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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Blues2006

01John Mayer

Gravity

Continuum-era Mayer: warm, vocal lead tone that sustains for days but never sounds processed. Black Strat into a Dumble-style amp at concert volume, with a Klon as the always-on transparent boost. The lead playing has wide vibrato and bends that sit on pitch. Tone has a singing top end without being shrill, and a fat midrange that lets every phrase 'speak' clearly.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 3 pedals between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    Fender Stratocaster ('Black1'), position 4

  2. 01
    Always-on transparent boost into the Dumble
    Klon Centaur (gold, original)

    Gain: 9 o'clock, Treble: noon, Output: 1 o'clock

  3. 02
    Stacked into the Klon for solos
    Ibanez TS-10 Tube Screamer

    Drive: 8 o'clock, Tone: noon, Level: 2 o'clock

  4. 03
    Subtle analog delay underneath
    Way Huge Aqua Puss

    Delay: ~280ms, Feedback: 20%, Blend: 25%

  5. Out
    Amp

    Dumble Steel String Singer

03Field note

The secret sauce

The Klon isn't doing much — it's adding maybe 2dB of harmonic complexity into a Dumble that's already singing. Without the Dumble (or a very good D-style clone) the Klon just sounds like a clean boost.