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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Blues1964

01Howlin' Wolf (Hubert Sumlin on guitar)

Killing Floor

The cleanest dirty Chicago blues tone — a 335 (Sumlin's later choice was a Sheraton) into a Fender Twin or Bassman, just barely into breakup. Lots of articulation, no compression, no fuzz. The riffs are syncopated and angular, with that distinctive 'hop' on the upbeats. Tone is mostly bridge pickup with rolled-off tone control, giving a smoky midrange.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 0 pedals between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    Gibson ES-335 (later: Epiphone Sheraton)

  2. Out
    Amp

    Fender Twin Reverb

03Field note

The secret sauce

Sumlin played without a pick on Killing Floor — fingertip flesh on the strings. That's why the attack is so percussive and the upper harmonics are so present. He didn't need fuzz; his fingers WERE the harmonics.