No. 0311969·hard-rock·3 blocks

Whole Lotta Love

The grinding, heavy riff tone that opens Whole Lotta Love. Jimmy Page's Les Paul through a cranked Marshall Super Lead produces a thick, aggressive overdrive with singing sustain. The riff is played in standard tuning with the neck pickup for extra fatness, then the solo sections use the bridge pickup for a more cutting tone. Page also used a theremin and backwards echo for the psychedelic middle section.

Led Zeppelin II coverLed Zeppelin II
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 10 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Standard (1959)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
neck
Strings
standard
Volume Pedal
Deluxe Comp
Kinky Boost
Minotaur
Brit Plexi Brt
4x12 Greenback 25
Transistor Tape
Dynamic Plate
Tilt
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Volume/Pan
Pedal
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Studio compressor
Dynamics
Threshold
-32dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
38ms
Release
200ms
Mix
50
Level
3dB
Kinky Boost
← Treble booster (Tonebender / Rangemaster era)
Distortion
Drive
4
Bright
1
Boost
7
Minotaur
← Klon Centaur (modern alt)
Distortion
Gain
3
Tone
5.5
Level
7
Brit Plexi Brt
← Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi)
Amp
Drive
8.5
Bass
6
Mid
8
Treble
7
Presence
7
ChVol
8
Master
10
Bias
5.5
BiasX
5
Sag
6
Hum
5
Ripple
5
4x12 Greenback 25
← Marshall 4x12 with Greenback 25s
Cab
LowCut19.9Hz
HighCut20100Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Transistor Tape
← Echoplex EP-3 (slapback)
Delay
Time
130ms
Feedback
10
Mix
18
WowFlutter
0.3
Headroom
0.2
Spread
0.3
Scale
1
SyncSelect1
0
Level
0
Dynamic Plate
← Studio plate (Olympic Studios EMT 140)
Dynamics
LowCut130Hz
HighCut8500Hz
Mix
22
Decay
1.8s
Level
0
PreDelay
30ms
BassFreq
100
BassBoost
0
VarDelayAmpl
0.6
Damping
4200
MatrFreq
0.3
Tilt
← Tilt EQ (global brightness)
EQ
Tilt
0.5
CenterFreq
1000Hz
Level
0

What we checked

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

Preset files — 1 of 3 complete
  • Helix builds complete — every block in the recipe is in the file
  • Quad Cortex 3 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Brit Plexi 100 Bright, Tilt EQ. 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: Brown, Treble Booster, Plate. 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
57.3% of one chip — fits (1 block has no published cost and is counted as zero)
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

Shure SM57

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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