Tone library / Artic monkeys / When the sun goes down

When the sun goes down amp settings — Gear4music GA-15

The Artic monkeys guitar tone for “When the sun goes down”, dialed in for a Gear4music GA-15 with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)

Original rig

Orange AD30 amp, Fender Telecaster/Stratocaster, ProCo RAT2 distortion pedal

Clean verses with chimey sparkle transitioning to aggressive, punchy distorted sections with tight midrange bite

Amp settings — Gear4music GA-15

CHANNELClean channel

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	5
Presence	0
Reverb	1
Master	5

Don’t have a Gear4music GA-15? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01ProCo RAT2 (or similar distortion)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for the heavy sections. Engage for chorus/outro, bypass for clean verses. A Boss DS-1 or any RAT clone will work. Without this pedal, the aggressive sections are unobtainable on your amp.

Distortion 6 · Filter 4 · Volume 7

Why these settings

The GA-15 is a basic solid-state practice amp with limited headroom and no natural breakup character. The original Orange AD30 has warm British tube compression and punchy mids. Your amp set clean becomes a neutral platform — all the grit must come from a RAT-style pedal. Mid pushed to 6 compensates for the GA-15's flatter voicing versus the Orange's natural mid-forward character. Your Strat matches Alex Turner's guitar choice exactly.

PRO TIPThe song's dynamic contrast is everything — play the verse sections with a lighter touch on the clean tone, then dig in hard when you kick on the distortion for the 'scummy man' sections. Roll your tone knob down to 5 during the clean intro for extra smoothness, then open it back up to 7-8 when the heavy riff kicks in.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Gear4music GA-15. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

More tones for the Gear4music GA-15

Comfortably NumbPink Floyd

Find your amp

Browse

Gear4music GA-15 settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP When the sun goes down on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Artic monkeys tonesALL SONGS Fender Player Stratocaster tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.