No. 1602004·hard-rock·3 blocks

Dirty Little Thing

Velvet Revolver's snarling, STP-meets-GN'R rocker from 2004's Contraband, produced by Josh Abraham at NRG and Pulse. Slash summed the riff up in one sentence: 'I think I'm playing straight into Marshalls.' No pedals -- just a Les Paul's bridge humbucker slamming a cranked, Frank-Levi-modded JCM800 2203 (and his JCM 2555SL Silver Jubilee) into a V30 4x12. Standard E, dry and upfront.

Contraband coverContraband
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Standard ('59 replica)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
Standard E (E-A-D-G-B-E)
Noise Gate
Deluxe Comp
Brit 2204
4x12 Cali V30
Room
Tilt
Noise Gate
← Input noise gate
Cab
Threshold
-64dB
Decay
30s
Deluxe Comp
← Light tracking compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-30dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
40ms
Release
200ms
Mix
30
Level
0dB
Brit 2204
← Marshall JCM800 2203 / JCM 2555SL
Amp
Drive
7
Bass
5
Mid
6
Treble
6
Presence
5
ChVol
6
Master
7
Bias
5.5
BiasX
5
Sag
4
Hum
5
Ripple
5
4x12 Cali V30
← Marshall 1960BV (Vintage 30)
Cab
LowCut90Hz
HighCut8000Hz
Resonance
0.5
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Room
← Studio room ambience
Reverb
LowCut200Hz
HighCut6500Hz
Mix
8
Decay
0.7s
Predelay
14ms
Level
0
Tilt
← Global brightness EQ
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 2203, 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: Brown, Booster, 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.

Helix DSP
55% of one chip — fits
Sources
2 cited, 2 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

The source doesn't name the mic — this is the standard choice for this sound, and what the chain above assumes.

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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