We’re looking for a broad 30,000 foot view of the optimal Brad Paisley amp settings.
Paisley actually uses a lot of different gear, particularly amps.
He primarily uses an amp that I’ve never heard of, a Z-Verb or “Dr. Z,” that is similar in sound to a Vox AC30 (which he also uses). For starters, let’s look at Paisley’s primary gear list and compare it to what I used when dialing in my own version of the Paisley twang.
Brad Paisley's Guitar Gear
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What I Used
- Fender ’68 Vibrolux
- Fender American Telecaster Electric Guitar
- Ibanez TS9DX Tube Screamer
- PositiveGrid JamUp App
I found that the Fender tube amp warmth along with the Telecaster tone worked pretty well for dialing in serviceable Brad Paisley amp settings. What we’ll do is cover the approach in the following sections:
- The Guitar
- The Amp’s EQ
Let’s start with our guitar approach.
Brad Paisley Guitar Settings
Paisley’s Telecasters are an integral part of his tone, and I found that before I could get around to my amp’s EQ, the guitar itself needed some work.
And this is not to say that you can’t make it work with other guitar brands and models but, I am going to base these conventions off the sounds I was able to get out of my own American Tele.

Brad Paisley and his “Camo Splash” Telecaster. Flickr Commons Image via TNCountryFan
For starters, I kept the pickup selector in the middle position, with the tone knob cut down by about 20%.
At times, cutting the volume knob back a little bit seemed to help as well.
If you don’t have a Telecaster, some experimentation might be necessary but, try these settings first and then make adjustments as you see fit.
- Pickup Selector at Middle Position (both pickups)
- Tone Knob at 80%
- Volume Knob at 90%
Perhaps start here, then move onto the amp settings before coming back and re-adjusting your guitar.
Brad Paisley Amp Settings
For the EQ we’ll need to dial in some extra high tones to make sure we’re building a country-friendly tonal profile.
Here’s how we’ll start:

Some added mids and treble for a more choppy Brad Paisley tone.
Gain: 3 / Bass: 5 / Mids: 9 / Treble: 7 / Reverb: 2
We keep the mids and trebles high to get that extra “twang” in our tone and also to balance out the use of the neck pickup on the guitar. If you don’t have a Fender Vibrolux, take these settings with a grain of salt and make sure to spend time adjusting them depending on how your own amplifier reacts. For example, if the tone is too high and shrill try turning down the mid and treble dials to a more moderate level.

Try these settings if your guitar sounds too high pitched.
Gain: 2 / Bass: 5 / Mids: 6 / Treble: 5 / Reverb: 2
Additionally, look for single notes to pop and almost produce a “clicking” sound, particularly during solos. You might even try fingerpicking through some of Paisley’s melodies to see if you’re getting a nice twang in your output. Guitar World has a helpful article with a number of short country licks that you can use to try out your settings.

A Guitar World article highlighting a number of short country licks that you can use to try out your tones. Image via Guitar World
Once you find a clean tone that sounds close to Paisley’s, dial in your gain to whatever distortion level you’d like to maintain.
Paisley uses lighter distortions in most of his music, so you’ll want to avoid anything overtly heavy.
I used the Boss DS-1 on the following settings:
Tone: 5 / Level: 5 / Dist: 4
Whatever pedal you use (or if you use your amp), you’ll have a “Gain” or “Distortion” knob that will control the intensity or saturation levels of the effect.
For a more optimal Paisley tone, be conservative when you use that knob.
Conclusion
I’ve found this particular tone to be one of the more difficult I’ve pursued, partly because Paisley uses so many different guitar amps.
Thus, I’d advise that you prepare yourself for some trial and error.
I can leave you with some best practices and a summary of what we’ve covered. They include the following:
- Use a Fender or boutique-style tube amp.
- Use a Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster with the pickup selector in the middle position.
- Set gain and distortion levels low for a “mild” distortion.
- Use thinner strings for easier picking.
- Use heavier picks to get some extra “snap” out of melodic lines.
- Opt for a higher EQ to balance out the use of the neck pickup.
If you’re able to get close to this setup, you shouldn’t have any trouble dialing in decent Brad Paisley amp settings and country tones.
And if it still gives you some trouble, you can always give us a shout and ask questions in the comments section.
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Interesting enough, however, quite basic.
Brad uses loads of delays/echo of which none are mentioned. (Eg empress, way huge, dd-2, Wampler analog). He has a wide variety and also uses quite a few different dirty pedals eg Wampler Ego compressor as well as the Ibanez tube screamer ts-9. The Boss ds-1 is probably the least used distortion pedal on the market. Don’t get me wrong they are ok, but I prefer loads of others over the Boss. Of late he has been using the Wampler underdog overdrive pedal also.
On another note: the professional studio musicians are using Nobels ODR’s and a Distortion pedal that has Mid Treble and Bass settings eg MXR Badass. The exact distortion is an expension hard to buy boutique pedal which you do not have to have in ordeer to get the same quality sound. After all, it is you who controls the quality, not the gear.
He uses predominately Dr Z amps, although any fender etc which has a good clean tube sound is a great place to start. I use a Hot Rod Deluxe tube.
Compression also has not been mentioned. To get a good country sound the 4 basic pedals are Compressor/Overdrive/Reverb(although amp reverb can suffice) and the all important echo which slapback is used more often than delay, although as Brad’s sound is quite diverse he uses both!
My basic recommendations for a board to sound like Brad:
Boss CS-3 compression/sustain
Nobels ODR-1
MXR Baddass Distortion
Way Huge Aquapuss Delay
If you want a clean boost – I use a Boss EQ Pedal set flat and the boost just 1 notch up. Although this isn’t needed if you have a volume pedal.
If you want to use a volume pedal, put it AFTER distortion, but BEFORE any tremolo or delays as you want to control the volume of the distortion not the level of signal going into the drive pedals.
Sorry, I could write a novel on Brad’s gear and my recommendations for setting up pedals to get either his exact sound or a Nashville sound. It all comes down in the end to the touch of the musician. Brad will sound like himself with anyone’s gear.
Cheers
Hey, Andrew – this is super helpful. Thanks so much for sharing. Do you have experience in the country music industry? Your comment reads like a pro guitar tech.
I leave it flat and use it as a boost pedal for leads
Hey Andrew what setti gs do you have your EQ on for your hot rod deluxe?