Square Hammer
Ghost
A punchy, compact rock riff built on a picked phrase.
What is the Square Hammer guitar tone?
The Square Hammer guitar tone is a punchy, compact rock riff built on a picked phrase, heard on Ghost's 2010s hard rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Ghost reportedly tracked it with a rig that no source read here names, on an EP whose producer, Tom Dalgety, told BOSS that he used a Blues Driver on the bass for Square Hammer, because he and Tobias Forge liked the raspy growl of The Stranglers' classic bass tone and a Blues Driver into an SVT amp gets you there, and that you can add a lot more distortion and harmonics with the mic preamp and completely transform the sound of an amp with EQ; Forge told Loudwire that the riff originated the song, a picking phrase he nicked from one of his own earlier songs because it was way too good, that the writing of the song went very quickly after that, and that he wrote it thinking the band needed a big opener for its shows; it was conceived at the end of the sessions for Meliora but left off that album because its concept was already in place and the song had a different feeling, and for Meliora a Nameless Ghoul told MusicRadar that in the studio they like to play slightly older guitars and flip-flop between models, since a Flying V, a Les Paul and an SG each sound different; Dalgety recorded Popestar in a studio still being converted from an old clubhouse, and calls Square Hammer the first time Ghost made a punchy, compact pop song, the primary colours of Ghost distilled into a radio banger; the EP, otherwise covers, with Square Hammer as its only original track, came out on Loma Vista on 16 September 2016, four days after the single, and in January 2017 the song made Ghost the first Swedish band to top Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. This is a mid-forward sound rather than a scooped one, and it usually sits closer to the edge of breakup than to full saturation.
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.
Square Hammer amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Amp distortion, guitar rig not documented
- The control that matters most
- A mid-forward crunch, then shaped like a record. The riff is a picked phrase in a compact rock song, so keep the gain moderate and the mids in so the picking stays clear, and remember Dalgety's point that the mic preamp can add distortion and harmonics and EQ can transform an amp's sound, so an amp alone will not quite match a record.
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 Square Hammer 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 Ghost use on Square Hammer?
A rig that no source read here names, on an EP whose producer, Tom Dalgety, told BOSS that he used a Blues Driver on the bass for Square Hammer, because he and Tobias Forge liked the raspy growl of The Stranglers' classic bass tone and a Blues Driver into an SVT amp gets you there, and that you can add a lot more distortion and harmonics with the mic preamp and completely transform the sound of an amp with EQ; Forge told Loudwire that the riff originated the song, a picking phrase he nicked from one of his own earlier songs because it was way too good, that the writing of the song went very quickly after that, and that he wrote it thinking the band needed a big opener for its shows; it was conceived at the end of the sessions for Meliora but left off that album because its concept was already in place and the song had a different feeling, and for Meliora a Nameless Ghoul told MusicRadar that in the studio they like to play slightly older guitars and flip-flop between models, since a Flying V, a Les Paul and an SG each sound different; Dalgety recorded Popestar in a studio still being converted from an old clubhouse, and calls Square Hammer the first time Ghost made a punchy, compact pop song, the primary colours of Ghost distilled into a radio banger; the EP, otherwise covers, with Square Hammer as its only original track, came out on Loma Vista on 16 September 2016, four days after the single, and in January 2017 the song made Ghost the first Swedish band to top Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.
Sources: BOSS: Behind the Board, Tom Dalgety with Ghost, Pixies, Royal Blood and The Cult, Loudwire: Ghost's Square Hammer is the metal song of the decade, MusicRadar: Ghost's Nameless Ghoul on Meliora and Gibson RD guitars, Wikipedia: Square Hammer, Wikipedia: Popestar
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 Square Hammer tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Square Hammer
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Square Hammer tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Square Hammer?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, 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 punchy, compact rock riff built on a picked phrase from different positions.
What amp did the Nameless Ghouls use on Square Hammer?
Amp: Not documented for this song. Guitar: Not documented for this song. Sources: BOSS, Loudwire, MusicRadar and Wikipedia.
What were the Nameless Ghouls' amp settings on Square Hammer?
None of the sources cited on this page gives the Nameless Ghouls' full amp settings on Square Hammer. 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 the Nameless Ghouls' tone on Square Hammer?
A mid-forward crunch, then shaped like a record. The riff is a picked phrase in a compact rock song, so keep the gain moderate and the mids in so the picking stays clear, and remember Dalgety's point that the mic preamp can add distortion and harmonics and EQ can transform an amp's sound, so an amp alone will not quite match a record. Play it with the bridge pickup.
Can you get the Square Hammer 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.
