Tone library / Chris isack / Wicked game

Wicked game amp settings — Laney Cub 12R

The Chris isack guitar tone for “Wicked game”, dialed in for a Laney Cub 12R with a Epiphone Les Paul Studio. Studio version, Heart Shaped World (1989)

Original rig

1962 Fender Stratocaster Reissue (neck pickup) → Roland SDE 3000 delay → Ernie Ball Volume Pedal → Fender Silverface Twin Reverb with amp reverb; Eventide H3000 stereo chorus and TC Electronic 2290 pre-delay added in mix

Warm, dreamy, and haunting — clean with glassy chime, subtle swell dynamics, lush reverb, and atmospheric delay creating a floating, melancholic shimmer

Amp settings — Laney Cub 12R

BRIGHToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	6
Mid	5
Treble	4
Reverb	7
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE6 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Volume Pedal (e.g., Ernie Ball VP Jr)

RECOMMENDED — not owned. Essential for the signature volume swells on verse chords. Rock heel-down (silent), strum chord, slowly roll toe-down to fade in. Without this pedal, you can approximate swells using your guitar volume knob but it requires significant practice.

02Analog Delay (e.g., Boss DD-3, TC Electronic Flashback, or budget Donner Yellow Fall)

RECOMMENDED — not owned. Set delay time around 150-200ms for subtle thickening — not obvious echo, just spatial depth. Wilsey recorded 'a bit drier' with the SDE 3000 adding warmth; the lush delays were added in mix. Keep mix low.

E.Level (Mix) 3 · F.Back (Repeats) 2 · D.Time 4

Why these settings

Your Laney Cub 12R is an EL84-based Class AB amp with more midrange bark and earlier breakup than Wilsey's clean, high-headroom Silverface Twin. Keep gain at 2 to stay glassy clean — the Cub breaks up fast. Treble dropped to 4 (original likely 6) because the Cub's treble is voiced higher and your Les Paul humbuckers are already darker than his Strat single coils. Bass raised to 6 to recover the low-end warmth the Twin naturally provides. Reverb pushed to 7 — the Cub's spring reverb is shorter than the Twin's lush tank, so you need more to get that dreamy wash.

PRO TIPThe magic is in the attack dynamics and vibrato. Wilsey used extremely light strings (.009s) with a floating tremolo for subtle pitch wobble — you can approximate this by adding gentle left-hand finger vibrato on sustained notes, keeping it slow and wide like a vocal vibrato. Roll your tone knob to 6 to tame the Les Paul's brightness and get closer to that pillowy neck-Strat warmth. For the swells without a volume pedal, practice picking softly then gradually increasing your pick attack, or work the guitar's volume knob with your pinky while sustaining chords.

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These settings are for a Laney Cub 12R. 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.