Nail the ToneBob Marley & The Wailers

Redemption Song

Bob Marley & The Wailers · Uprising · 1980

"Redemption Song" is a solo acoustic performance — Marley singing and strumming live at Tuff Gong in Kingston, engineered by Errol Brown, after Chris Blackwell told him to strip the full-band version down to voice and guitar. The guitar is generally attributed to Marley's Ovation Adamas, mic'd to tape with no amp and no effects. To match it, play clean with fingers or a soft thumb-led strum, keep the bass down and the mids up, and stay off any drive.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard tuning, key of G at concert pitch, no capo — the verse walk-down (C–C/B–Am) is fingered in open position, thumb and fingers rather than a flatpick.

Part: Rhythm

Guitar

  • Ovation Adamas (1687 series) · Ovation under-saddle piezo

Amp

None (acoustic guitar mic'd to console)

Engineer Errol Brown cut the album take at Tuff Gong, Kingston, with Marley singing and playing live after Chris Blackwell told him to drop the full-band arrangement; there is no guitar amp on the record. The Ovation Adamas is the guitar attributed to this recording by Marley biographer Stephen Davis and by auction/gear coverage, though no session source names the exact instrument, and some tab sites claim a Martin dreadnought with no evidence.

Amp

Acoustic combo or DI (modern substitute)

GAIN
2.5
BASS
4.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
6.5
REVERB
1.0

For playing along: keep it fully clean with no breakup, pull the bass back so the strum doesn't get boomy, leave mids forward for the woody midrange of the record, and use just a hint of room reverb — the album track is dry and close, and the guitar sits low in the mix.

Tone character

bare mic'd acoustic · fully clean, no dirt · midrange-forward, woody · bright top, light body · dry and close, mixed low

easy

Open-position G, Em, C, D and Am with a descending C–C/B–Am bass line; the work is in the light thumb-led strum and keeping that walk-down steady while singing.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources