Fender sells a lot of guitars.
But Fender Amps are popular in their own right and widely used.
Thus a discussion about settings and tone, in the context of Fender amplifiers, would be appropriate and helpful. Most (not all) Fender guitar amps offer a warm, smooth tone and give you a nice low end crunch. Contrast that with Marshall amps, which deliver a brighter, more bell-like sound.
They’re both great amplifiers (two of the best, in fact) but they do sound different.
That means a uniform approach to amp settings isn’t going to work.
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Finding the best Fender amp settings. Flickr Commons image via Jase Wong
We need to get “brand-specific.”
But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some good suggestions and established conventions for Fender amp owners.
We’ll try and cover some of those suggestions here in order to offer as much information as possible about the ideal Fender amp settings.
A shot of the Fender ’68 Vibrolux amplifier. Flickr Image via BrownGuacamole
Which amps?
This article is going to focus on a few mainstays of the Fender lineup.
If you own one of their amps, chances are good that you have something from one of the following series:
These amps are some of the more popular and longstanding choices available from the company and are largely responsible for crafting the “Fender sound.”
Thus, it’s fair to say that if you don’t at least own a Fender amp - better yet, one of the four just mentioned - this article doesn’t apply to you. Some small all-tube amps can still mimic the original tone, but the sound is still really specific to the Fender design.
I’m not trying to say, “this is how you get the Fender sound out of any amp.”
Rather I’m talking about the optimal configurations for actual Fender guitar amps, assuming you already own one.
Now that we’re all clear on expectations, lets talk a little bit about the magic six.
The Magic Six: Fender Amp Settings for Blues
The magic six is fairly simple to apply.
This guy says it originated with a fella by the name of Bjorn Juhl, from www.custom-sounds.com who posted the settings back in 2002.
To be quite honest, I don’t know for sure if that’s true.
Then again, it might not matter.
I do know that the magic six works great for Fender amps for the following reasons:
- Cuts the bass: Fender amps (which are usually tube amps) are smooth but, often push a lot of low end. Cutting the bass can help even things out.
- Cuts the mids: It’s complex but cutting the mid-range down (particularly with distorted sounds) will help to balance out volume and intensity between higher and lower strings.
- Balancing treble: Having treble a bit higher than mid and bass gives your Fender amp that bright appeal that Marshall’s are so popular for. It balances out the smoothness of the tubes and adds some bite on the high end.
Okay, so what are the magic six settings?
Here are the numbers:
Volume: 6 / Treble: 6 / Mids: 3 / Bass: 2
Mids x bass = six.
If you read what the guy had to say from the single coil website (link posted above) it’s a lot of math and technical jargon that I don’t think is necessary to understand.
Some guy on a forum said it was like having Spock dial in the perfect tone, and I would agree.
But all you need to know is that it works and makes for a great blues tone.
I also think that having the bass and mid a bit lower can really help on Fender amplifiers, even though I’m typically a fan of more bass in a guitar tone.
Volume and a simple three-band EQ for a Fender amp.
For what it’s worth, I’ve used this setting frequently, since I used to own the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. It worked great, especially for lead guitar segments and heavy power iffs.
It’s not the only setting for Fender amps. Though it’s certainly a popular and accommodating option, that has drawn wide notoriety.
Let’s look at some other things to consider.
Reverb
Any write-up on Fender amps and tone wouldn’t be complete without at least a mention about reverb.
Fender amps just do reverb really well.
How you incorporate it into your tone is up to you but I would contend that it works better on the lower bass settings, because you’ll get a brighter and more “wet” tone from your reverb.
Try going with a low bass, high treble setting (similar to the magic six) with the reverb knob on seven or eight.
Something like this:
Treble: 7 / Mids: 4 / Bass: 2 / Reverb: 8
Your higher notes will have a nice “chime” to them and your low-end notes should come out clean without becoming too muddled.
Low End Settings: Fender Amp Settings for Metal
As I’ve been saying, Fender amps are smooth and provide a lot of thickness to your tone, so it is possible to push the bass up and take advantage of that.
This makes heavy rock and even metal a particularly strong spot for Fender’s tone.
You’ll want to be careful not to muddy things up but an easy metal EQ is to push your mid-range and bass knobs a little higher.
Try the following configuration for a heavier tone:
Treble: 7 / Mids: 5 / Bass: 8 / Reverb: 0
With treble holding steady and your mids coming up a bit, that should be enough to meld with the higher bass and give you a nice driving tone.
It’s perfect for heavy overdrive or a saturating distortion pedal.
No Right Answer
With any talk about amp settings and tone there’s never a uniform right answer.
Fender amp settings are no different, even within the context of one brand.
However, I do believe that it helps people to have a concrete starting point, where someone says, “Here’s what actually worked for me.”
