Black Hole Sun
Soundgarden
Watery, Leslie-swirled verse arpeggios against heavy drop D guitars, with a wild Kim Thayil solo.
What is the Black Hole Sun guitar tone?
The Black Hole Sun guitar tone is watery, Leslie-swirled verse arpeggios against heavy drop D guitars, with a wild Kim Thayil solo, heard on Soundgarden's 1990s grunge recording. It is a clean riff tone, and Soundgarden reportedly tracked it with Chris Cornell's Gretsch, which producer Michael Beinhorn is pretty sure was a Silver Jet and says most of the song was cut on, through a Leslie cabinet for the verse arpeggios, a version with a rotating speaker inside rather than a rotating horn that needs its own amplifier to drive it, and which Kim Thayil names as a Leslie model 16; Cornell wrote the song on a Gretsch through a Leslie, and Thayil told Guitar Player in 2024 that the arpeggios were stylistically unusual for him, so Cornell tracked them himself; for the heavy guitars Beinhorn split the signal between a 50-watt Marshall JMP half stack and a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, each miked with a Shure SM57 and an RCA BK-5, and he says some Leslie is mixed in with the heavy guitar too; the solo is two tracks of Thayil; the song is in a slightly sharp drop D tuning, was recorded with Beinhorn at Bad Animals' Studio X in Seattle for Superunknown, and came out as a single on 23 May 1994; Cornell says the whole arrangement came to him in his head on the drive home from Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville. Clean parts in grunge are rarely pristine: they tend to sit near the edge of breakup, often with a chorus on them, so they hold their own when the loud sections arrive.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a clean channel on a modelling combo and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Black Hole Sun amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the verse arpeggios, with the neck or middle position. There is a second setting for the heavy choruses below.
- Gain 2
- Bass 6
- Middle 4
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Leslie rotating-speaker cabinet on the verse arpeggios
- The control that matters most
- The Leslie. The verse arpeggios go through a rotating-speaker cabinet, so a rotary or vibe effect on a clean amp gets closer than a chorus pedal. Tune to drop D, a touch sharp to play along with the record, and let the arpeggios ring evenly: the weight arrives with the distorted guitars of the chorus, not in the verses.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Neck or middle position
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Second sound
Black Hole Sun amp settings for the heavy choruses
For the heavy choruses, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 6
- Middle 4
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Marshall JMP and Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, split, with some Leslie blended in
- Where the song switches
- The verses are clean arpeggios through a Leslie; for the heavy guitars Beinhorn split the signal between a Marshall JMP and a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, with some Leslie mixed in.
- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
The same reference as the panel above: positions on a generic five-knob amp, a starting point rather than the settings on the record.
What gear did Soundgarden use on Black Hole Sun?
Chris Cornell's Gretsch, which producer Michael Beinhorn is pretty sure was a Silver Jet and says most of the song was cut on, through a Leslie cabinet for the verse arpeggios, a version with a rotating speaker inside rather than a rotating horn that needs its own amplifier to drive it, and which Kim Thayil names as a Leslie model 16; Cornell wrote the song on a Gretsch through a Leslie, and Thayil told Guitar Player in 2024 that the arpeggios were stylistically unusual for him, so Cornell tracked them himself; for the heavy guitars Beinhorn split the signal between a 50-watt Marshall JMP half stack and a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, each miked with a Shure SM57 and an RCA BK-5, and he says some Leslie is mixed in with the heavy guitar too; the solo is two tracks of Thayil; the song is in a slightly sharp drop D tuning, was recorded with Beinhorn at Bad Animals' Studio X in Seattle for Superunknown, and came out as a single on 23 May 1994; Cornell says the whole arrangement came to him in his head on the drive home from Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville.
Sources: Produce Like A Pro: Black Hole Sun, inside the song with Michael Beinhorn, MetalSucks: Kim Thayil on why Chris Cornell played the Black Hole Sun arpeggios, Wikipedia: Black Hole Sun
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Black Hole Sun tone on your own amp?
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Black Hole Sun tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Black Hole Sun?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the verse arpeggios, with the neck or middle position, and at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2 for the heavy choruses, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same watery, Leslie-swirled verse arpeggios against heavy drop D guitars, with a wild Kim Thayil solo from different positions.
Does Black Hole Sun use one amp setting or two?
Two. The verses are clean arpeggios through a Leslie; for the heavy guitars Beinhorn split the signal between a Marshall JMP and a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, with some Leslie mixed in. On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the verse arpeggios, and at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2 for the heavy choruses.
What is the most important control for the Black Hole Sun tone?
The Leslie. The verse arpeggios go through a rotating-speaker cabinet, so a rotary or vibe effect on a clean amp gets closer than a chorus pedal. Tune to drop D, a touch sharp to play along with the record, and let the arpeggios ring evenly: the weight arrives with the distorted guitars of the chorus, not in the verses.
Can you get the Black Hole Sun tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Chris Cornell's Gretsch, which producer Michael Beinhorn is pretty sure was a Silver Jet and says most of the song was cut on, through a Leslie cabinet for the verse arpeggios, a version with a rotating speaker inside rather than a rotating horn that needs its own amplifier to drive it, and which Kim Thayil names as a Leslie model 16; Cornell wrote the song on a Gretsch through a Leslie, and Thayil told Guitar Player in 2024 that the arpeggios were stylistically unusual for him, so Cornell tracked them himself; for the heavy guitars Beinhorn split the signal between a 50-watt Marshall JMP half stack and a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, each miked with a Shure SM57 and an RCA BK-5, and he says some Leslie is mixed in with the heavy guitar too; the solo is two tracks of Thayil; the song is in a slightly sharp drop D tuning, was recorded with Beinhorn at Bad Animals' Studio X in Seattle for Superunknown, and came out as a single on 23 May 1994; Cornell says the whole arrangement came to him in his head on the drive home from Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Black Hole Sun a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a clean character, from Soundgarden's 1990s grunge catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
