Riff Tone

Skinny Love

Bon Iver

Guitarindie folk2000s

Original Gear

GuitarNational Duolian steel-bodied resonator, tuned open-C (C-G-C-G-C-C low to high)

AmpNone — direct mic, no amplifier in the chain

PickupsNone on the studio recording (mic'd). Live versions sometimes use piezo or magnetic acoustic pickups.

Amp Settings

gain1

bass5

mid5

treble6

reverb4

presence5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Recorded by Justin Vernon alone in a remote Wisconsin cabin during the For Emma, Forever Ago sessions (winter 2006-2007). The resonator's metallic, slightly compressed character — combined with the open-C drone tuning — produces the song's signature shimmering, harmonic-rich quality. No effects beyond natural cabin room reverb and incidental microphone bleed.

Tone Character(10)

metallic resonator shimmercompletely clean signalopen-string drone from open-C tuningpercussive fingerstyle attacknatural cabin room reverbintimate close-mic'd presencesympathetic harmonic resonancesoft dynamics throughoutno electric instrument characterminimalist folk recording aesthetic

Difficulty

Once retuned to open-C, the chord shapes are simple, but the fingerstyle pattern and the dynamic restraint take practice to feel right.

Sources

Skinny Love by Bon Iver — Acoustic Guitar Lesson (Ry Naylor)Bon Iver — Skinny Love Guitar Lesson — Guitar Lessons 365 Skinny Love Tab — Songsterr

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account