Tone library / Foofighters / The pretender

The pretender amp settings — Fender Pr 241

The Foofighters guitar tone for “The pretender”, dialed in for a Fender Pr 241 with a Squier Affinity Telecaster. Studio version, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007)

Original rig

Gibson Trini Lopez Standard (PAF-style humbuckers) → Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier (Modern channel) for chorus; Vox AC30 for clean intro/verse sections

Massive scooped high-gain wall for chorus; clean arpeggiated intro with headroom
Amp settings — Fender Pr 241
BRIGHToff
GAIN 3 BASS 4 MID 6 TREBLE 5 PRESENCE 0 REVERB 0 MASTER 6
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain3
Bass4
Mid6
Treble5
Presence0
Reverb0
Master6
Don’t have a Fender Pr 241? Match your own rig →
Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for chorus high-gain wall. The Fender PR 241 cannot produce Rectifier-level saturation on its own. A DS-1 (~$50) or RAT clone gets you there.

Tone 4 · Level 7 · Dist 8
Why these settings

The original runs a semi-hollow humbucker into a Mesa Rectifier's scooped modern high-gain — your Fender PR 241 is a solid-state practice amp with clean Fender voicing and no high-gain channel. Without a distortion pedal, you cannot reach this tone. I've set the amp nearly clean (gain 3) so the recommended DS-1 provides all the saturation; mid pushed to 6 to compensate for the Telecaster's brighter single-coil bridge vs the original's warm PAF humbucker.

PRO TIPPalm-mute the verse chugs HARD right at the bridge saddles for maximum chunk — Grohl's attack is extremely tight and percussive, and the Tele bridge pickup will bite if you dig in close to the strings' anchor point.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Pr 241. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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