Nail the ToneKansas

Carry On Wayward Son

Kansas · Leftoverture · 1976

The main riff is two guitars in unison — Williams on his Gibson L6-S and Livgren on a Gibson ES-335 or Hagstrom Swede — each straight into a 100-watt Marshall through a big cab, no dirt pedal. Aim for a mid-forward crunch that still lets each eighth note speak: gain around 7, mids up, bass pulled back so the low-string figure stays tight against the bass and drums. If you only have one guitar, a bridge humbucker and a slight double-track will get most of the way there.

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

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard tuning in A minor; Rich Williams and Kerry Livgren double the opening riff in unison, so two guitars are stacked on the record.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Gibson L6-S · Bill Lawrence-designed super-humbuckers · bridge pickup
  • Gibson ES-335 · Gibson humbuckers · bridge pickup
  • Hagstrom Swede · Hagstrom humbuckers · bridge pickup

Amp

Marshall 100-watt head (borrowed, Studio in the Country)

GAIN
7.0
BASS
4.5
MID
7.0
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
4.5

Williams told Guitar Player his own red 100-watt Marshall Lead was road-beaten, so he cut the track through a Marshall head borrowed from another musician at the studio; Vintage Guitar describes his period amp as a 100-watt Super Lead into a Univox 6x12. Volume-as-gain on a non-master-volume Marshall, so the crunch comes from level plus the guitar's own volume knob.

Amp

Marshall 100-watt Super Lead

GAIN
7.0
BASS
4.5
MID
7.0
TREBLE
6.5
PRESENCE
5.0

Livgren said that all through the Kansas years he ran one 100-watt Marshall head into a single slant cab, straight in with no pedals; his guitars in that era were an ES-335 and a Hagstrom Swede. Some secondhand gear lists instead credit Williams with a Les Paul and Livgren with a Stratocaster on this song, but Williams has said he broke his Les Paul's neck before the L6-S years and the Strat only appears in the mimed video.

Pedals

  • Maestro Phase Shifter · phaser · Williams' only pedal in this period; the doubled main riff is a dry amp sound, so leave it off for the riff

Tone character

forward mids · tight crunch, not saturated · EL34 Marshall bite · doubled riff thickness · clear note separation

medium

The notes are simple minor-pentatonic shapes on the low strings, but the riff shifts meter and leans on off-beat accents, so it needs steady alternate picking and firm counting at 124 bpm.

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