Sunshine of Your Love by Eric Clapton (Riff · Distorted) — Guitar Tone

The Sunshine of Your Love by Eric Clapton guitar tone is built on a 1966 Marshall Super 100, dialed in at gain 7/10, bass 8, mid 8, treble 7, presence 7 (community-researched baseline). Full breakdown below — then adapt every knob to your exact guitar and amp, free.

Amp settings (0–10)

Community-researched baseline. Your rig is different — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials every knob for your specific guitar, amp and pickups.

How these settings compare

Measured against the 70 hard rock tones in our researched catalog: Gain 7 sits above the hard rock average (6.0) — a hotter, more saturated take than most hard rock tones; mids at 8 are above average (6.1) — mid-forward, built to cut through a mix.

Guitar controls

Original gear

Amp: 1966 Marshall Super 100 (JTM45/100, KT66 tubes), normal channel, amp run near its threshold

1964 Gibson SG Standard (vintage PAF humbuckers); neck pickup with the guitar TONE rolled to ~1 gives the famous Cream "woman tone".

Gear used on this tone

Don’t own this gear? GuitarToneAdapt re-creates the sound on the rig you actually have.

Pickups

neck humbucker (woman tone)

Effects / signal chain

distortion

Tone character

warm, vocal "woman tone", cranked midrange, singing sustain

Recording context

studio

How it’s played

cranked vintage Marshall distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the Sunshine of Your Love sound.

Difficulty

6/10 · Riff

The notes are accessible; the magic is in the touch, vibrato and the warm rolled-off tone.

Level: Expert-level — see more the hardest guitar songs →

Worth knowing

• The Cream "woman tone" comes mostly from the GUITAR, not the amp: a Gibson SG/Les Paul on the NECK pickup with the tone knob rolled almost all the way down (to ~1), into a cranked vintage Marshall run near breakup. That is why this entry sets the guitar tone control very low.
• Clapton plugged into the Marshall Super 100 NORMAL channel (not the bright/high-treble input) and set the amp EQ high, leaning on midrange and warmth. These 0-10 values translate that cranked-amp + dark-guitar approach; dial by ear — the rolled-off neck-pickup tone is the whole trick.
• Settings are community-researched starting points, not official recall sheets.

Sunshine of Your Love guitar tone — FAQ

Share this tone

Sources

• Clapton Sunshine of Your Love tone — Guitar World
• Sound Like Eric Clapton — Pro Sound HQ
• Eric Clapton Guitar Gear Guide — Jam Buzz

Free practice tools

🎤 Online guitar tuner →  ·  🎶 Guitar chords →  ·  🎸 Guitar tunings →  ·  🎚️ Tuning chart →  ·  🎼 Guitar scales →  ·  🎚️ Chord transposer & capo →  ·  🥁 Metronome →  ·  🎶 Song chords →  ·  🎧 Guess the Tone game →  ·  🎸 Tone Legend quiz →  ·  📊 Tone data report →

🔥 The most famous guitar tones of all time →  ·  🗂️ Browse tone collections (by genre & language) →

Songs by level: 🎯 Easy  ·  🎸 Intermediate  ·  🔥 Hardest — each with the amp settings.

More like this

🎸 How to get Eric Clapton’s guitar tone →  ·  🎸 more Classic Rock guitar tones →  ·  🎛️ best hard rock amp settings →  ·  🎸 more iconic guitar riffs →  ·  🎚️ Distortion tone guide →  ·  🎯 more singing sustain tones →  ·  📖 New to amp settings? What every knob does →

Related tones