Because there’s plenty of material out there that says, “Hey, you should dial in a great tone.”
That’s great advice but, horribly mundane when article after article repeats that sentiment without ever telling you how to do it, or even offering helpful suggestions.
I won’t do that here.
Even if my specific instruction and application isn’t applicable everywhere, I still want to give you somewhere to start.
So think of these settings as a starting point, born out of a concrete experience that actually meant something to someone.
I hope it helps.
Questions or thoughts?
Got questions or thoughts about these Fender amp settings?
You can get in touch via the comments section below.
Twitter and the comments section below are also good places to chat.
Hopefully we’ll see you there.
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Written by Bobby on Guitars and Roundups
Written by GC Editorial on Amps and Comparisons
I know this is an old thread but here goes – how would this apply to a Fender GTX100? What are the quirks inherent in a modeling context?
Rule of 6 has been around for YEARS. Word is, it came about because effects/pedals were not around back in the day. You had to really dial in a tone. I guess after years of gigging, people began to settle on common settings? Perfected?
How do you apply the fender magic 6 to a princeton amp that has no mid eq knob?
Yeah really can’t, but I would try bumping the bass up to 3 or 4. Maybe cut the treble down to five and then bump the overall volume up. Probably splitting hairs though.
I am currently running an American tele through a blues Jr and I find myself running nearly the oposite settings. So much so I’m beginning to wonder if it’s the right rig for me any more. Sounds great when strumming rhythm, but during leads or any picking the high end is just too sharp and glassy. I get good breakup and tone by decently cranking the mids and bass and cutting the treble, any way that’s my two cents.
Yeah I think for some rigs the “magic six” might just be too bright. Are you trying to capture a bluesy lead style? I always thought Fender amps were better for warmth and rhythm, but it’s weird that it would sound good strumming chords and then too bright picking leads. If an amp is too bright it’s usually bright across the boards.
I find that my Hot Rod Deluxe is the preferred amp for that classic clean Fender tone, with either a Strat or a Tele. Your tone control suggestions here definitely helped. But for a more distorted tone, whether from the on-board gain or a pedal, I tend to prefer my Blues Junior amp. The Blues Junior also sounds better with my Les Paul or PRS 513, using a Boss Distortion or Boss Blues Driver. The Hot Rod Deluxe just seems wrong for a humbucker guitar, no matter how I adjust it.
Thanks for sharing, Rob. I had the Deluxe for awhile and – looking back on it – I would probably agree.
What would your settings be for the Twin Tonemaster?
I’d start with what I’ve listed here, then it depends on what type of music you’re trying to play.
Bobby, did you receive my comment of a few days ago?
Hey Mike – I don’t believe so but it’s possible they just got lost in the shuffle. Refresh my memory?
So how would this apply for those amps that lack a mid control? I’ve got the Custom 68 Vibrolux and it only has treble and bass controls.
Yeah, that’s the one thing about the Vibrolux I don’t like. Do you have any kind of external preamp or EQ pedal?
I run through a metric ton of effects, and almost never play clean, so it does get a little dicey. I just use a lot of fuzz so getting the right EQ settings on the amp is pretty crucial. I’ve currently got mine at treble on 8 and bass on 7, and that sounds supreme by itself, but it does get a little washed out in a band setting, which is where I’m primarily using it.
No EQ pedal, but I do have several always-on tone shapers throughout the signal chain: I use a Wampler Tumnus first in my effects chain as both a buffer and a slight upper midrange boost tone sculptor, with the gain way down at 9:00.
Then a Colorsound Power Booster clone with the gain again turned way down, placed after gain but before modulation and delay just to sort of seal up the dirt pedals that come before it and give them some heft, plus on the rare occasion I do play without dirt, it makes my clean signal sound amazing.
And finally an Xotic EP Booster at the end of the chain, right before reverb, with no boost, but just because I like the way it warms everything up.
Is it the Tumnus deluxe?
No, just the regular. Got tbe treble at like about 2:00
If you’re wedded to the Vibrolux, I’d add an EQ pedal – even a cheap one like the old DOD EQs. That would let you control mids right before your signal hits the preamp.
Okay I’ll look into that. With or without that, how would one want to set the treble and bass settings?
I would start with treble at 6 and bass at 2. If it’s too bright, cut back the tone knob on the guitar.
Thanks! This was a really interesting and informative article.
I appreciate the comment, Charlie – glad you enjoyed the article.
Cant wait to try this setting on my fender supersonic 60 combo, I get a good tone at home playing alone but in a band setting my sound becomes almost muffled and dull, sure hope this makes a difference… thank you very much my friend…
Thanks, Rick. Hope it goes well!
