Nail the ToneSoundgarden

Black Hole Sun

Soundgarden · Superunknown · 1994

The main riff is Chris Cornell — not Kim Thayil — arpeggiating drop-D voicings on a Gretsch Jet through a bridge Filter'Tron, split into a late-'70s Marshall JMP 50 and a Mesa Dual Rectifier, with a Leslie Model 16 (Fender Vibratone) driven by the Marshall supplying the warble. Both amps sit at moderate overdrive: Marshall mid-forward for attack, Mesa darker for body. Producer Beinhorn's accounts differ on whether the Duo Jet or the double-cut Silver Jet was the guitar on this specific track, and the finished master is a quarter step sharp because the tape was sped up.

Where these numbers come from: the player said these settings themselves

Tuning

Drop D (D A D G B E)

The tape was sped up after tracking, so the record sits roughly 50-75 cents sharp of A=440 — tune every string up about a quarter step to play along, or pitch the track down.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Gretsch G6128T Duo Jet (1989) · Filter'Tron (ceramic magnet) · bridge pickup
  • Gretsch Silver Jet (double-cutaway) · Filter'Tron

Amp

Marshall JMP 1987 50-watt Lead head

GAIN
7.0
BASS
5.0
MID
8.0
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
4.0

No gain control: Volume I at 7 and Volume II at 5 with the inputs jumpered; into a Marshall 1960 4x12 slant cab with 30-watt Greenbacks, and this head also drove the Leslie. Guitar World reports the Duo Jet as the only guitar on this track, while producer Michael Beinhorn's own account names the double-cut Gretsch Silver Jet as Cornell's main guitar for it.

Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo head (1993)

GAIN
5.0
BASS
6.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
5.0
PRESENCE
2.0

Orange/Vintage channel, 6L6 tubes, Master 7, Variable High Gain, tube rectifier, Spongy power; into a Mesa 4x12 straight cab with Vintage 30s. Blended with the Marshall through an ABY box — Marshall for mids and attack, Mesa for weight underneath, both at moderate overdrive.

Pedals

  • Leslie Model 16 / Fender Vibratone · rotating speaker cabinet · Driven by the Marshall head; fast rotor for the verse warble, slower rotor on the heavier arpeggio parts, blended with the dry Gretsch
  • ABY switcher · amp splitter · Both amps on together

Tone character

swirling rotary warble · light amp breakup · chimey bright top · fat low mids · clean-edged arpeggios

medium

Drop-D arpeggio picking through unusual, stretchy chord voicings that have to stay even and clean, plus a maj-sus4 barre move in the chorus.

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Sources