Free Bird
A long, fast outro jam of doubled lead guitar after a slow ballad with a drawling slide line.
What is the Free Bird guitar tone?
The Free Bird guitar tone is a long, fast outro jam of doubled lead guitar after a slow ballad with a drawling slide line, heard on Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1970s rock recording. It is a distorted solo tone, and Lynyrd Skynyrd reportedly tracked it with Allen Collins' Gibson Explorer, the guitar Guitar World says he played the whole solo on, although Wikipedia's account of his guitars has him on a Gibson Firebird with a P-90 in the bridge for most of his time in the band and switching to a 1958 Explorer only in 1976, three years after the session; Gary Rossington says the long jam was all Collins, who by Wikipedia's account doubled everything in the studio, while Rossington played rhythm on his 1959 Les Paul, Bernice, and the slide fills on his SG, with the B string tuned down to G for E-A-D-G-G-E, a screwdriver under the strings at the nut to raise them like a steel guitar, a trick he came up with when the band wrote the song, and a glass Coricidin bottle as the slide; the song was recorded on 3 April 1973 at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, with Al Kooper producing, and which amps were used is not documented, since the Peavey Mace head and back-removed Peavey 4x12 that Guitar Player describes are the rig Rossington played it through live. Much of this character comes from an amp worked hard rather than from a pedal, so master volume and pickup output matter more than the gain knob.
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.
Free Bird amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the neck pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut.
- Gain 5.5
- Bass 5
- Middle 7
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Amp distortion → Spring reverb
- The control that matters most
- Two guitars, not one. Rossington says the long jam was Collins alone, and Collins doubled everything in the studio, so a single take sounds thinner than the record: double the lead if you are recording. For the slide part before it the trick is the tuning rather than the amp, with the B string tuned down to G so two strings sound one note.
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 pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut
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 Lynyrd Skynyrd use on Free Bird?
Allen Collins' Gibson Explorer, the guitar Guitar World says he played the whole solo on, although Wikipedia's account of his guitars has him on a Gibson Firebird with a P-90 in the bridge for most of his time in the band and switching to a 1958 Explorer only in 1976, three years after the session; Gary Rossington says the long jam was all Collins, who by Wikipedia's account doubled everything in the studio, while Rossington played rhythm on his 1959 Les Paul, Bernice, and the slide fills on his SG, with the B string tuned down to G for E-A-D-G-G-E, a screwdriver under the strings at the nut to raise them like a steel guitar, a trick he came up with when the band wrote the song, and a glass Coricidin bottle as the slide; the song was recorded on 3 April 1973 at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, with Al Kooper producing, and which amps were used is not documented, since the Peavey Mace head and back-removed Peavey 4x12 that Guitar Player describes are the rig Rossington played it through live.
Sources: Guitar World: Allen Collins' isolated Free Bird solo, Guitar Player: Gary Rossington on his Free Bird slide sound, Wikipedia: Free Bird, Wikipedia: Allen Collins, Wikipedia: Gary Rossington
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 Free Bird tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Free Bird
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Free Bird tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Free Bird?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the neck pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut. 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 long, fast outro jam of doubled lead guitar after a slow ballad with a drawling slide line from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Free Bird tone?
Two guitars, not one. Rossington says the long jam was Collins alone, and Collins doubled everything in the studio, so a single take sounds thinner than the record: double the lead if you are recording. For the slide part before it the trick is the tuning rather than the amp, with the B string tuned down to G so two strings sound one note.
Can you get the Free Bird tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Allen Collins' Gibson Explorer, the guitar Guitar World says he played the whole solo on, although Wikipedia's account of his guitars has him on a Gibson Firebird with a P-90 in the bridge for most of his time in the band and switching to a 1958 Explorer only in 1976, three years after the session; Gary Rossington says the long jam was all Collins, who by Wikipedia's account doubled everything in the studio, while Rossington played rhythm on his 1959 Les Paul, Bernice, and the slide fills on his SG, with the B string tuned down to G for E-A-D-G-G-E, a screwdriver under the strings at the nut to raise them like a steel guitar, a trick he came up with when the band wrote the song, and a glass Coricidin bottle as the slide; the song was recorded on 3 April 1973 at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, with Al Kooper producing, and which amps were used is not documented, since the Peavey Mace head and back-removed Peavey 4x12 that Guitar Player describes are the rig Rossington played it through live, 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 Free Bird a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo part with a distorted character, from Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1970s rock 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.
