Song Rig

Native Stepson

Sonny Landreth · South of I-10 · 1995

Tone Overview

What Makes This Sound Unique

Sonny Landreth's most celebrated track — a slow, grinding Zydeco-blues slide piece that showcases his unique behind-the-slide fretting technique. The Strat in open D through the Dumble produces a warm, singing slide tone with notes fretted behind the slide creating a simultaneous chordal texture underneath the melody.

Signal Chain

1Fender Stratocaster (open D tuning, DADF#AD)
2Dumble Overdrive Special or Two-Rock
3Corning glass slide (heavy wall, ring finger)

Amp Settings

Gain / Volume5

Bass7

Mid7

Treble6

Reverb4

Warm and moderately driven — the Dumble's natural compression gives the slide tone long sustain without sounding aggressive. The moderate gain allows both the slide melody and the behind-slide fretting to be heard clearly.

Technique

How to Play It

Behind-the-slide fretting — Sonny's unique contribution: he frets notes behind (lower on the neck than) the slide with his other left-hand fingers, creating chordal content that accompanies the slide melody. This effectively turns one guitar into a slide-lead/rhythm duo.

Budget Alternative

Achievable With

Stratocaster in open D → glass slide on ring finger → Dumble or Two-Rock → practice the behind-slide technique: while the ring finger holds the slide on a string, use the index and middle fingers to fret other strings below the slide position.

Your Gear