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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Indie2004easy to fake

01Modest Mouse

Float On

Detuned, chorus-soaked riff that anchors the song. A Telecaster through a chorus pedal with deep modulation — almost a vibrato level of pitch wobble — straight into a slightly overdriven amp. The verse rhythm has a strange harmonic-laden quality from open strings ringing against the chord shapes. Brock's playing is intentionally rough; muted notes, ghost picks, and slides give the tone an unfinished feel.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 2 pedals between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    Fender Telecaster (modified) in dropped tuning

  2. 01
    Deep chorus that becomes the texture
    Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble

    Rate: 11 o'clock, Depth: 3 o'clock

  3. 02
    Short ambient delay for depth
    Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

    Time: ~180ms, Feedback: 20%, Mix: 25%

  4. Out
    Amp

    Fender Deluxe Reverb pushed

03Field note

The secret sauce

Brock plays through dirty cables and broken-in tubes on purpose. The 'wobble' in pitch on Modest Mouse records is a combination of the chorus AND a slightly out-of-tune guitar — fully in-tune kills it.