Gravity
A slow, bluesy ballad carried by sparse Strat fills and a lightly driven, singing solo.
What is the Gravity guitar tone?
The Gravity guitar tone is a slow, bluesy ballad carried by sparse Strat fills and a lightly driven, singing solo, heard on John Mayer's 2000s blues rock recording. It is a distorted solo tone, and John Mayer reportedly tracked it with the Black One, a black Fender Stratocaster that Fender Custom Shop master builder John Cruz built with Mayer's input and delivered in November 2004, which Mayer calls the Continuum guitar and says is all over that record, and which Ground Guitar reports he names as the guitar he recorded Gravity with; which amp is on the take is not documented: engineer Chad Franscoviak miked Mayer's guitar cabinets on most of the album with a Shure SM57 and a Beyerdynamic M88 side by side, about two fingers' width from the grille, blended to one track, with room microphones around a semicircle of amps, and in 2010 Mayer said he uses the same amps in the studio as on stage, a Dumble and a Two-Rock running together 'like one amp'; the song first came out on the John Mayer Trio's live album Try! in 2005, and drummer Steve Jordan, who produced it with Mayer, says playing it on the road refined it down to the tempo and the turnarounds before the studio version was cut for Continuum; Alicia Keys sings backing vocals at the end, and it came out as the album's third single in 2007. This lives right on the edge of breakup, where the volume knob on the guitar does the real work between clean and dirty.
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.
Gravity amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 4.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut.
- Gain 4.5
- Bass 5
- Middle 7
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Light overdrive → Spring reverb
- The control that matters most
- Touch and the volume knob. Most of the song is space between a few notes, so set the amp right on the edge of breakup, play the fills with the guitar's volume a little below full and roll it up for the solo. Steve Jordan says the band refined the song on the road down to the tempo and the turnarounds, so the phrasing and the gaps carry it more than any setting does.
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 John Mayer use on Gravity?
The Black One, a black Fender Stratocaster that Fender Custom Shop master builder John Cruz built with Mayer's input and delivered in November 2004, which Mayer calls the Continuum guitar and says is all over that record, and which Ground Guitar reports he names as the guitar he recorded Gravity with; which amp is on the take is not documented: engineer Chad Franscoviak miked Mayer's guitar cabinets on most of the album with a Shure SM57 and a Beyerdynamic M88 side by side, about two fingers' width from the grille, blended to one track, with room microphones around a semicircle of amps, and in 2010 Mayer said he uses the same amps in the studio as on stage, a Dumble and a Two-Rock running together 'like one amp'; the song first came out on the John Mayer Trio's live album Try! in 2005, and drummer Steve Jordan, who produced it with Mayer, says playing it on the road refined it down to the tempo and the turnarounds before the studio version was cut for Continuum; Alicia Keys sings backing vocals at the end, and it came out as the album's third single in 2007.
Sources: MusicRadar: John Mayer's 2010 Guitarist interview, Ground Guitar: John Mayer's guitars and gear, Mix: John Mayer, with Steve Jordan and Chad Franscoviak, 2006, Wikipedia: Gravity (John Mayer song)
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 Gravity tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Gravity
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Gravity tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Gravity?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 4.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, 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 slow, bluesy ballad carried by sparse Strat fills and a lightly driven, singing solo from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Gravity tone?
Touch and the volume knob. Most of the song is space between a few notes, so set the amp right on the edge of breakup, play the fills with the guitar's volume a little below full and roll it up for the solo. Steve Jordan says the band refined the song on the road down to the tempo and the turnarounds, so the phrasing and the gaps carry it more than any setting does.
Can you get the Gravity tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with the Black One, a black Fender Stratocaster that Fender Custom Shop master builder John Cruz built with Mayer's input and delivered in November 2004, which Mayer calls the Continuum guitar and says is all over that record, and which Ground Guitar reports he names as the guitar he recorded Gravity with; which amp is on the take is not documented: engineer Chad Franscoviak miked Mayer's guitar cabinets on most of the album with a Shure SM57 and a Beyerdynamic M88 side by side, about two fingers' width from the grille, blended to one track, with room microphones around a semicircle of amps, and in 2010 Mayer said he uses the same amps in the studio as on stage, a Dumble and a Two-Rock running together 'like one amp'; the song first came out on the John Mayer Trio's live album Try! in 2005, and drummer Steve Jordan, who produced it with Mayer, says playing it on the road refined it down to the tempo and the turnarounds before the studio version was cut for Continuum; Alicia Keys sings backing vocals at the end, and it came out as the album's third single in 2007, 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 Gravity a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo part with a distorted character, from John Mayer's 2000s blues 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.
