Everlong
Foo Fighters
Driving Drop D riff with droning open strings.
What is the Everlong guitar tone?
The Everlong guitar tone is driving Drop D riff with droning open strings, heard on Foo Fighters' 1990s post-grunge recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Foo Fighters reportedly tracked it with Dave Grohl's Gibson guitars in Drop D into Mesa/Boogie Rectifier amps for the driven parts, with a Vox AC30 likely on the clean parts. The heavy parts sit on a driven but defined amp tone, loud enough to sustain open strings without turning a Drop D riff to mush.
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 high-gain head 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.
Everlong amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup.
- Signal chain
- Amp distortion
- The control that matters most
- Gain. Enough to hold a Drop D riff together and let the open strings ring, and no more, or the chords lose their shape.
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.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- 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. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Foo Fighters use on Everlong?
Dave Grohl's Gibson guitars in Drop D into Mesa/Boogie Rectifier amps for the driven parts, with a Vox AC30 likely on the clean parts.
Sources: Guitar.com: the gear on The Colour and the Shape, Wikipedia: Everlong
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 Everlong tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original Everlong tone
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Everlong tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Everlong?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 1, 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 driving drop d riff with droning open strings from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Everlong tone?
Gain. Enough to hold a Drop D riff together and let the open strings ring, and no more, or the chords lose their shape.
Can you get the Everlong tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Dave Grohl's Gibson guitars in Drop D into Mesa/Boogie Rectifier amps for the driven parts, with a Vox AC30 likely on the clean parts, 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 Everlong a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Foo Fighters' 1990s post-grunge catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Both plans start with a 7-day free trial and nothing is charged until it ends. Stage is metered and Headliner is unlimited within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both; the current prices are on your account page once you have one. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.