No. 1462002·desert-rock·5 blocks

Go with the Flow

Josh Homme's driving, octave-fuzz desert-rock riff from Songs for the Deaf (2002). Producer Eric Valentine tracked the album to tape at Sound City and Conway with Homme's signature 'wrong-amp' palette — odd solid-state and bass amps (Ampeg VT-40, a V-4B bass head, Peavey) blended and miked off-axis for a thick ~600 Hz midrange. The grind comes from a Foxx octave fuzz, not the amp. Tuned two whole steps down to C standard for a fat, rolling low end.

Songs for the Deaf coverSongs for the Deaf
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Ovation solidbody electric (live: Maton BB1200)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
C standard (C-F-Bb-Eb-G-C)
Deluxe Comp
Octave Fuzz
Minotaur
US Double Nrm
2x12 Double C12N
Room
Deluxe Comp
← Light tracking compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-30dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
40ms
Release
180ms
Mix
30
Level
0dB
Octave Fuzz
← Foxx octave fuzz (Tone Machine)
Distortion
Drive
7.5
Gain
6
Tone
5.5
Level
6
Minotaur
← Z.Vex Super Hard-On clean boost
Distortion
Drive
3
Tone
6
Boost
6
Level
6
US Double Nrm
← Ampeg VT-40 / blended solid-state amps
Amp
Drive
4
Bass
4.5
Mid
7
Treble
5
Presence
4.5
ChVol
6
Master
5
Bias
5
BiasX
5
Sag
6
Hum
5
Ripple
5
2x12 Double C12N
← Guitar cab (undocumented), off-axis miked
Cab
LowCut90Hz
HighCut6500Hz
Resonance
0.5
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Room
← Studio room ambience
Reverb
LowCut200Hz
HighCut6000Hz
Mix
8
Decay
0.6s
Predelay
14ms
Level
0

What we checked

Computed by a program, on this recipe, every time this page is built. How this works

Preset files — 0 of 3 complete
  • Helix 1 block missing from the file
    Which ones

    Not in the file: Octave Fuzz. The recipe calls for this block, but we have no verified model ID for it on this platform, so the preset is written without it. Add it by hand using the settings above.

  • Quad Cortex 3 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Octave Fuzz, Room Reverb. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.

  • Katana 3 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Clean, Fuzz, Room. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.

Helix DSP
55.4% of one chip — fits
Sources
2 cited, 1 from publications that do original gear reporting
Attribution
Not yet rated — This recipe predates the attribution-confidence field and hasn't been reviewed for it.
What we didn't check
  • Nobody played this through a real amp. There is no human listening test behind any number on this page.
  • The settings are reasoned from the sources below, not measured off the record.
  • No audio has been rendered for this recipe yet, so you cannot hear it before you load it.
  • 3 platforms on this page (TONEX, Kemper, Fractal) get a model pointer, not a preset file — nothing was built or checked for them.
The mic in this chain

Neumann U87

Still made, still the studio default. The cheapest part of this chain to get right.

Affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. The mic is listed because the chain uses it, not because anyone paid for the placement.

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