Riff Tone

Folsom Prison Blues

Johnny Cash

Guitarcountry1950s

Original Gear

Guitar1953 Fender Esquire

Amp1948 Silvertone 1300

PickupsSingle-coil (Fender Esquire bridge pickup)

Amp Settings

gain1

bass5.5

mid6.5

treble7

reverb1.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1955 original single version. Guitarist: Luther Perkins. No evidence of pedals; amp and guitar only. Settings from Source 1 are likely for a modern amp, but are included as the only numeric reference. No evidence of a distorted/heavy tone section in the original recording; tone is clean to edge-of-breakup typical of early country/rockabilly.

Tone Character(9)

bright and twangypercussive attacktight, staccato rhythmslight amp breakupclean and articulatedynamic responseslapback echo effectbridge pickup biteclassic country 'boom-chicka' sound

Difficulty

The riff is technically simple but requires tight, percussive picking and consistent rhythm at a fast tempo to capture the classic country feel.

Sources

Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues The setup used to record "I Walk The Line", "Folsom Prison ...Johnny Cash Guitarist Luther Perkins' '53 Esquire Guitar - Premier Guitar

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