Nail the ToneCreedence Clearwater Revival

Bad Moon Rising

Creedence Clearwater Revival · Green River · 1969

The rhythm part is Fogerty's brand-new 1968 Les Paul Custom tuned down a whole step to D standard, strummed hard on E-A-B shapes so the record sounds in D. Amp was one of the two he had at Wally Heider — a 100-watt Kustom K200A-4 or a tweaked Fender Vibrolux — run loud and basically clean with just a bit of breakup on the attack, close-miked off the cone with an SM56. No pedals: set a bright, tight clean with treble up, bass pulled back so the low tuning doesn't get boomy, and let your picking hand supply the dirt and the groove.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

D standard (down a whole step: D G C F A D)

John played it out of E shapes in the down-tuned guitar (sounding key of D), while Tom Fogerty's second rhythm guitar sat in standard tuning playing D-A-G; in standard tuning you play D, A, and G, but the record's hammer-ons only line up in the down-tuned E shapes.

Part: Rhythm

Guitar

  • 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom · Gibson humbuckers · bridge pickup
  • Rhythm guitar (Tom Fogerty, model not documented)

Amp

Kustom K200A-4 (2x15 JBL D130)

GAIN
6.0
BASS
4.0
TREBLE
7.0
REVERB
2.0

Engineer Russ Gary says Fogerty's amp at the Green River sessions was "alternately a Kustom or tweaked Fender Vibrolux," with Tom's guitar through a Kustom, so the amp on this specific track is contested; the K200A-4 has no gain or mid control, so the gain figure is the Volume knob set loud enough for a little hair on the notes. Both amps were close-miked slightly off the cone with a Shure SM56.

Amp

Fender Vibrolux Reverb

GAIN
5.0
BASS
4.0
TREBLE
7.0
REVERB
3.0

Fogerty told Premier Guitar the down-tuned Les Paul Custom through a Fender Vibrolux was his "holy grail" sound of that era, and many players hear a Fender rather than the solid-state Kustom on these tracks; no gain or mid knob, so the gain figure is the Volume control just short of breakup.

Tone character

bright clean chime · light amp hair · tight low end · percussive strum attack · forward upper mids · short chamber reverb

easy

Three open chord shapes with a driving, syncopated country strum where the chord change lands inside the pattern rather than on the downbeat, so the right hand has to keep moving through the switch.

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 gear

Sources