Mountain Climbing amp settings — Positiv grid Reactor
The Joe Bonamassa guitar tone for “Mountain Climbing”, dialed in for a Positiv grid Reactor with a Fender American spec hss. Studio version, Blues of Desperation (2016) - main heavy riff
1964 Gibson Firebird III (mini-humbuckers) into cranked 1959 high-powered Fender Tweed Twins / Bassmans blended with a cranked '55 Tweed Champ, Way Huge Overrated Special OD, outboard spring reverb tank
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 2 |
| Bass | 2 |
| Mid | 8 |
| Treble | 7 |
| Reverb | 2 |
| Master | 7 |
01Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9
Used to replicate Bonamassa's mid-heavy Overrated Special dirt into a clean tweed model
02Dunlop Fuzz Face Mini
Bypassed — the fuzzy character on the record came from a cranked '55 Champ, recreated via the TS9 gain stage
Because the Positive Grid Reactor is an unrecognized/generic model platform, the TS9 acts as the primary dirt source emulating Joe's signature Overrated Special pushing vintage Tweed iron. Keep amp gain low to avoid muddy double-gain, scoop the bass severely to prevent flub, and push mids high to replicate Bonamassa's exact 9/10 tweed midrange settings. On an HSS Strat bridge humbucker, roll the guitar tone knob slightly back to ~8 to capture the smoother top-end of a vintage mini-humbucker.
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These settings are for a Positiv grid Reactor. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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