Plush
Stone Temple Pilots
A thick but defined Les Paul chord part over a country-derived riff.
What is the Plush guitar tone?
The Plush guitar tone is a thick but defined Les Paul chord part over a country-derived riff, heard on Stone Temple Pilots' 1990s grunge recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Stone Temple Pilots reportedly tracked it with a 1978 sunburst Gibson Les Paul, which Dean DeLeo told Guitar World was the main guitar on the record, into what he calls pretty much his live rig, his VHT with his Demeter preamp, run in stereo through two 4x12s, with small Vox and Fender amps for overdubs; MusicRadar names the preamp as Demeter's all-tube three-channel TGP-3 and the power amp as a VHT Classic Stereo, says effects were light but that his Rocktron Intelliverb can be heard particularly on Plush, and quotes DeLeo on the Demeter's tight, punchy low end, which let him play the chords he wanted without too much saturation and get all he needed on the saturation side by cranking up his guitar's volume a little; producer Brendan O'Brien met the band at Rumbo with his car loaded with guitars and amps, among them a Pelham Blue ES-335, a Les Paul Special and a Strat; Robert DeLeo had all the parts ready when he brought the song in, and Wikipedia says it combines a country riff and ragtime chords from his guitar exercises with metal stylings; Dean says the song was really about Scott Weiland and Eric Kretz talking about the future one weekend during the sessions; Atlantic suggested it as the lead single, but the band buried it at track nine of Core, released on 29 September 1992, and made it the second single, and it reached number one on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks and won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. DeLeo's sound on Core is thick but defined: a preamp he chose for its tight, punchy low end, set short of full saturation, with the guitar's volume knob supplying the rest, so the chords stay clear under the vocal rather than turning to a raw wash.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Plush amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 6
- Middle 4
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Rocktron Intelliverb, heard particularly on Plush (MusicRadar)
- The control that matters most
- The guitar's volume knob. DeLeo says the Demeter let him play his chords without too much saturation and get the rest by turning up his guitar's volume, so set the amp just short of full saturation with a tight low end, ride the volume knob for the heavier chords, and add only a little reverb.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. A first plan starts with 7 days free, $0 today.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Does the Plush tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
What gear did Stone Temple Pilots use on Plush?
A 1978 sunburst Gibson Les Paul, which Dean DeLeo told Guitar World was the main guitar on the record, into what he calls pretty much his live rig, his VHT with his Demeter preamp, run in stereo through two 4x12s, with small Vox and Fender amps for overdubs; MusicRadar names the preamp as Demeter's all-tube three-channel TGP-3 and the power amp as a VHT Classic Stereo, says effects were light but that his Rocktron Intelliverb can be heard particularly on Plush, and quotes DeLeo on the Demeter's tight, punchy low end, which let him play the chords he wanted without too much saturation and get all he needed on the saturation side by cranking up his guitar's volume a little; producer Brendan O'Brien met the band at Rumbo with his car loaded with guitars and amps, among them a Pelham Blue ES-335, a Les Paul Special and a Strat; Robert DeLeo had all the parts ready when he brought the song in, and Wikipedia says it combines a country riff and ragtime chords from his guitar exercises with metal stylings; Dean says the song was really about Scott Weiland and Eric Kretz talking about the future one weekend during the sessions; Atlantic suggested it as the lead single, but the band buried it at track nine of Core, released on 29 September 1992, and made it the second single, and it reached number one on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks and won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Sources: Guitar World: Dean DeLeo looks back on Core, MusicRadar: Dean DeLeo on Stone Temple Pilots' Core, track by track, Wikipedia: Plush (song), Wikipedia: Core (Stone Temple Pilots album)
Tonelify's tone matcher reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Plush tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Plush
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Plush tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Plush?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same thick but defined Les Paul chord part over a country-derived riff from different positions.
What amp did Dean DeLeo use on Plush?
Amp: Demeter TGP-3 preamp into a VHT Classic Stereo power amp, two 4x12s (the album's rig). Guitar: 1978 sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard, the main guitar on the record. Sources: Guitar World, MusicRadar and Wikipedia.
What were Dean DeLeo's amp settings on Plush?
None of the sources cited on this page gives Dean DeLeo's full amp settings on Plush. The numbers here are a starting point for that kind of part, not the settings from the session, and Tonelify rewrites them for the amp and guitar you own.
How do you get Dean DeLeo's tone on Plush?
The guitar's volume knob. DeLeo says the Demeter let him play his chords without too much saturation and get the rest by turning up his guitar's volume, so set the amp just short of full saturation with a tight low end, ride the volume knob for the heavier chords, and add only a little reverb. Play it with the bridge pickup.
Can you get the Plush tone without the original gear?
Yes. The parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order, and those translate to other equipment. Tonelify's adaptation step works them out for the amp and guitar you own.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
A match for your own gear takes a plan, and a first plan starts with 7 days free with nothing charged that day: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
