Free Fallin'
John Mayer · Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles · 2008
Mayer's famous "Free Fallin'" is the acoustic-set cover from Where the Light Is, cut live at the Nokia Theatre in December 2007 — one steel-string acoustic, capo 3, no amp and no dirt. His main acoustic of that era was the Martin OM-28JM with the Martin/Fishman Gold+Plus undersaddle pickup, blended with mics at front of house, and the sound is all fingers: thumb-slap backbeat under D/F#–G–A voicings. For a home rig, run an acoustic clean with mids up, a hair of low end pulled out, and just a touch of reverb.
Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record
Tuning
Standard tuning, no capo · Capo at fret 3
Capo 3 in standard tuning, playing D/F#–G–A (Dsus4/G, Asus4) shapes so it sounds in F major, about 89 BPM; Robbie McIntosh and David Ryan Harris add a second acoustic and body-percussion part behind Mayer's main guitar.
Guitar
- Martin OM-28JM John Mayer Signature · Martin/Fishman Gold+Plus Natural undersaddle · undersaddle, blended with stage mic
Amp
Acoustic preamp/DI into PA (no guitar amp)
This is a live recording (Nokia Theatre, Dec 8, 2007) mixed by FOH engineer Chad Franscoviak, so the tone is the guitar's undersaddle pickup plus stage/room mics rather than an amp; Ground Guitar reports Mayer's small-body Martin 00-45SC was also used at that show, so the exact guitar on this track is not nailed down in a primary source.
Amp
Fishman Loudbox Mini (acoustic combo substitute)
Practical stand-in for playing it live: shelve a little low end out so the capo-3 voicings stay tight, keep mids up for body, and add only a touch of reverb.
Pedals
- Room/plate reverb (mix level) · reverb · Short, subtle — roughly 10–15% wet, no delay or chorus; inferred from the record, not documented
Tone character
warm rosewood OM · fingerpicked chime · tight low end · percussive thumb slap · clean, no dirt · live room ambience
Three easy capo-3 shapes, but the part is fingerpicked with a thumb-slap backbeat that has to stay metronomic while the index finger brushes the top strings.
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 gearSources
No published source — the settings below are estimated by ear.