Just bought a 1990’s Hot Rod Deville. Stumbled onto this page while researching my new used amp. That 6 6 3 2 is a great setting. Just replaced the broke tank and that same setting with reverb up about a third is still sweet.
Glad to hear it, Chris. Enjoy the Deville. Great amp.
greetings, in a hot rod deville if I use that setting and add a fuzz face could I get that hendrix tone?
and that you recommend me regarding presence control
Hey Nomar – per our email conversation: The fuzz face would do it. For presence I would just start with it at 12 o’clock and go from there. Hendrix was a Marshall guy, so you might have to tweak for something a little brighter.
Thanks for this – it’s a large enough space that it’s easy to wander around and never find anything good. Your “something specific that *someone* liked” philosophy is spot on.
I appreciated the comment, Kip. Glad you found this helpful.
Tried it on my 70’s Music Man 210 65..unbelievable..sounded fantastic!
Glad to know!
Thanks!
This really helped.. I have a fender blues deluxe reissue and play Metal so this came in handy. I have a pedal board and needed a nice neutral-ish clean sound for my amp.
One question…what about PRESENCE?
If you’re looking for a metal tone, I might keep presence down. It’ll just boost your upper midrange though. No right or wrong there.
Thanks! 🙂
So glad I found this site. Both a time and frustration saver!
I am looking for suggestions for jazz settings on a Champion 100. I’m playing thru Kent Armstrong single pickup. Trying to find the right combination for different giants: Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell.
Thank you!
Hey Russ – glad to hear you’re finding the content helpful.
To be honest, I don’t know quite as much about getting up an amp for jazz. But I would probably just start with a really small amount of breakup (mostly clean), then push up the bass and cut the treble.
That’ll at least get you something smooth and warm that you can start with.
Heyy, I have a fender champion 100, and i want to play music like thinking out loud, and more stuff with that sound. do you have an idea how the settings are for that
greetings
If you’re talking about the Ed Sheeran song, sounds pretty bright to me with a little reverb. Might be hard with the Champion (no tubes). Have you tried the 2/3/6 (magic six) arrangement? I’d start there and just add some reverb.
Finally!!! Believe it or not this is a big mental for a lot of players , but I speak for myself today thank you because I am self taught. I missed out on a lot things, advice tips tricks
thank you for these, Know I will be back so I book marked
Glad to hear it was helpful.
Hey,
I can’t seem to get my tone down on a Fender champion 100, it’s not there.
I’m looking for a John Mayer tone, what do you recommend?
Greetings
What do you mean, it’s not there? What is it missing?
The Champion is a solid state amp and Mayer uses all tube stuff. It’s hard to replicate without your own tube amp.
Where are your gain levels set?
I’m using the 3rd Blackface option. Princeton amp model iirc.
It’s either to trebly, or too dark/muddy. I think I have now found some good settings but it’s still not where I’d like it to be. Which is that nice slow dancing tone, or gravity tone.
Gain is at 3; Volume at 3.5 ( More than loud enough for in the bedroom ) T: 7 M: 3 B:5.5
I have some pedals for gain, like a tubescreamer and a Boss BD-2
Thanks for sharing, Joel. Sounds like you’re on the right track.
What would you suggest setting a champion 100 to for a nice srv-ish blues tone? And which amp voice? Much appreciated! Please and thank you!
I would use the second channel and start with the Tweed amp voice, then something like GAIN: 6, TREBLE: 7: MID: 8, BASS: 4, and then a little bit of reverb. Start there and base it his live in Texas DVD. Hope this helps.
Hi Bobby,
I just upgraded my Champion 20 with a US made Jupiter 8sc. What settings would you recommend for the Gary Moore (The Loner) sound? Thanks a lot
Jerry
Man, it’ll be kinda tough without tubes.
I’d put a decently high-gain distortion on, a little bit of reverb, then try something like bass: 6 / mids: 8 / treble: 4
Just a guess, but it’s somewhere to start. The reverb and distortion will have a lot to say about how close you get.
ok thanks for the info. What settings should my Guitar (PRS SE) be at? I heard in a youtube video from Dr. Scott Grove I need to turn my guitar vol & tone to the max to have a decent sound when I use a small home amp. Is it true? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a59LXPQ_l54&t=3253s
Yeah, I would keep volume and tone on the guitar maxed, at least as a starting point. Maybe roll back the tone knob slightly.
What settings would you recommend for getting a ‘modern’ country sound from a Champion 100? (e.g. Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley).
Thanks
Hey Sam – Paisley’s tone is a lot of mids, usually something like this: Gain: 3 / Bass: 5 / Mids: 9 / Treble: 7 / Reverb: 2
I’d follow along with this guide here. https://www.guitarchalk.com/amp-settings-brad-paisley/
Pushing the midrange in most Fender amps should get you close. Keep in mind since the Champion isn’t a tube amp you probably won’t get quite the same fullness and smoothness that Paisley achieves.
