Build the board. See what it costs you in power, noise, and gain before you buy a single patch cable.
Gear that gets you close to the record. Where the exact studio unit is a rare rack piece, we swap in a practical modern equivalent — not always the same serial number as the session. Click to load the chain.
The Edge / U2
Vox AC30
Boss TU-3 → Keeley Compressor Plus → TC 2290 (dotted 1/8) → DD-7 (dotted 1/4)
Two delays in series. First dotted-1/8, second dotted-1/4. Edge volume on the guitar does the dynamic work.
Jimi Hendrix
Marshall Plexi 100W
Vox V846 / Crybaby → Fuzz Face (germanium) → Uni-Vibe
Wah first, then fuzz, then Uni-Vibe. Roll the guitar volume back for the clean swell — Fuzz Faces clean up when the input drops.
Jeff Buckley
Fender Vibroverb ('63 Reissue, clean channel)
TC Electronic Stereo Chorus/Flanger → Alesis Quadraverb ("Taj Mahal" preset, longer decay)
Buckley's main electric was a 1983 Fender Telecaster — there's no credible evidence of a Strat in his core rig. Clean Vibroverb, no dirt: the halo around the chords is a tweaked Alesis Quadraverb rack preset, not a spring tank. Pick attack does the rest.
Mark Knopfler / Dire Straits
Fender Vibrolux Reverb
MXR Dyna Comp (light)
Strat in position 2 (neck + middle), volume back to 7. Fingerstyle — pick attack is the secret. Spring reverb only.
Kurt Cobain / Nirvana
Mesa Boogie Studio .22+ / Fender Twin (Nevermind)
Boss DS-1 → EHX Small Clone (chorus on cleans)
DS-1 stomped on for the verses-to-chorus jump. The chorus pedal lives on the clean verses, not the dirt.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Dumble (borrowed "Mother Dumble", the Texas Flood session amp)
Boss TU-3 → Vox V846 → Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer
13-gauge strings tuned half-step down. Pick HARD. The dirt is mostly the amp's output stage cranked, not a pedal — the Tube Screamer just tightens the front end. The phasing on the solo (a Roland Dimension D) was added at the mixing console, not stomped live.
Steve Vai
Carvin Legacy 3
Morley Bad Horsie → Ibanez TS9 / Tube Screamer → Carvin Legacy preamp drive → Boss DD-500 (long modulated) → Strymon BigSky (Plate)
Tube Screamer ALWAYS in front of the high-gain — it tightens the low end before the distortion has a chance to flub it.
Don Felder / Eagles
Fender Tweed Deluxe / Marshall combo
MXR Dyna Comp (light squeeze) → MXR Carbon Copy (short slap)
Two guitars, panned hard. Slight compression keeps the harmony notes glued together.
Chris Cornell / Soundgarden
Marshall JMP 50 / Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier (blended)
Fender Vibratone (Leslie Model 16) → EHX Memory Man
Cornell wrote and played the guitar on this one himself, on a Gretsch Silver Jet. The warble on the intro and verses is a Fender Vibratone rotary cabinet, not a flanger pedal — no flange pedal is documented on this track. Memory Man handles the wash.
Slash / Guns N' Roses
Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555
Vox V846 / Crybaby → MXR Custom Audio Electronics → Boss DD-3 (slap)
Les Paul into the Silver Jubilee. Most of the sustain is the amp; the OD is just there to push the front end a hair harder.
Send your current chain to the AI: rebuild it, or ask the Gear Oracle a question.