Hotel California amp settings — Zoom G1X Four
The Eagles guitar tone for “Hotel California”, dialed in for a Zoom G1X Four with a Washburn X series. Studio version, Hotel California (1976) — iconic trading outro solos (Don Felder & Joe Walsh lead tone)
Don Felder: 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard into cranked Fender 5E3 Tweed Deluxe; Joe Walsh: 1950s Fender Telecaster into cranked Fender Tweed Champ with subtle MXR Phase 90 and tape echo
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 6 |
| Bass | 5 |
| Mid | 7 |
| Treble | 6 |
| Reverb | 3 |
| Master | 7 |
01TS Drive (Tube Screamer block)
Clean boost into the tweed model to add singing sustain without excessive distortion
02Tape Echo (Delay block)
Set delay time to approximately 310ms for vintage tape slap
03Spring Reverb (Hall/Spring block)
Subtle studio room ambience
The Zoom G1X Four uses the FD DLX model to recreate the saturated power-tube breakup of the vintage 5E3 Tweed. The TS Drive block is dialed with low gain and high output to act as a tight mid-hump boost, giving the Washburn X series humbuckers the singing sustain heard on the original record. The tone knob is rolled back slightly to smooth out bridge-pickup bite for Don Felder's warm opening phrases. For Joe Walsh's bridge-pickup biting segments: flip to the bridge pickup and tone at 10.
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These settings are for a Zoom G1X Four. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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