Reptilia
The Strokes
A tight, bright overdrive from small Fender combos.
What is the Reptilia guitar tone?
The Reptilia guitar tone is a tight, bright overdrive from small Fender combos, heard on The Strokes' 2000s indie rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and The Strokes reportedly tracked it with Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi's guitars into a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12 each: Mixdown says the two ran almost identical rigs built on a single Hot Rod DeVille each until about 2005, and used nothing more than a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde overdrive and distortion pedal, with an MXR Micro Amp for lead passages and solos, while recording Is This It and Room on Fire; Hammond's guitar is the 1985 Fender Stratocaster, a '70s reissue, that he has rarely played or recorded without, and Valensi's a 1995 Epiphone Riviera with its humbuckers swapped for two hotwired P-94s, the core of his lead tone; which of them plays which part here is not documented in these accounts; the song was written by Julian Casablancas and produced by Gordon Raphael, and it came out on 9 February 2004 as the second single from Room on Fire, reaching number 17 in the UK and number 19 on the US Modern Rock chart. Indie rock guitar is mostly riffs and arpeggios that sit bright and mid-forward beside the bass, so note definition and the gaps between the notes matter more than the amount of gain.
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.
Reptilia amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 5
- Bass 4
- Middle 6
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde overdrive → MXR Micro Amp boost for leads
- The control that matters most
- Gain, kept modest. The Strokes used small Fender combos and one overdrive pedal rather than a high-gain amp, so set a bright, slightly driven sound where single notes stay clear, and reach for a clean boost rather than more distortion on the lead lines. The record splits the parts between two guitarists, so one guitar sounds sparser.
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. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
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.
What gear did The Strokes use on Reptilia?
Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi's guitars into a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12 each: Mixdown says the two ran almost identical rigs built on a single Hot Rod DeVille each until about 2005, and used nothing more than a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde overdrive and distortion pedal, with an MXR Micro Amp for lead passages and solos, while recording Is This It and Room on Fire; Hammond's guitar is the 1985 Fender Stratocaster, a '70s reissue, that he has rarely played or recorded without, and Valensi's a 1995 Epiphone Riviera with its humbuckers swapped for two hotwired P-94s, the core of his lead tone; which of them plays which part here is not documented in these accounts; the song was written by Julian Casablancas and produced by Gordon Raphael, and it came out on 9 February 2004 as the second single from Room on Fire, reaching number 17 in the UK and number 19 on the US Modern Rock chart.
Sources: Mixdown: gear rundown, The Strokes, Wikipedia: Reptilia (song)
Tonelify 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 Reptilia tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Reptilia
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Reptilia tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Reptilia?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 7, Presence 6, 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 tight, bright overdrive from small Fender combos from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Reptilia tone?
Gain, kept modest. The Strokes used small Fender combos and one overdrive pedal rather than a high-gain amp, so set a bright, slightly driven sound where single notes stay clear, and reach for a clean boost rather than more distortion on the lead lines. The record splits the parts between two guitarists, so one guitar sounds sparser.
Can you get the Reptilia tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi's guitars into a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12 each: Mixdown says the two ran almost identical rigs built on a single Hot Rod DeVille each until about 2005, and used nothing more than a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde overdrive and distortion pedal, with an MXR Micro Amp for lead passages and solos, while recording Is This It and Room on Fire; Hammond's guitar is the 1985 Fender Stratocaster, a '70s reissue, that he has rarely played or recorded without, and Valensi's a 1995 Epiphone Riviera with its humbuckers swapped for two hotwired P-94s, the core of his lead tone; which of them plays which part here is not documented in these accounts; the song was written by Julian Casablancas and produced by Gordon Raphael, and it came out on 9 February 2004 as the second single from Room on Fire, reaching number 17 in the UK and number 19 on the US Modern Rock chart, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Reptilia a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from The Strokes' 2000s indie rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that it takes a plan, charged when you subscribe: 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.
