Tone Settings for Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2 (guitar and amp)

1. Volume

• Set amp volume to a moderate level to maintain headroom for dynamic playing.
• Use your guitar volume at or near 100% to drive the delay and modulation effects effectively.
• Adjust volume depending on your amp’s gain structure to avoid unwanted distortion—Edge’s tone is clean and chime-like.

2. Tone

• Keep your amp’s EQ settings balanced: bass around 4, mids around 5, treble around 7.
• Use a bright, jangly tone with minimal gain and high clarity.
• Make sure your delay effect is set with medium-to-short repeats and a dotted eighth note delay for rhythmic feel.
• Use chorus or light modulation subtly to add shimmer, similar to Edge’s use of the Korg SDD-3000 preamp/chorus effect.

3. Pickup selector

• Bridge pickup for brightness and articulation, essential for cutting through with delay.
• Neck pickup rarely used—Edge typically selects bright bridge sounds for this song.
• Middle position can be useful for softening if using hotter pickups, but less ideal for this specific tone.

4. Humbucker or Single Coil Preferred?

• Single coil preferred—provides the clean, chimey high-end clarity crucial to the Edge’s tone.
• Edge used a Gibson Explorer with stock pickups, but his tone is more about EQ and delay shaping than pickup output.
• If using humbuckers, consider coil-splitting if available to mimic single-coil style brightness.

5. Ideal guitar type

• Electric, Explorer-style guitar—Edge famously used a 1976 Gibson Explorer on early U2 recordings including “Pride.”
• Maple or ash body can help achieve the necessary bright response and sustain.
• As close to vintage spec as possible to match the clean, uncolored tone needed for delay textures to shine.
• Look for responsive dynamics—this sound demands a guitar sensitive to picking intensity.

• Fender Stratocaster: Ideal for clean tones and shimmering delays
• VOX AC30 Amplifier: Bright, chiming tone that matches The Edge’s classic sound
• Electro-Harmonix Memory Man: Classic analog delay used by The Edge
• Boss DD-3 Digital Delay: Versatile delay with clear and rhythmic repeats
• Dunlop Cry Baby Wah: Adds expressive dynamics for lead parts
• MXR Dyna Comp Compressor: Smooths dynamics and enhances sustain
• Ernie Ball Volume Pedal: Useful for swelling effects and dynamics
• JangleBox Compressor: Helps achieve that signature chiming tone

• Use a bright, clean guitar tone with moderate chorus and delay effects.
• Dial in slight compression to maintain dynamic control on arpeggiated parts.
• Set delay time to dotted eighth notes to emulate The Edge’s rhythmic style.
• Keep gain low to preserve clarity and articulation.
• Apply reverb sparingly for ambient depth without muddiness.
• Use bridge pickup for sharper attack on riffs and melodic lines.
• Match tempo to approx. 106 BPM and ensure delay is synced accordingly.
• Avoid heavy modulation effects to stay true to the original tone palette.
• EQ settings: slightly boost mids and highs; cut excessive lows to reduce muddle.
• Practice palm muting and delay timing precision to replicate the signature rhythm.