Nail the ToneCreedence Clearwater Revival

Fortunate Son

Creedence Clearwater Revival · Willy and the Poor Boys · 1969

John Fogerty cut this on his black Gibson Les Paul Custom tuned a whole step down to D standard, straight into an amp with no pedals — either his 100-watt Kustom K200A-4 through the 2x15 JBL cab or the band's hot-rodded Fender Vibrolux, both of which engineer Russ Gary close-miked with an SM56. Set the amp just into breakup on the bridge pickup, bass moderate so the detuned strings stay tight, treble a little above noon for bite. Tom Fogerty's Rickenbacker through his own Kustom sits underneath, so the strum on the record is two guitars, not one.

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

Tuning

D standard (down a whole step: D G C F A D)

The record sounds in G but is fingered in A shapes because everything is a whole step flat; there are two electric rhythm guitars — John's detuned Les Paul Custom plus Tom Fogerty's Rickenbacker-style guitar through his own Kustom.

Part: Rhythm

Guitar

  • Gibson Les Paul Custom (black, late-'60s) · Gibson humbuckers · bridge pickup
  • Rickenbacker 330/360 (Tom Fogerty rhythm) · Rickenbacker single-coils · bridge pickup

Amp

Kustom K200A-4 head + Kustom 2x15 cab (JBL)

GAIN
7.0
BASS
4.0
TREBLE
6.0
REVERB
0.0

Engineer Russ Gary says Fogerty's amp at these Wally Heider sessions was "alternately a Kustom or tweaked Fender Vibrolux," close-miked off-center with an SM56; Fogerty has said he kept the Kustom's built-in reverb switched off. Gain here is the volume control — the amp is solid state and has no gain, mid or presence knobs.

Amp

Fender Vibrolux Reverb (modified)

GAIN
7.0
BASS
4.0
TREBLE
6.0
REVERB
2.0

The band's Vibroluxes were reworked with a single JBL D120 12" in place of the 2x10 and a hotter preamp, which fits the edge-of-breakup crunch on this track; the Vibrolux has no mid or presence control. Other accounts circulating on forums name a Fender Twin Reverb or a tweed Deluxe as the studio amp on this song, and Fogerty's own story of buying the black Custom has him testing it through a Twin Reverb in the shop.

Tone character

bright bridge-pickup crunch · edge-of-breakup grit · tight detuned low end · forward mids · dry, no effects

easy

Straightforward one-finger and barre shapes with a simple sliding double-stop intro riff, but the whole part is relentless eighth-note downstrokes that have to stay even, and the guitar must be retuned a whole step down to match the record.

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.

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Sources