With or Without You
U2
Endlessly sustained clean guitar notes over a slow-building ballad, then a delayed riff answered by the vocal.
What is the With or Without You guitar tone?
The With or Without You guitar tone is endlessly sustained clean guitar notes over a slow-building ballad, then a delayed riff answered by the vocal, heard on U2's 1980s rock ballad recording. It is a clean riff tone, and U2 reportedly tracked it with the Edge's 1965 Fender Stratocaster, which Canadian guitarist Michael Brook modified into an Infinite Guitar, his invention that puts one pickup on top of another so the strings' sound is fed back into them and a note can sustain indefinitely; co-producer Daniel Lanois says it went through the Edge's rig of the time, a Vox AC30 and probably a Korg SDD-3000 digital delay, and Brook says the Edge chose a very clean sound and used its sparkling harmonics where Brook had pictured a dirty, distorted one; the song's fate was still in doubt when Brook's prototype arrived, and the Edge recorded his part in two takes, both of which made the record; the high sustained part enters dry in the left channel before reverberating on the right, a second sustained part joins later, and the signature riff the Edge brings in at 1:53, answered by Bono singing 'And you give yourself away', leans on delay; Brian Eno's DX7 drum pattern was played through a Mesa/Boogie guitar amp and miked, and the song came out as the lead single from The Joshua Tree on 16 March 1987 and became U2's first US number one. Clean ballad parts lean on sustain and space rather than gain: delay, reverb and notes left to ring carry them, so the amp needs headroom before it starts to break up.
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 clean channel on a modelling combo 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.
With or Without You amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 4, with the neck or middle position.
- Gain 2
- Bass 4
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 6
- Reverb 4
- Signal chain
- Infinite Guitar sustain, built into the guitar → Korg SDD-3000 digital delay, probably (Lanois) → Vox AC30, clean
- The control that matters most
- Sustain without gain. The long notes come from the Infinite Guitar, which feeds the strings back into themselves, and the Edge played it clean, so do not reach for distortion to make the notes last: an E-Bow or another sustain device on a clean amp gets closer, and that is what the Edge relies on live instead of the original. Add a clear, prominent delay for the riff later in the song.
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
- Neck or middle position
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 U2 use on With or Without You?
The Edge's 1965 Fender Stratocaster, which Canadian guitarist Michael Brook modified into an Infinite Guitar, his invention that puts one pickup on top of another so the strings' sound is fed back into them and a note can sustain indefinitely; co-producer Daniel Lanois says it went through the Edge's rig of the time, a Vox AC30 and probably a Korg SDD-3000 digital delay, and Brook says the Edge chose a very clean sound and used its sparkling harmonics where Brook had pictured a dirty, distorted one; the song's fate was still in doubt when Brook's prototype arrived, and the Edge recorded his part in two takes, both of which made the record; the high sustained part enters dry in the left channel before reverberating on the right, a second sustained part joins later, and the signature riff the Edge brings in at 1:53, answered by Bono singing 'And you give yourself away', leans on delay; Brian Eno's DX7 drum pattern was played through a Mesa/Boogie guitar amp and miked, and the song came out as the lead single from The Joshua Tree on 16 March 1987 and became U2's first US number one.
Sources: Fender: One Track Mind, the sustained brilliance of With or Without You, Fender: Eternal Recurrence, the Infinite Guitar, Wikipedia: With or Without You
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 With or Without You tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of With or Without You
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With or Without You tone questions
What amp settings do you need for With or Without You?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 4, with the neck or middle position. 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 endlessly sustained clean guitar notes over a slow-building ballad, then a delayed riff answered by the vocal from different positions.
What is the most important control for the With or Without You tone?
Sustain without gain. The long notes come from the Infinite Guitar, which feeds the strings back into themselves, and the Edge played it clean, so do not reach for distortion to make the notes last: an E-Bow or another sustain device on a clean amp gets closer, and that is what the Edge relies on live instead of the original. Add a clear, prominent delay for the riff later in the song.
Can you get the With or Without You tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with the Edge's 1965 Fender Stratocaster, which Canadian guitarist Michael Brook modified into an Infinite Guitar, his invention that puts one pickup on top of another so the strings' sound is fed back into them and a note can sustain indefinitely; co-producer Daniel Lanois says it went through the Edge's rig of the time, a Vox AC30 and probably a Korg SDD-3000 digital delay, and Brook says the Edge chose a very clean sound and used its sparkling harmonics where Brook had pictured a dirty, distorted one; the song's fate was still in doubt when Brook's prototype arrived, and the Edge recorded his part in two takes, both of which made the record; the high sustained part enters dry in the left channel before reverberating on the right, a second sustained part joins later, and the signature riff the Edge brings in at 1:53, answered by Bono singing 'And you give yourself away', leans on delay; Brian Eno's DX7 drum pattern was played through a Mesa/Boogie guitar amp and miked, and the song came out as the lead single from The Joshua Tree on 16 March 1987 and became U2's first US number one, 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 With or Without You a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a clean character, from U2's 1980s rock ballad 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 both plans start with a 7-day free trial: 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.
