Neal Schon may be, in my opinion, one of the most underrated lead guitar players of the classic rock era. He bears the rare distinction of appearing in several instantly recognizable classics, but I’ve met only a few average people (that is, non-guitarists or non-Journey fans) who could even recognize his name.
However, there are few human beings on the planet who wouldn’t recognize “Don’t Stop Believin’” or “Any Way You Want It.” In the end, the music is what remains truly immortal. The fact that, as a teenage guitar prodigy, Neal Schon was courted by the likes of Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana is just icing on the cake
Regardless, those of us in the know understand and appreciate Neal Schon’s prodigious playing. His subtle touch, impeccable note choice, and, of course, that gloriously ebullient 80s lead guitar tone, are the envy of many a guitar player.
In this article, I’ll go over the absolute essentials for capturing some of the magic of the Neal Schon sound, particularly that of the biggest Journey hits: “Don’t Stop Believin’ “ and “Any Way You Want It.”
I’d actually recommend this as a highly useful, versatile tone for pretty much any classic rock sound, particularly in an ensemble that leans towards powerful, uplifting 80s-style anthems.
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Neal Schon Guitars
Neal Schon, in Journey’s heyday, was a devoted player of the Gibson Les Paul Custom. You can see Schon playing the Les Paul Custom in this video. Schon played a variety of Les Pauls in the 70s and 80s, including a ‘56 Les Paul with P-90 pickups, and one black Les Paul with a bridge humbucker and a neck P-90!
Schon has also used various Fender and PRS guitars over the years, mostly in his later career. The classic Journey sound, to me, isn’t particularly “Stratty.” In fact, most photos of Schon playing a Strat-style guitar seem to have a humbucker in the bridge.
That might be why, to my ears, the classic Journey sound is humbuckers. It’s a little too thick, particularly on the palm mutes, to be P-90s or single-coil pickups all the time. For the first key piece of the Neal Schon tone puzzle, you’ll want a Les Paul or similar guitar. Preferably a heavy mahogany body with humbucker pickups.
Some 70s Les Pauls were built with maple necks, but this isn’t an absolutely necessary feature. The maple neck does add some snap and treble to the guitar’s sound, but it’s not quite as important as the tonewood of the body or the choice of pickups.
Something else to bear in mind with Neal Schon’s guitars is his frequent installation of tremolo systems. The only affordable Les Paul that comes with a Floyd Rose-style tremolo arm is the Les Paul Axcess Alex Lifeson signature.
Considering the similarity between Alex Lifeson and Neal Schon’s playing styles and tones, this could be a great guitar for the Journey sound if you don’t mind playing someone else’s signature guitar.
The top-of-the-line recommendation would be a Les Paul Standard. However, many guitarists will want to look at a more affordable option, such as this Epiphone Les Paul Standard.
If you find Les Pauls too heavy, or prefer the late-80s Superstrat Neal Schon sound, I would recommend the Aerodyne Stratocaster from Fender. This guitar includes a reasonably powerful humbucker and built-in tremolo system so you can nail the dive at the end of the first solo in “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Fender humbuckers occasionally lack some of the power and grunt of Gibson-style humbuckers, in which case I’d recommend installing Schon’s favored Seymour Duncan SH-11 pickups.
Neal Schon Amps
These days, Neal Schon tends to play a variety of amplifiers, including models from EVH, Blackstar, Hiwatt, and Randall. To my ears, these are all variations of the classic Marshall voicing, so for this guitar tone, I’m recommending a Marshall tube amp.
I cannot recommend the Marshall Studio Vintage (SV20C and SV20H) enough when it comes to late 70s rock tones. It offers plenty of tube amp grunt and saturation at lower volumes than any of us could have imagined back then.
Of course, you could always opt for a full-power Super Lead with quad boxes, but those of us who have to carry our own gear to and from venues might prefer the lighter load of the Studio Vintage combo amp.
For a more affordable Marshall-voiced amp (with a more even volume taper) I’d recommend the Blackstar HT Club, aptly named for its smaller size and club-appropriate volume.
For the more saturated and echo-laden Journey lead sound, you’ll need to run some effects pedals, but we’ll get to that after we set up the basic Journey sound on our amp.
Neal Schon’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” Amp Settings
Fortunately for tonehounds, the amplifier settings for “Don’t Stop Believin’” are nice and straightforward. Really, it’s a mid-and treble-forward classic rock sound, boosted by Schon’s technique and choice of effects.
I’ve based the below settings on the tone from the second guitar solo in “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
It should work for other Journey songs and most soaring classic rock leads.
Volume: 7
You’ll want to run your amplifier nice and hot to get the classic tube drive of the Journey tone.
Bass: 5
You don’t want too much low end for this tone, or your mutes will risk becoming muddy and inarticulate.
Mids: 9
As usual with old-school rock tone, you need lots of midrange.
Treble: 7-8
This is a bright, articulate sound with lots of pick attack.
Presence: 10
Turn your Presence all the way up so you can feel the notes.
Neal Schon Pedals
These days, Neal Schon uses a range of effects modeling units. Of course, back in the 80s, there was no such thing as effects modeling, and we’re going for authenticity.
One key feature of his lead sound is a singing legato tone aided by the Boss Compression Sustainer.
You’ll also need some nice, open echo effects for this guitar tone. Supposedly, Neal Schon is a devoted fan of the Echoplex, which was a tape echo unit that included a tone-coloring preamp. This was the “secret sauce” for many 70s and early 80s classic rock tones, including those of Led Zeppelin and Van Halen.
I’d recommend the excellent Dunlop Echoplex preamp for this sound. With this, I’d use the Echoplex Delay, set to a relatively short delay time to get some of Schon’s echo tone.
A piece of the tone that will be hard to replicate is Schon’s habit of multi-tracking his guitar parts. That’s how he achieved the thick, melodic sound of the call-and-response riff heading into the second verse of “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
The easiest way to replicate this sound is with a reliable chorus pedal. I’d recommend one voiced for the all-too-80s chorus tone of Journey such as the MXR Analog Chorus.
This wasn’t a major feature of the live Journey tone back in the 80s, but it is probably the easiest way to capture some of the multi-tracked tones from the recordings.
Final Word
Neal Schon’s guitar sound is one of the most immediately identifiable in all of popular music. Wedding bands, DJs, and singers in smoky rooms the world over send audiences into air-guitar frenzies when the soaring, melodic bends from “Don’t Stop Believin’” serenade the dance floor.
If you want to evoke some of the power and the passion of the classic Journey tone, the gear listed in this article will get you most of the way.
