Song Rig

Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground

Jack White · White Blood Cells · 2001

Tone Overview

What Makes This Sound Unique

Raw, overdriven slide guitar through a small amp — Jack uses a slide on the Airline Res-O-Glas guitar for the main riff, producing a fuzzy, compressed tone that sits between rock and delta blues. The lo-fi production of White Blood Cells strips away all studio gloss and presents the guitar in its most unprocessed state.

Signal Chain

1Montgomery Ward Airline JB Hutto Res-O-Glas (bridge pickup)
2Silvertone 1484 (or small tweed Fender)
3Electro-Harmonix White Russian Big Muff Pi
4Glass or brass slide

Amp Settings

Gain / Volume7

Bass6

Mid7

Treble7

High gain into a small amp — the Airline and Silvertone combination produces a naturally compressed, slightly distorted base tone before any pedals. The Big Muff adds fuzz saturation on top of the already-driven amp.

Technique

How to Play It

Open slide riff with heavy right-hand muting — Jack controls which strings ring using the palm of his picking hand while the slide covers multiple strings in open tuning.

Budget Alternative

Achievable With

Jazzmaster or Jaguar in open A tuning → EHX Big Muff Pi → any small amp cranked (Fender Champ, Blues Junior) → glass or brass slide. Avoid over-processing — the rawness of White Blood Cells is intentional.

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