Hope this helps.
How can you run the volume on a Hot Rod Deluxe on 6? Are you using the distortion channel, where you can use the master volume ? If not, 6 on volume would be way too loud. Or are you only using the EQ section?
I always interpreted those numbers to mean you keep the gain at 6 (so yes, the distortion channel) and use the master to level things out.
Excellent questions and comments. Really helps me know where to begin with my new Fender HRDIV.
Hey Bobby I have a new 65 twin fender will the magic six work on the twin as well as it does on my hot Rod deluxe. I usually Play strats and Gibson Les Paul’s on both of them. Thank you??
Hey Frank – those two amps should be pretty similar in tone. The twin might be a little brighter but I would think this setup would sound pretty good with either one.
Hi ?? Bobby
My name is Brian Keith Rice
I have the Fender Mustang V Processor
Half Stack. I have two of them identical
So my first question is to get the nice room filled sound with distortion but no overkill I run my Master lower than my volume but should I run the volume lower and master higher. Also I tried to recently hook up the Fender settings to download newer settings hoping I could get the latest sounds and when I bought it in 2011 I did it once but never hooked it up since then. So recently I did and it said already registered and I was like “Yes it’s Me” it says it’s already registered and how do I bypass this and let them know it’s me to let me download new settings. Also I’m not using any pedals just straight out of the head so if I ran through my send and return would it give me a better sound and I was told by Guitar Center that if I added pedals I would haft to run it through send and return. And most importantly I’m trying to create my own unique sound and I had created so great patches but a friend of mine
Ricky Skaggs son Andrew was over when I had the Fender site hooked up trying to download newer sounds and he started messing around with my Amp Head I said Andrew don’t mess with it you could wipe off 8 years of programs and patches I created and sure enough that’s exactly what he did and now I’m having to go back and recreate some of these settings and I told him I know he didn’t mean to but that’s why I didn’t want anyone messing with my Amp settings. Anyway I forgot how to set my patches I created to my foot switch. Once I create a patch how do I transfer the patch to my foot switch so I can navigate my patches with my foot switch. I forgot how to download or memorize and set my patches to my foot switch.
Truly in need of your wisdom?
Thank you ?? Brian Keith Rice
Hey, Brian – thanks for the thoughtful comment.
Addressing your questions in order:
1. For a “full” or overdriven distortion sound, you want your preamp volume to be high enough (gain) going into the power amp. In your scenario, volume higher/master lower is the right combination.
2. Not sure about this one (when I tested it we didn’t attempt any downloads). My advice would be to check with Fender support. They have a chat option on this page: https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/categories/201670126-Fender-Product-Support
3. The Guitar Center guy gave you terrible advice. You can use an effects loops, but you certainly don’t have to. Here’s a good reference for all your options: https://www.strymon.net/setting-up-your-effect-signal-chain/
4. Major bummer about your settings. What footswitch are you using? I assume it’s the one that comes with the Mustang?
I can’t find where the Champion 100 falls on the settings. Mostly because serious Fender players go tube but I’m on a budget and I’ve been struggling with it. You had it listed above and I’m not sure your setting here exactly apply. I’m going to try to put my delay and compression pedals through the loop this evening too and just leave the wah in front of the amp etc.
As long as you’ve got the three-band EQ (bass, mid, treble) you can at least get close. If I’m not mistaken, the Fender Champion has the reverb included as a digital effect.
The Champion is certainly the least ideal, but you can still make use of the settings here.
I agree though, a non-tube amp might call for additional tweaking. Different ballgame.
You said you have a Hot Rod Deluxe and tried the Magic 6 settings on it, and it worked great. I also have an HRD, and mine has a presence knob. I’m assuming yours does as well. What do you typically set your presence knob to when running the Magic 6 settings? Thanks!
On the HRD it always behaved more like an added treble boost. I usually left that at 5/10.
On mine (it’s a little bit of an older model) it goes to 12. So put it on 6 or at 12 o’clock (which is more like 6.5)?
Yeah you might be right (I don’t have the Deluxe anymore). The difference should be subtle, but I’d start in the middle – as a control – and tweak from there.
Awesome. Thanks so much for the replies!
My twin has 1 input and is a great amp but all the others I see have 2 what’s the difference ? The amp sounds great I love it
I would assume that means your amp just has one channel instead of two.
one input vs. two isn’t related to the number of channels.
as an example, the hot rod deluxe has 2 inputs (which you can use for two guitars btw). the 2nd input is 6db more quiet, and the manual suggests to use that one for humbuckers and the first input for single coils