Give It Away
A dry, punchy Stratocaster funk sound with almost no reverb.
What is the Give It Away guitar tone?
The Give It Away guitar tone is a dry, punchy Stratocaster funk sound with almost no reverb, heard on Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1990s alt rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Red Hot Chili Peppers reportedly tracked it with John Frusciante's Fender Stratocaster, which he called a '58 in a 1991 Guitar Player interview, into two Marshalls for most of the album's basic tracks, a guitar head for edge and a bass head for punch and low end, with the signal split by a DOD stereo chorus pedal; he said he used a Fender H.O.T. practice amp for some overdubs and went straight into the desk for a lot of parts, solos included, getting much of his distortion from overdriving the board, and Guitar.com notes that the photos with that interview show a rosewood fingerboard, which Fender did not use until 1959, so the guitar's date is uncertain; none of that is placed on this song in particular; producer Rick Rubin stripped out the reverb and layering of the band's previous album for a dry sound, the song opens on that dry guitar, and Frusciante plays a funk riff through the verses; his solo was recorded in one take and dubbed backwards over the rhythm track; he and Flea wrote the main riff and bass line in jam sessions with a side project before the album, and the band recorded it between April and June 1991 at The Mansion in Los Angeles; it came out in September 1991 as the lead single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik and became the band's first number one on the US Modern Rock chart. The sound depends on compression and pick attack more than on gain, so a lightly driven amp with the tone rolled back gets closer than a high-gain setting.
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.
Give It Away amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 3, Bass 5, Middle 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 3
- Bass 5
- Middle 5
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- DOD stereo chorus, splitting the guitar to two Marshalls
- The control that matters most
- Reverb, off. Rick Rubin took the reverb and the layering off this album for a dry sound, so set reverb to zero, keep the gain low enough that each muted stab stays short and percussive, and get the bite from your picking hand. The solo on the record is played backwards, which no amp setting gives you; a reverse delay gets near it.
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
- 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 Red Hot Chili Peppers use on Give It Away?
John Frusciante's Fender Stratocaster, which he called a '58 in a 1991 Guitar Player interview, into two Marshalls for most of the album's basic tracks, a guitar head for edge and a bass head for punch and low end, with the signal split by a DOD stereo chorus pedal; he said he used a Fender H.O.T. practice amp for some overdubs and went straight into the desk for a lot of parts, solos included, getting much of his distortion from overdriving the board, and Guitar.com notes that the photos with that interview show a rosewood fingerboard, which Fender did not use until 1959, so the guitar's date is uncertain; none of that is placed on this song in particular; producer Rick Rubin stripped out the reverb and layering of the band's previous album for a dry sound, the song opens on that dry guitar, and Frusciante plays a funk riff through the verses; his solo was recorded in one take and dubbed backwards over the rhythm track; he and Flea wrote the main riff and bass line in jam sessions with a side project before the album, and the band recorded it between April and June 1991 at The Mansion in Los Angeles; it came out in September 1991 as the lead single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik and became the band's first number one on the US Modern Rock chart.
Sources: Wikipedia: Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers song), Guitar.com: the gear Frusciante used on Blood Sugar Sex Magik
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 Give It Away tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Give It Away
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Give It Away tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Give It Away?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 3, Bass 5, Middle 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, 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 dry, punchy Stratocaster funk sound with almost no reverb from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Give It Away tone?
Reverb, off. Rick Rubin took the reverb and the layering off this album for a dry sound, so set reverb to zero, keep the gain low enough that each muted stab stays short and percussive, and get the bite from your picking hand. The solo on the record is played backwards, which no amp setting gives you; a reverse delay gets near it.
Can you get the Give It Away tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with John Frusciante's Fender Stratocaster, which he called a '58 in a 1991 Guitar Player interview, into two Marshalls for most of the album's basic tracks, a guitar head for edge and a bass head for punch and low end, with the signal split by a DOD stereo chorus pedal; he said he used a Fender H.O.T. practice amp for some overdubs and went straight into the desk for a lot of parts, solos included, getting much of his distortion from overdriving the board, and Guitar.com notes that the photos with that interview show a rosewood fingerboard, which Fender did not use until 1959, so the guitar's date is uncertain; none of that is placed on this song in particular; producer Rick Rubin stripped out the reverb and layering of the band's previous album for a dry sound, the song opens on that dry guitar, and Frusciante plays a funk riff through the verses; his solo was recorded in one take and dubbed backwards over the rhythm track; he and Flea wrote the main riff and bass line in jam sessions with a side project before the album, and the band recorded it between April and June 1991 at The Mansion in Los Angeles; it came out in September 1991 as the lead single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik and became the band's first number one on the US Modern Rock chart, 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 Give It Away a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1990s alt 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 it takes a plan, charged when you subscribe: 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.
