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.
Signal 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
60s
Release
500s
Mix
50
Level
0dB
Scream 808
← No pedal on the original (alt boost)
Drive
1.5
Gain
1.5
Tone
5.5
Level
7.5
Brit Plexi Brt
← 100W Marshall Super Lead (cranked)
Drive
6.8
Bass
5
Mid
6
Treble
6.5
Presence
6
ChVol
5.5
Master
10
Bias
5
BiasX
5
Sag
5.5
Hum
5
Ripple
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
15
Decay
1.1s
Predelay
20ms
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