Magic amp settings — Laney Ironheart IRT-30 Combo

The Cars guitar tone for “Magic”, dialed in for a Laney Ironheart IRT-30 Combo with a Epiphone Les Paul Modern. Studio version, Heartbeat City (1984), produced by Mutt Lange at Battery Studios, London

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster Elite → Fender amp (likely Twin Reverb or similar clean platform), heavily compressed, bright and clean with perfect note definition

Bright, clean, compressed, articulate — every note defined with sparkle and sustain, no amp dirt

Amp settings — Laney Ironheart IRT-30 Combo

CHANNELClean channelBRIGHToffBOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Ironheart is a British high-gain amp voiced for metal, while Easton used pristine Fender cleans. Use the clean channel exclusively with gain at 2 to avoid any breakup. Your Epiphone's humbuckers are hotter and warmer than Easton's Strat single coils, so I've rolled the tone knob to 7 to tame the top end and kept treble moderate — the Ironheart's clean channel is darker than a Fender, so we push mids to 6 for that articulate note definition. The original tone was heavily studio-compressed; without a compressor pedal, play with a firm, even attack.

PRO TIPEaston's secret was a tight, controlled picking hand with hybrid picking (pick + fingers) for those country-inflected double-stops — the compression in the studio did the rest. To fake that sustain and evenness without a compressor, try rolling your guitar volume to 8 and picking closer to the bridge for a snappier, more consistent attack.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Laney Ironheart IRT-30 Combo. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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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.