Clean Tone (klín tón) is a term used to describe an amp setting with relatively low distortion. This type of sound is often exemplified by country, jazz players and R&B guitarists. For tube amps, Fender, Vox and Peavey are hailed among guitar players for their clean tones. Solid state amps from companies like Roland, Pritchard, and Peavey have less inherent distortion due to their design and also have their champions, but are sometimes accused of sounding sterile by tube amp diehards.

The term clean tone can also be used when referring to fretting strings articulately. For example, when a guitar player picks or strums notes without muffing any of the played strings with his/her fretting hand, he/she is producing a “clean tone.”