The Rolling Stones · Album, 1978
Some Girls
9 sourced items across 5 sectionsVerified2Reported7
This is an album-level record: the sources describe how the album as a whole was recorded, not one song. Where a detail belongs to a single song, the row says so.
Songs this record stands for: Miss You, Shattered. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.
What the sources do and do not say
The only source that discusses these sessions is a Mix Classic Tracks article about Start Me Up, so every row is album-level (the Some Girls sessions in Paris), not Miss You itself. Kimsey says Miss You was recorded in the same stretch, within a day of Start Me Up, and several drum microphone recollections are hedged. A Sound On Sound article on Start Me Up (Richard Buskin, 2004) was also read; its detailed gear list is for Start Me Up specifically (for example U47s on the guitar amps) and conflicts with the Mix account, so it was not used.
Vocals
1 item
Mick Jagger
Microphone
The real chain
Neumann U 47
Reported
Microphone Kimsey used for Jagger's lead vocals, as the journalist reports it.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.
Guitars
1 item
Keith Richards and Ron Wood
Microphone
The real chain
Neumann U 67
Reported
Single microphone used on the guitar amps, with a 10dB pad added, as the journalist reports it.
- Settings
- 10dB pad
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.
Bass
2 items
Bill Wyman
Amplifier
The real chain
Recorded direct (DI), no amplifier
Reported
Direct signal formed part of Wyman's recorded bass sound, blended with a microphone on his amp.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Recorded direct, so there is no amp to model. Leave the amp simulator off.
Microphone
The real chain
Neumann U 67
Reported
Microphone on Wyman's bass amp, blended with the direct signal.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.
Drums
3 items
Charlie Watts
Microphone
The real chain
Neumann U 47
Verified
Kimsey says he would put a tube U47 over the kit as an overhead on Watts.
- Position
- Over the top of the kit, as an overhead
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.
The real chain
AKG D25 or D30 (not certain which)
Reported
Kimsey recalls the bass drum microphone as either an AKG D-25 or a D-30, without being sure which.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.
The real chain
Neumann KM 84
Reported
Kimsey believes the hi-hat microphone would have been a Neumann KM84.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.
Recording chain
2 items
Input chain
The real chain
EMI Console (model not stated)
Verified
Old 1962-era 16-track EMI desk the sessions were recorded through, with only treble and bass controls and no outboard gear.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
Covers this kind of unit
Waves Abbey Road REDD Consoles
console emulation
Models EMI's valve REDD desks from Abbey Road. The source does not name the model, so this stands for the maker's family of units: it is not a model of the one on the record.
Also worth a look 1
- Waves EMI TG12345 Channel Strip (Models EMI's solid-state TG12345 desk from Abbey Road. The source does not name the model, so this stands for the maker's family of units: it is not a model of the one on the record)
The real chain
Ampex 456 tape
Reported
Tape stock the 16-track sessions were recorded on.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. Tape stock, not a machine. Tape plugins usually let you choose a tape formulation.
Sources
- Classic Tracks: The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up", Mix, 2002-06. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
What the ratings mean
Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.
Stated by a reputable secondary source.
An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.
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