How did John Fogerty Achieve his guitar tone with CCR?
In the old CCR days, John would use Kustom guitar amps. The amps had a very unique “tuck & roll” vinyl covering on them and were built in Chanute, KS. The company was started by Bud Ross in the mid 60s. Live, he used the 1968 Kustom K200A-4 (with tremolo/vibrator, harmonic clipper, reverb, and boost built in) with 2-15 cabinets (most likely containing JBL K-130 speakers). In the studio, he would also use Fender Vibrolux and Fender Concert amps. Guitars were generally Les Pauls or a Rickenbacker 325 with a Bigsby tremolo bar on it. I the last time I saw John live (about 10 years ago), he had a clean boost and compressor pedal on the floor in front of him, but that was it as far as effects goes. What you hear on the old CCR recordings was almost always a guitar plugged straight into the amp!
