No. 0601976·progressive-rock·4 blocks
Carry On Wayward Son
Kerry Livgren's rig on Carry On Wayward Son was disarmingly simple: a guitar straight into a 100-watt Marshall head and one slant cabinet, no pedals, 'no modification of any kind.' Recorded at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana (1976) and produced by Jeff Glixman, the dirty rhythm tone is all cranked-amp grind. Livgren's own main guitar in the Kansas years was a Gibson ES-335, though the exact guitar on this track isn't confirmed and Rich Williams' Les Paul doubled the rhythm. Standard tuning, an Am-pentatonic riff played straight in.
LeftovertureSignal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson ES-335 (Livgren's stated Kansas-years main — track guitar unconfirmed)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge (inferred from the cutting rhythm tone — not documented for this track)
Strings
standard
Vol/Pan
Deluxe Comp
Scream 808
Brit Plexi Brt
4x12 Greenback 25
Plate
Vol/Pan
← Volume control
Pedal
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Natural amp + studio compression
Threshold
-30dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
0.1s
Release
0.5s
Mix
0.5
Level
0dB
Scream 808
← No pedal on the original (alt boost)
Drive
0.1
Gain
0.1
Tone
0.6
Level
0.8
Brit Plexi Brt
← 100W Marshall Super Lead (cranked)
Drive
0.7
Bass
0.5
Mid
0.6
Treble
0.7
Presence
0.6
ChVol
0.6
Master
1
Bias
0.5
BiasX
0.5
Sag
0.6
Hum
0.5
Ripple
0.5
4x12 Greenback 25
← Marshall slant 4x12
LowCut95Hz
HighCut8500Hz
Resonance
0.4
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Plate
← Studio plate/chamber (inferred)
LowCut200Hz
HighCut7000Hz
Mix
0.1
Decay
1.1s
Predelay
0.0ms
Level
0
Engineer's note
File 060
Kerry Livgren's rig on Carry On Wayward Son was disarmingly simple: a guitar straight into a 100-watt Marshall head and one slant cabinet, no pedals, 'no modification of any kind.' Recorded at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana (1976) and produced by Jeff Glixman, the dirty rhythm tone is all cranked-amp grind. Livgren's own main guitar in the Kansas years was a Gibson ES-335, though the exact guitar on this track isn't confirmed and Rich Williams' Les Paul doubled the rhythm. Standard tuning, an Am-pentatonic riff played straight in.
— Kerry Livgren
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →AC/DC Rhythm Tone Recipe: Angus Young Amp Settings, Gear Breakdown, and How to Nail It
AC/DC guitar tone settings for both eras; the SG, the Marshall, amp dials by era, and how to approximate it on Helix and Quad Cortex.
Marshall Silver Jubilee vs. JCM800: The Overlooked Middle Sibling
The 2555 Silver Jubilee sits between the JCM800 and the JCM900 in both era and gain structure. Here is what makes it different, who used it, and the settings that get you there.
When the V30 Is Still the Right Speaker: Medium-Gain Rock and the Case Against Modern
The Celestion V30 takes a beating in modern djent contexts, and that criticism is fair. But in the medium-gain rock zone (Marshall plexis pushed to breakup, Bluesbreaker-stacked Twin Reverbs, AC30 territory), the V30 is still the speaker its 1990s reputation was built on. Here is when to choose it, and what it does that nothing else quite does.
