No. 1262006·progressive-metal·5 blocks

The Pot

The 10,000 Days single built on a syncopated, vocal-led groove and one of Tool's heaviest single-note riffs. Adam Jones cut it on his 1979 Les Paul Custom Silverburst tuned to Drop C — lower than his usual Drop D, which he said made it easier for Maynard to sing — into his multi-amp wall. Producer Joe Barresi split the guitar into a Diezel VH4 for bottom and gain, a modified Marshall Super Bass for upper-mid grind, and a third blended track, all through Mesa 4x12s. The weight is the low tuning, the amp blend, and Jones' slow, deliberate picking — almost no gain stacking.

10,000 Days cover10,000 Days
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Custom (1979 Silverburst)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
drop_c
Noise Gate
Deluxe Comp
Das Benzin Lead
4x12 XXL V30
Room
Tilt
Noise Gate
← Studio noise gate (FRFR essential)
Cab
Threshold
-52dB
Decay
0.3s
Level
0
Deluxe Comp
← Light studio compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-32dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
38ms
Release
200ms
Mix
40
Level
0dB
Das Benzin Lead
← Diezel VH4 (Channel 3) + Marshall Super Bass blend
Amp
Drive
7
Bass
8
Mid
9
Treble
5
Presence
6
ChVol
7
Master
10
Bias
5.5
BiasX
5
Sag
5.5
Hum
5
Ripple
5
4x12 XXL V30
← Mesa/Boogie 4x12 (Celestion V30)
Cab
LowCut85Hz
HighCut8500Hz
Resonance
0.5
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Room
← Studio room ambience
Reverb
LowCut200Hz
HighCut6000Hz
Mix
10
Decay
0.3s
Predelay
10ms
Level
0
Tilt
← Tilt EQ (global brightness)
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: Gate, Studio Comp, D-Cell H4 Lead, 4x12 Recto V30, 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.

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

    Replaced with a stand-in: Lead, Noise Gate, 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
59.6% of one chip — fits
Sources
3 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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