Nail the ToneJohn Mayer

Gravity

John Mayer · Continuum · 2006

The Continuum solo is a Strat neck pickup into a high-headroom Dumble-style clean amp, pushed just into breakup by a low-gain Tube Screamer and by the guitar's own volume knob. Mayer has said the "Black1" Custom Shop Strat cut Gravity, and the session amps on hand at The Village were a Two-Rock Custom Reverb Signature, a Dumble Steel String Singer, a Marshall Bluesbreaker and a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Aim for a fat, slightly dark clean with mids up and treble backed off, and let picking dynamics do the rest — the drive should bloom on hard attack, not sit there buzzing.

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

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Album take is standard tuning at concert pitch in G, in 6/8 — the solo leans on G major pentatonic over G–C.

Part: Solo

Guitar

  • Fender Custom Shop "Black1" Stratocaster · John Cruz Black1 single-coils · neck pickup
  • Fender Custom Shop 1962 John Cruz Sonic Blue Stratocaster · John Cruz master design single-coils · neck/middle (position 4)

Amp

Two-Rock Custom Reverb Signature

GAIN
5.0
BASS
5.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
5.5
PRESENCE
4.0
REVERB
2.5

Photos from the Continuum sessions at The Village show the Custom Reverb Signature alongside a Dumble Steel String Singer, a Marshall Bluesbreaker and a Fender combo; no source pins the Gravity solo to one amp, so this is the period rig read from the recording.

Amp

Dumble Steel String Singer

GAIN
4.0
BASS
5.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
4.0

Engineer Chad Franscoviak documented that Continuum lead guitars were cut through a Dumble Steel String Singer paired with a Marshall, close-mic'd with a U67, SM57 and a reversed NS10 — that account is for "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room," so treat it as strong session context rather than a Gravity-specific credit.

Pedals

  • Ibanez TS-10 Tube Screamer · overdrive · Drive 2, Tone 5, Level 7 — low-gain push into a clean amp; Continuum-era staple, not track-confirmed
  • Klon Centaur · transparent overdrive/boost · Gain 2, Treble 5, Output to taste; documented in his Continuum-era rig, not confirmed on this take

Tone character

thick woody clean · soft tube breakup · forward mids · rolled-off treble · natural amp compression · roomy ambience

medium

The notes are few and slow, but every one is exposed: whole- and half-step bends have to land dead in tune with even vibrato, and the 6/8 phrasing sits behind the beat with a lot of silence between licks.

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