.

Signal Chain

• Fidelity Guitars Stellarosa Lite II with Lollar Firebird pickups (bridge pickup)
• The "QOTSA Tone" preset uses the Konstante by Twilight Pulse Audioworks for some boost and extra gain. It's set so that the boost slams into the Skeleton Key, and the drive side just adds a little more gain and texture.
• Skeleton Key
• Boss DM-2w Delay is used for the "QOTSA Tone" preset. Homme often uses a quick slapback delay with lots of repeats to create that ominous, dark vibe.
• Mixwave Benson Chimera Plugin. I've set this a little darker than usual to approximate a typical Ampeg V40 sound.

Links

• Get detailed specs on Funny Little Boxes' website

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