Glycerine
Bush
A lone distorted guitar and voice, with strings where the band would be.
What is the Glycerine guitar tone?
The Glycerine guitar tone is a lone distorted guitar and voice, with strings where the band would be, heard on Bush's 1990s post-grunge recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Bush reportedly tracked it with a Marshall 50, which co-producer Clive Langer told Mix they redid all of Gavin Rossdale's guitars through in a day, after most had been recorded through a Marshall 100, because one track through the 50 sounded so much better, and they dropped the double tracking; no source read here names the guitar; engineer and co-producer Alan Winstanley says the guitars are dry, with little in the way of effects, and thinks he miked them with a Sennheiser 421 and a Shure 57 and a bit of room; Rossdale wrote the song on guitar with a distortion pedal in his basement bedroom in London, and the record kept that shape: his demo was just guitar and voice, and Langer remembers trying bass and drums before deciding the song did not need them, leaving what Rossdale calls a ballad with a distorted guitar and double-tracked strings arranged by lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford and played by Gavyn Wright and Caroline Dale; it was recorded in January 1994 at West Side Studios in London on a 24-track Studer A800, with a Neve VR console in the room, and Rossdale calls it the most successful song he has written; the fourth single from Sixteen Stone, it went to radio in November 1995 and was released in January 1996. Here one dry, distorted guitar carries the song with only strings beside it, so the crunch has to stay clear enough for the chords to ring with no reverb around them.
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.
Glycerine 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.
- Gain 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Recorded dry, no effects → No double tracking
- The control that matters most
- Dry and plain. The guitar on the record is a single distorted part through a Marshall with no effects and no double tracking, so turn the reverb and delay off, use a moderate crunch, and let the strumming carry the dynamics.
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. A first plan starts with 7 days free, $0 today.
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.
Does the Glycerine tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
What gear did Bush use on Glycerine?
A Marshall 50, which co-producer Clive Langer told Mix they redid all of Gavin Rossdale's guitars through in a day, after most had been recorded through a Marshall 100, because one track through the 50 sounded so much better, and they dropped the double tracking; no source read here names the guitar; engineer and co-producer Alan Winstanley says the guitars are dry, with little in the way of effects, and thinks he miked them with a Sennheiser 421 and a Shure 57 and a bit of room; Rossdale wrote the song on guitar with a distortion pedal in his basement bedroom in London, and the record kept that shape: his demo was just guitar and voice, and Langer remembers trying bass and drums before deciding the song did not need them, leaving what Rossdale calls a ballad with a distorted guitar and double-tracked strings arranged by lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford and played by Gavyn Wright and Caroline Dale; it was recorded in January 1994 at West Side Studios in London on a 24-track Studer A800, with a Neve VR console in the room, and Rossdale calls it the most successful song he has written; the fourth single from Sixteen Stone, it went to radio in November 1995 and was released in January 1996.
Sources: Mix: Classic Tracks, Bush's Glycerine, Wikipedia: Glycerine (song)
Tonelify's tone matcher 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 Glycerine tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Glycerine
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Glycerine tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Glycerine?
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 lone distorted guitar and voice, with strings where the band would be from different positions.
What amp did Gavin Rossdale use on Glycerine?
Amp: Marshall 50, after a first pass through a Marshall 100. Guitar: Not named in the sources read. Sources: Mix and Wikipedia.
What were Gavin Rossdale's amp settings on Glycerine?
None of the sources cited on this page gives Gavin Rossdale's full amp settings on Glycerine. The numbers here are a starting point for that kind of part, not the settings from the session, and Tonelify rewrites them for the amp and guitar you own.
How do you get Gavin Rossdale's tone on Glycerine?
Dry and plain. The guitar on the record is a single distorted part through a Marshall with no effects and no double tracking, so turn the reverb and delay off, use a moderate crunch, and let the strumming carry the dynamics. Play it with the bridge pickup.
Can you get the Glycerine tone without the original gear?
Yes. The parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order, and those translate to other equipment. Tonelify's adaptation step works them out for the amp and guitar you own.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
A match for your own gear takes a plan, and a first plan starts with 7 days free with nothing charged that day: 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.
