Vertigo
A raw, raunchy power-chord riff from a small tweed amp pushed hard.
What is the Vertigo guitar tone?
The Vertigo guitar tone is a raw, raunchy power-chord riff from a small tweed amp pushed hard, heard on U2's 2000s rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and U2 reportedly tracked it with a 1966 Fender Telecaster in Lake Placid Blue with a maple neck and a Bigsby vibrato, which the Edge named in a 2005 Guitar World interview, into a 1957 tweed Fender Deluxe with the 5E3 circuit that his guitar tech Dallas Schoo bought him in 2004 as a small amp for home demos; the Edge wrote the riff within 20 minutes of first plugging into it; Schoo says only four pieces of gear were used in the studio, the Telecaster, the Deluxe, a Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modeler and a vintage echo, which Guitar World takes to be his Korg SDD-3000 digital delay, and Wikipedia names the same four; the riff's grind is the overdriven Deluxe pushed harder by the DM4 on its Tube Drive setting, while the accents and the instrumental break are clean, with the Deluxe turned down to the edge of breakup and modulated delay around it; the song began as a demo the Edge made at home in Malibu under the working title Full Metal Jacket, became Native Son, and was finished with producer Steve Lillywhite for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb; released as the lead single on 8 November 2004, it reached number one in the UK and Ireland and won three Grammy Awards. Here the grind is a small tweed amp already breaking up with a drive pedal stacked in front, so the amp and the pedal share the distortion.
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.
Vertigo amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2 for the riff, with the bridge pickup. There is a second setting for the clean accents and the instrumental break below.
- Gain 5
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Line 6 DM4, Tube Drive setting → Tweed Deluxe pushed into overdrive
- The control that matters most
- Stacking the drive. Guitar World has the riff's grind coming from a small tweed amp already overdriven and a drive pedal pushing it further, so get some breakup from the amp first, add a tube-drive style pedal on top, and stop before the chords lose their brightness.
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.
Second sound
Vertigo amp settings for the clean accents and the instrumental break
For the clean accents and the instrumental break, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 2
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Korg SDD-3000 delay, modulated
- Where the song switches
- Guitar World has the riff on the overdriven Deluxe and the DM4, and the accents and the mid-song break clean, with the Deluxe turned down to the edge of breakup and a modulated delay around it.
- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
The same reference as the panel above: positions on a generic five-knob amp, a starting point rather than the settings on the record.
Does the Vertigo tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far. It works from the setting for the riff.
Published settings
What amp settings did the Edge use on Vertigo?
Instrument volume 10 and tone 12 on input 1 of a 1957 tweed Fender Deluxe 5E3, whose controls run from 1 to 12, with a Line 6 DM4 on its Tube Drive setting at drive 8, bass 4, mid 7, treble 5 and volume 7.5, and the Telecaster's bridge pickup with volume and tone on 10; for the clean parts, the Deluxe's volume at 4.5 and a Korg SDD-3000 at 440ms with feedback 3 and light modulation. That is Chris Gill's settings box in Guitar World's feature on the song, which does not say where the numbers came from, so read them as the magazine's reconstruction rather than a note from the session.
Source: Guitar World: the secrets behind the Edge's guitar tone on Vertigo
What gear did U2 use on Vertigo?
A 1966 Fender Telecaster in Lake Placid Blue with a maple neck and a Bigsby vibrato, which the Edge named in a 2005 Guitar World interview, into a 1957 tweed Fender Deluxe with the 5E3 circuit that his guitar tech Dallas Schoo bought him in 2004 as a small amp for home demos; the Edge wrote the riff within 20 minutes of first plugging into it; Schoo says only four pieces of gear were used in the studio, the Telecaster, the Deluxe, a Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modeler and a vintage echo, which Guitar World takes to be his Korg SDD-3000 digital delay, and Wikipedia names the same four; the riff's grind is the overdriven Deluxe pushed harder by the DM4 on its Tube Drive setting, while the accents and the instrumental break are clean, with the Deluxe turned down to the edge of breakup and modulated delay around it; the song began as a demo the Edge made at home in Malibu under the working title Full Metal Jacket, became Native Son, and was finished with producer Steve Lillywhite for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb; released as the lead single on 8 November 2004, it reached number one in the UK and Ireland and won three Grammy Awards.
Sources: Guitar World: the secrets behind the Edge's guitar tone on Vertigo, Wikipedia: Vertigo (U2 song)
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 Vertigo tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Vertigo
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Vertigo tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Vertigo?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2 for the riff, with the bridge pickup, and at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the clean accents and the instrumental break, 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 raw, raunchy power-chord riff from a small tweed amp pushed hard from different positions.
Does Vertigo use one amp setting or two?
Two. Guitar World has the riff on the overdriven Deluxe and the DM4, and the accents and the mid-song break clean, with the Deluxe turned down to the edge of breakup and a modulated delay around it. On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2 for the riff, and at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3 for the clean accents and the instrumental break.
What amp did the Edge use on Vertigo?
Amp: 1957 tweed Fender Deluxe (5E3). Guitar: 1966 Fender Telecaster with a Bigsby. Sources: Guitar World and Wikipedia.
How do you get the Edge's tone on Vertigo?
Stacking the drive. Guitar World has the riff's grind coming from a small tweed amp already overdriven and a drive pedal pushing it further, so get some breakup from the amp first, add a tube-drive style pedal on top, and stop before the chords lose their brightness. Play it with the bridge pickup.
What tuning is Vertigo in?
Standard tuning: E A D G B E, low string to high, according to Guitar World.
Source: Guitar World: the secrets behind the Edge's guitar tone on Vertigo
Can you get the Vertigo 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.
