Nail the ToneTom Petty

Free Fallin'

Tom Petty · Full Moon Fever · 1989

The rhythm bed of "Free Fallin'" is layered acoustics, not an amp tone — Petty called it "a multitude of acoustic guitars," with a 12-string acoustic capoed at the 3rd fret carrying the D-shape loop in the key of F, plus Jeff Lynne on a second acoustic and Mike Campbell doubling on an electric 12-string. Everything is clean and bright with no dirt; the chorusing effect is the natural detune of many stacked 12- and 6-string tracks. If you're playing it on an electric, keep a small clean combo, gain low, treble up, and a touch of reverb, and let the capo do the work.

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

The main rhythm part is a 12-string acoustic with a capo at the 3rd fret playing D-shapes (D, Dsus4, Dsus2/G-A voicings) so it sounds in F; the record stacks more acoustics, and lesson sources commonly place a second part at capo 1 in E shapes, with Mike Campbell's electric 12-string doubling the figure.

Part: Rhythm

Guitar

  • Guild D-212 12-string acoustic · none (miked)
  • Gibson Dove · none (miked)
  • Rickenbacker 360/12 · toaster-top single-coils · both pickups

Amp

Clean Fender-style tube combo

GAIN
3.0
BASS
4.0
MID
5.0
TREBLE
7.0
REVERB
3.0

Petty's rhythm track is miked acoustic guitars, not an amp — these settings are for players covering the jangle part on an electric 6- or 12-string; Campbell's documented studio and stage formula was small low-watt Fenders (a '63 Princeton and a '54 tweed Deluxe in his Rig Rundown) run clean, but that is his live rig, not a confirmed session amp.

Amp

Vox AC30 Top Boost

GAIN
4.0
BASS
4.0
TREBLE
6.5
REVERB
3.0

Alternative for the Rickenbacker 12-string layer; the AC30 Top Boost has no mid control and no presence (it has a Cut control instead), so those are null. The AC30 is documented as a Campbell/Petty favorite in general, not specifically for this session.

Pedals

  • Light chorus (any) · chorus · Shallow depth, slow rate, subtle mix — NOT on the record; the shimmer comes from stacked 12- and 6-string acoustics, so use this only if you are playing the part alone on one guitar.

Tone character

bright acoustic jangle · stacked 12-string shimmer · clean, no dirt · chimey top end · tight, controlled lows · wide stereo spread

easy

Three open chord shapes in one repeating two-bar loop with a capo, and the only real work is adding the sus4/sus2 pinky moves on the high strings while keeping a steady eighth-note strum.

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