No. 1482004·hard-rock·5 blocks

Slither

Slash's swaggering, Drop D main riff from Velvet Revolver's 2004 debut Contraband — a Les Paul into cranked Marshall. Producer Josh Abraham cut the band mostly live at NRG and Pulse (engineer Ryan Williams, mixed by Andy Wallace), tracking guitars through SM57s. The distortion is Slash's signature Marshall stack — a Frank-Levi-modded JCM800 2203 and his JCM 2555SL Silver Jubilee signature — with a Tube Screamer tightening the front end. Confirmed Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E), not Eb.

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
Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E)
Deluxe Comp
Scream 808
Brit 2204
4x12 Cali V30
Room
Tilt
Deluxe Comp
← Light tracking compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-30dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
40ms
Release
200ms
Mix
30
Level
0dB
Scream 808
← Ibanez Tube Screamer
Distortion
Drive
3
Gain
3
Tone
6
Level
7
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 5 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Green Scream, Brit 2203, Tilt EQ, 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: Crunch, Green Scream, 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
58.4% 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

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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