Born Under a Bad Sign Amp Settings
by Albert King
Born Under a Bad Sign features Albert King's signature raw, powerful blues tone. Playing a right-handed Flying V upside down and left-handed, King created a unique bending style through a clean Fender Twin Reverb that influenced everyone from Hendrix to SRV.
What Makes This Tone Iconic
Albert King's tone is deceptively simple — a clean amp and a big guitar. But his unorthodox technique (playing a right-handed guitar flipped, with reversed strings) gives his bends a unique character. He pulls strings down instead of pushing up, creating wider, more dramatic bends. The clean Fender amp means every nuance of his aggressive attack comes through unfiltered.
Key Tone Elements
- Fender Twin Reverb set clean with moderate volume
- Gibson Flying V played left-handed (upside down)
- String bending by pulling down — wider, more dramatic bends
- Clean tone with no overdrive — raw, dynamic signal
- Aggressive picking attack that drives the amp naturally
Original Recording Settings
Original Gear
- Guitar
- Gibson Flying V (1958/59)
- Pickups
- Gibson PAF humbuckers (bridge (reversed due to upside-down playing))
- Amplifier
- Fender Twin Reverb / Acoustic amp
- Channel
- Clean
- Tuning
- Non-standard - lower than standard
- Pickup Selector
- bridge (reversed)
- Strings
- Very light, possibly 0.009-0.040
Clean amps. Tone from touch. Recorded at Stax Studios Memphis.
Amp Settings
Effects Chain
Playing Technique
Left-handed upside-down = bends strings downward. Extremely strong 2-3 step bends. Wide vocal vibrato. Thumb and fingers, no pick.
Sources+
- Guitar World: Albert King retrospective
- Equipboard.com - Albert King
Get This Tone on Your Gear
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