No. 2351971·progressive-rock·4 blocks

Aqualung

One of rock's most-voted-for solos came out of a rig with almost nothing in it. Barre had met Leslie West after Benefit and bought a Les Paul Junior the way, as he puts it, everyone who met West did -- one P-90, one volume, one tone. That went into a Hiwatt with a homemade treble booster he describes as a couple of capacitors and some wire, because the Hiwatt had no front-end overdrive of its own. The entire tone is a single pickup pushing a clean amp past its limit.

Aqualung coverAqualung
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 8 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
1958 Gibson Les Paul Junior
Pickups
P90
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Deluxe Comp
Deranged Master
WhoWatt 100
4x12 WhoWatt 100
Transistor Tape
Room
Parametric
Deluxe Comp
← Island Studios console compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-30dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
7dB
Attack
25ms
Release
260ms
Mix
45
Level
0dB
Deranged Master
← Hornby Skewes treble booster
Distortion
Drive
8
Tone
6
Level
7
WhoWatt 100
← Hiwatt 100W head
Amp
Drive
7
Bass
4
Mid
6
Treble
6
Presence
6
ChVol
7.5
Master
10
Bias
6
BiasX
5
Sag
7
Hum
4
Ripple
4
4x12 WhoWatt 100
← Hiwatt 4x12
Cab
LowCut110Hz
HighCut6500Hz
Resonance
5
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Transistor Tape
← Studio tape delay
Delay
LowCut300Hz
HighCut4000Hz
Time
210ms
Feedback
10
Mix
9
Level
0
Room
← Island Studios room
Reverb
LowCut200Hz
HighCut6000Hz
Mix
13
Decay
1.1s
Predelay
14ms
Level
0
Parametric
← Console midrange trim
EQ
Tilt
4.8
CenterFreq
2200Hz
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 5 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Treble Booster, Brit Watt 100, 4x12 Hiwatt Fane, 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 1 block missing from the file; 4 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Not in the file: Room. 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.

    Replaced with a stand-in: Crunch, Treble Booster, Delay, 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
66.5% of one chip — fits
Sources
4 cited, 2 from publications that do original gear reporting
Attribution
Documented — The player is named for this specific part in credits or an interview.
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.

Rate This Tone

...

(0 ratings)

Sign in to rate this recipe.

Comments

Sign in to leave a comment.