Simple Man
Lynyrd Skynyrd · (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) · 1973
The rhythm track is a Gibson Les Paul into a cranked 100-watt Marshall head with nothing between them — the intro and verse arpeggios sit right at the edge of breakup, and the choruses open up into thick mid-forward crunch. Rossington told Premier Guitar he used his 1959 Les Paul on every Skynyrd recording through 1977, though another widely repeated account says his main guitar until it was stolen in 1973 was the mini-humbucker goldtop he got from Allen Collins, and that it is on the debut. Get most of the way there with the neck pickup, the guitar volume rolled back to about half, and an amp just starting to dirty up; tuning down a half step matters more than any knob.
Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record
Tuning
Eb standard (down a half step)
Play the C–G–Am shapes with the guitar tuned down a half step and it lines up with the record, which sounds in B; the intro/verse figure is picked one note at a time rather than strummed.
Guitar
- Gibson Les Paul Standard (1959, "Bernice") · PAF humbuckers · neck for intro/verse arpeggios, bridge for choruses
- Gibson Les Paul goldtop (mini-humbuckers) · Gibson mini-humbuckers · neck pickup — competing account, see summary
Amp
Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100W head (1973, non-master volume)
Rossington cranked the preamp and cleaned up with the guitar's volume pot, so roll the guitar back to about 4–5 for the arpeggios and up for the choruses; other accounts name the Marshall 1959T Super Tremolo head for the first three albums, and the band's Peavey Mace amps came in as they toured, while Ed King's Fender Twin was the one amp engineer Rodney Mills specifically places in the Studio One control room.
Tone character
clean at the edge of breakup · warm humbucker mids · chimey open-string arpeggios · fat crunch in choruses · amp only, no effects
Open-position C, G and Am shapes picked as arpeggios, so the work is in keeping the picking even and the notes ringing clear without accidental string noise, plus a switch to fatter chords in the choruses.
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 gearSources
No published source — the settings below are estimated by ear.