Hotel California
One of the most-studied lead tones in rock. Don Felder cut the famous Hotel California outro solo with his 1959 Les Paul Standard plugged straight into a narrow-panel mid-50s Fender Tweed Deluxe, cranked into edge-of-breakup territory, with a Maestro Echoplex in the loop for the tape-delay swell. Felder and Walsh trade twin-harmony lines, but the lead voice is Felder's PAF-on-Tweed-combo — fat, singing, slightly breaking up at the top of every note.
Hotel California
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: 1x12 Tweed. 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 4 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Tweed Deluxe, 1x12 Tweed, 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: Crunch, Tube Screamer, 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.
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.
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.
