No. 0051991·alternative·5 blocks
Under the Bridge
One of the most beautiful clean guitar tones in rock. The intro to Under the Bridge is Frusciante alone, playing delicate chord voicings on the neck pickup of a 1962 Stratocaster through a clean Marshall with a touch of chorus. The tone is warm, round, and shimmering, with the CE-1 chorus adding subtle movement that keeps the sound alive and breathing. The neck pickup is essential: it provides the full, rounded character that makes this tone so inviting. The Marshall is run clean at low volume, a departure from the typical cranked Marshall approach.
Blood Sugar Sex MagikSignal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Fender Stratocaster
Pickups
SSS
Tuning
neck
Strings
standard
Volume Pedal
Deluxe Comp
Chorus CE-1
Brit Plexi Brt
4x12 Greenback 25
Glitz
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Level
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Studio compressor
Threshold
-36dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
0.1s
Release
0.9s
Mix
0.7
Level
0dB
Chorus CE-1
← Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble
Speed
3Hz
Depth
6
Mix
50
Brit Plexi Brt
← Marshall Major 200W
Drive
3
Bass
4
Mid
5
Treble
7
Presence
6
Master
1
Bias
0.5
BiasX
0.5
Sag
0.5
Hum
0.5
Ripple
0.5
Ch Vol
5
4x12 Greenback 25
← Marshall 4x12 Greenback
LowCut19.9Hz
HighCut16000Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Glitz
← Room reverb (The Mansion)
LowCut125Hz
HighCut6500Hz
Mix
20
Decay
1.5s
Pre Delay
20ms
Engineer's note
File 005
One of the most beautiful clean guitar tones in rock. The intro to Under the Bridge is Frusciante alone, playing delicate chord voicings on the neck pickup of a 1962 Stratocaster through a clean Marshall with a touch of chorus. The tone is warm, round, and shimmering, with the CE-1 chorus adding subtle movement that keeps the sound alive and breathing. The neck pickup is essential: it provides the full, rounded character that makes this tone so inviting. The Marshall is run clean at low volume, a departure from the typical cranked Marshall approach.
— John Frusciante
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →Shoegaze Wall of Sound: Guitar Tone Settings and Pedal Recipe
Shoegaze guitar tone settings from the ground up: fuzz, chorus, reverb, and delay settings with frequency-space thinking for bedroom players and DAW builders.
Marshall JCM800 Settings: Sweet Spots for Every Style
Exact settings for the Marshall JCM800 across blues, classic rock, hard rock, and metal, on the real amp and on Helix, Quad Cortex, and Katana models.
Roland JC-120 Settings Guide: Getting The Cure Sound and Beyond
The Roland Jazz Chorus is a stereo solid-state amp with the strangest, most distinctive built-in chorus you'll find anywhere. Here's how to set it for Robert Smith's clean tone, shoegaze layers, and everything the chorus can do that pedals can't replicate.
