Black dog amp settings — Orange Crush 35RT

The Led Zeppelin guitar tone for “Black dog”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 35RT with a Harley Benton Fusion-III HH. Studio version, Led Zeppelin IV (1971) — recorded direct into console, no amp

Original rig

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard 'Number One' → Helios console mic preamp (overdriven) → 2x UREI 1176 compressors in series — no amplifier used

Thick, compressed, snarling mid-forward grind with synth-like saturation and tight low end

Amp settings — Orange Crush 35RT

CHANNELDirty channel

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Compressor (e.g., MXR Dyna Comp, Boss CS-3)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Critical for this tone — the original used two 1176s stacking. A compressor before the amp simulates that squeezed, saturated attack.

Sustain/Compression 7 · Level/Output 6 · Attack 4 · Tone 5

Why these settings

The Orange Crush 35RT is warm with thick low-mids, which helps replicate the console-preamp saturation of the original. Bass is cut to 4 (original had tight, controlled lows from the 1176 compression, not boomy amp bass). Mids pushed to 7 because the Crush is already mid-forward and the original tone has aggressive midrange bark. Treble at 5 keeps it from getting fizzy — the original was not bright, it was dense. Reverb 0; the studio track is bone dry.

PRO TIPRoll your tone knob to 7 to tame the HH bridge pickup's top end — Page's PAF-wound pickups were darker than modern humbuckers. Dig in hard with your pick near the bridge for that snarling attack, and palm-mute slightly on the riff's low notes to keep it tight like the compressed original.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Orange Crush 35RT. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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