No. 2281971·progressive-rock·5 blocks

Roundabout

The famous part of Roundabout is acoustic, and this is not that. Under and after the Martin 00-18 intro, Steve Howe's electric is a Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster through a Fender Dual Showman into two 2x15 cabinets -- a big, bright, barely-distorted hollowbody sound that players routinely try to reach with a driven amp and lose completely. The character is coming from a hollow body and enormous clean headroom, not from gain.

Fragile coverFragile
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 9 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster
Pickups
P90
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Vol Pedal
Deluxe Comp
Teardrop 310
Arbitrator Fuzz
US Double Nrm
2x15 Brute
Transistor Tape
63 Spring
Vol Pedal
← Fender / DeArmond volume pedal
Volume/Pan
Pedal
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Console compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-32dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
9dB
Attack
25ms
Release
350ms
Mix
45
Level
0dB
Teardrop 310
← Dunlop Cry Baby
Wah
Mix
100
Level
0
Arbitrator Fuzz
← Period fuzz box (Marshall / Gibson units on the board)
Distortion
Drive
6
Tone
5
Level
6
US Double Nrm
← Fender Dual Showman
Amp
Drive
3
Bass
4
Mid
5.5
Treble
6.5
Presence
5.5
ChVol
6
Master
10
Bias
5
BiasX
5
Sag
6
Hum
3
Ripple
3
2x15 Brute
← Two Fender 2x15 cabinets
Cab
LowCut75Hz
HighCut7500Hz
Resonance
5
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Transistor Tape
← Studio tape delay
Delay
LowCut250Hz
HighCut4200Hz
Time
300ms
Feedback
15
Mix
12
Level
0
63 Spring
← Dual Showman onboard reverb
Reverb
LowCut180Hz
HighCut6000Hz
Mix
16
Decay
1.2s
Predelay
15ms
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 2 blocks missing from the file
    Which ones

    Not in the file: Vol Pedal, 63 Spring. The recipe calls for these blocks, but we have no verified model ID for them on this platform, so the preset is written without them. Add them by hand using the settings above.

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

    Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Compressor, Crying Wah, 2x15 Fender. 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: Spring. 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: Clean, Booster, Delay, Spring. 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
55.1% of one chip — fits
Sources
3 cited, 1 from publications that do original gear reporting
Attribution
DocumentedThe 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.

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