Nail the ToneGoo Goo Dolls

Iris

Goo Goo Dolls · City of Angels soundtrack / Dizzy Up the Girl · 1998

The signature rhythm sound of "Iris" is almost entirely the tuning, not the knobs: a steel-string acoustic with the high E removed and everything but the low B tuned to D, so a two-finger shape rings out as a wall of unisons and octaves with a built-in chorus effect. On the record it was mic'd and blended with a direct signal, then layered, with electric overdubs and the slide solo done by session player Tim Pierce through a Les Paul, a Crowther Hot Cake and a Matchless amp. If you're amplifying the strummed part, stay clean with a slight mid push and just a touch of reverb — dirt turns those unisons to mud fast.

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

Tuning

B D D D D (low to high) — 6th string B, remaining strings all D

Rzeznik has said he pulled the high E string off entirely and played five strings, B D D D D; tabs usually write it as BDDDDD on six strings, which sounds the same, and a heavier low string helps the very slack B — the electric overdub layers and Tim Pierce's mandolin passes are separate parts in their own tunings.

Part: Rhythm

Guitar

  • Steel-string acoustic (model undocumented)
  • Gibson Les Paul (Tim Pierce) · humbuckers · bridge pickup

Amp

Matchless amp (model unstated)

GAIN
4.0
BASS
4.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
6.0

Tim Pierce told Guitar Player his session rig at Record One was a Les Paul, a Crowther Hot Cake and a Matchless amp — that covers the electric overdubs and slide solo, not the acoustic; Matchless amps have a Cut control instead of presence and no onboard reverb, so set Cut around 4 for a little top-end sparkle.

Amp

Clean tube combo, Fender or AC30 style (for playing the rhythm part amplified)

GAIN
3.0
BASS
5.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
6.0
REVERB
2.0

On the record the main rhythm guitar is an acoustic captured with a mic and a blend of direct signal — no amp — so this is a practical setting if you're playing the strummed part on an acoustic-electric or a clean electric; keep it just short of breakup so the unison D strings stay defined.

Pedals

  • Crowther Hot Cake · overdrive/boost · Low drive used as a boost, level up — documented as part of Tim Pierce's rig on the session
  • Plate/room reverb (studio, added at mix) · reverb · Light short room on the strummed rhythm, long lush plate on the slide solo

Tone character

bright acoustic jangle · droning unison D strings · natural chorus-like shimmer · light crunch on choruses · big plate reverb

easy

The strumming and chord shapes are simple, mostly one or two fretted notes over ringing open strings — the real work is retuning five strings and keeping a steady 12/8 strum on slack, floppy low strings without pulling them out of pitch.

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