Undone
A circular picked riff under talky verses, then thick distortion in the chorus.
What is the Undone guitar tone?
The Undone guitar tone is a circular picked riff under talky verses, then thick distortion in the chorus, heard on Weezer's 1990s power pop recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Weezer reportedly tracked it with Rivers Cuomo's borrowed Gibsons, a Les Paul Junior and a Les Paul Special with P-90 pickups from producer Ric Ocasek's collection, which also lent the album a 1960s Fender Jaguar, through a Mesa/Boogie Mark I into a tall Marshall cabinet, often at unusually low volumes, according to Guitar.com; Cuomo arrived with his Blue Strat copy, which then had only a neck pickup and which he calls ultra heavy and bassy, and by the end of the first week Ocasek had him on his own guitars with totally different amp and pickup settings; there are no pedals, since Cuomo says the album's only guitar effect is a little delay on Only In Dreams; which guitar plays which part is not documented, and Jason Cropper, the guitarist fired during the sessions, says Cuomo was using Cropper's red Strat while he was there; Cuomo then re-recorded all of Cropper's parts himself, on an album cut mostly at Electric Lady in New York in August and September 1993 with the guitars and bass playing in unison like one 10-string instrument; the band added The Sweater Song to the title because fans kept calling it that. Power pop puts loud, mid-forward guitar chords under a sung melody, so the midrange and how tightly the parts are played matter more than the amount of gain.
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.
Undone 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
- Straight into the amp, no pedals
- The control that matters most
- The dynamics. The verses sit on a quiet picked riff and the chorus jumps to thick distortion, with no pedal on the record to do it, so set the amp for the chorus and pick the verse riff lightly, or roll the guitar's volume back for the verses and up to full for the chorus.
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 Weezer use on Undone?
Rivers Cuomo's borrowed Gibsons, a Les Paul Junior and a Les Paul Special with P-90 pickups from producer Ric Ocasek's collection, which also lent the album a 1960s Fender Jaguar, through a Mesa/Boogie Mark I into a tall Marshall cabinet, often at unusually low volumes, according to Guitar.com; Cuomo arrived with his Blue Strat copy, which then had only a neck pickup and which he calls ultra heavy and bassy, and by the end of the first week Ocasek had him on his own guitars with totally different amp and pickup settings; there are no pedals, since Cuomo says the album's only guitar effect is a little delay on Only In Dreams; which guitar plays which part is not documented, and Jason Cropper, the guitarist fired during the sessions, says Cuomo was using Cropper's red Strat while he was there; Cuomo then re-recorded all of Cropper's parts himself, on an album cut mostly at Electric Lady in New York in August and September 1993 with the guitars and bass playing in unison like one 10-string instrument; the band added The Sweater Song to the title because fans kept calling it that.
Sources: Guitar.com: the gear Rivers Cuomo used on Weezer's Blue Album, MusicRadar: Rivers Cuomo on how Ric Ocasek changed his Blue Album guitar tone, Wikipedia: Undone (The Sweater Song), Wikipedia: Weezer (Blue Album)
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 Undone tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Undone
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Undone tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Undone?
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 circular picked riff under talky verses, then thick distortion in the chorus from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Undone tone?
The dynamics. The verses sit on a quiet picked riff and the chorus jumps to thick distortion, with no pedal on the record to do it, so set the amp for the chorus and pick the verse riff lightly, or roll the guitar's volume back for the verses and up to full for the chorus.
Can you get the Undone tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Rivers Cuomo's borrowed Gibsons, a Les Paul Junior and a Les Paul Special with P-90 pickups from producer Ric Ocasek's collection, which also lent the album a 1960s Fender Jaguar, through a Mesa/Boogie Mark I into a tall Marshall cabinet, often at unusually low volumes, according to Guitar.com; Cuomo arrived with his Blue Strat copy, which then had only a neck pickup and which he calls ultra heavy and bassy, and by the end of the first week Ocasek had him on his own guitars with totally different amp and pickup settings; there are no pedals, since Cuomo says the album's only guitar effect is a little delay on Only In Dreams; which guitar plays which part is not documented, and Jason Cropper, the guitarist fired during the sessions, says Cuomo was using Cropper's red Strat while he was there; Cuomo then re-recorded all of Cropper's parts himself, on an album cut mostly at Electric Lady in New York in August and September 1993 with the guitars and bass playing in unison like one 10-string instrument; the band added The Sweater Song to the title because fans kept calling it that, 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 Undone a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Weezer's 1990s power pop 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.
