No. 1021958·rock-and-roll·4 blocks
Johnny B. Goode
The double-stop intro that launched a thousand bands — the founding statement of rock 'n' roll lead guitar. Cut at Chess Studios in Chicago in January 1958, Chuck Berry's tone is a thinline Gibson ES-350T strung with flatwounds, driven into a cranked Fender tweed combo at the edge of breakup. There are no pedals; the space and slap come entirely from Chess's basement echo chamber. Standard tuning, played in B♭ — the bite is in the flatwound 'twop' and the right-hand attack.
Chuck Berry Is on TopSignal path · input → output · 5 blocksLive values · Pedalboard
Guitar
Gibson ES-350T (1957)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Fender tweed combo (cranked)
Tweed combo speaker (1x15 / 4x10)
Chess basement echo chamber
Dynamic mic (close)
Fender tweed combo (cranked)
preamp
Volume
7
Treble
6
Bass
5
Chess basement echo chamber
reverb
Decay
1s
Mix
16
Engineer's note
File 102
The double-stop intro that launched a thousand bands — the founding statement of rock 'n' roll lead guitar. Cut at Chess Studios in Chicago in January 1958, Chuck Berry's tone is a thinline Gibson ES-350T strung with flatwounds, driven into a cranked Fender tweed combo at the edge of breakup. There are no pedals; the space and slap come entirely from Chess's basement echo chamber. Standard tuning, played in B♭ — the bite is in the flatwound 'twop' and the right-hand attack.
— Chuck Berry
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