Tone library / Johnny Cash / Folsom Prison Blues

Folsom Prison Blues amp settings — Line 6 Pod go

The Johnny Cash guitar tone for “Folsom Prison Blues”, dialed in for a Line 6 Pod go with a Epiphone SG Standard. Original Sun Records studio version (1955), later re-recorded live at Folsom Prison (1968)—both use the same fundamental clean-with-slapback approach

Original rig

1953 Fender Esquire (bridge single-coil), clean Fender amp (likely tweed-era Deluxe or similar), Sun Studios tape slapback delay (~130ms)

Clean, dark, percussive twang with pronounced slapback echo—tight bass notes, muted low end, articulate mids

Amp settings — Line 6 Pod go

CHANNELUS Deluxe Nrm (Fender Deluxe Reverb model, Normal channel)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	5
Presence	5
Reverb	0
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE4 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Vintage Digital Delay (or Simple Delay block)

Set delay time to 120-140ms manually. Feedback low for only 2-3 repeats. This is the defining element of the tone—without slapback, it's not Luther Perkins.

Time 3 · Feedback 2 · Mix 4

Why these settings

Your SG's humbuckers are darker and hotter than Perkins' Esquire single-coil, so I dropped treble from the typical 7-8 down to 5 and rolled your tone knob to 4 to approximate that dark, thumpy quality he got by using the Esquire's bass-cut position. Boosted mids +1 to compensate for the Pod Go's Fender model scoop and keep the palm-muted bass notes defined rather than muddy.

PRO TIPPalm mute the bass strings very lightly—just enough to kill sustain but not pitch. Your picking hand should rest on the bridge saddles, not the strings themselves. The slapback only becomes audible on short, muted notes; sustained notes mask it.

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These settings are for a Line 6 Pod go. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.