Tone library / Gary Moore / The Loner

The Loner amp settings — Fender Princeton Reverb

The Gary Moore guitar tone for “The Loner”, dialed in for a Fender Princeton Reverb with a Gibson Les Paul Standard 50s. Studio version, Wild Frontier (1987)

Original rig

1984 PRS Custom / Charvel San Dimas (EMG pickups) into 50W Marshall JMP / JTM45 with Boss DS-1 distortion and digital delay/reverb

Searing, highly saturated 80s singing lead tone with extreme sustain and subtle nasal midrange
Amp settings — Fender Princeton Reverb
GAIN 3 BASS 4 TREBLE 5 REVERB 3 MASTER 5
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain3
Bass4
Treble5
Reverb3
Master5
Don’t have a Fender Princeton Reverb? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →
Guitar
PICKUPneck TONE7 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned

Tone 4 · Level 7 · Dist 9

02Digital Delay

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned (run direct into amp input)

E.Level 4 · F.Back 4 · D.Time 5
Why these settings

The clean, scooped 6V6 platform of the Princeton Reverb cannot produce Gary's singing high-gain sustain on its own, so keeping the amp near-clean (gain/volume around 3) and running a high-gain distortion pedal like a DS-1 is mandatory. Setting treble to 5 and rolling the guitar tone to 7 compensates for the Fender's naturally glassy high-end to emulate the rounded, vocal sustain of Moore's studio take. Note that the Princeton Reverb faceplate has only Bass and Treble controls (no Mid or Presence knobs).

PRO TIPUse heavy, sustained vibrato and pick near the neck pickup with aggressive attack; rolling the neck tone knob down slightly to 7 captures that iconic 'cocked-wah / Sweet Switch' vocal resonance without getting muddy.

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

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