Ace of spades amp settings — Mesa Boogie Subway D-800
The Motorhead guitar tone for “Ace of spades”, dialed in for a Mesa Boogie Subway D-800 with a Höfner Violin Bass Ignition. Studio album cut, Ace of Spades (1980)
Rickenbacker 4001/4004LK into cranked Marshall 1992 Super Bass 100W tube stack (no pedals, hard pick attack, heavy string droning)
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 8 |
| Bass | 2 |
| Mid | 10 |
| Treble | 4 |
| Reverb | 0 |
| Master | 4 |
01Marshall Guv'nor / Bluesbreaker / Rat (Bass Dirt)
RECOMMENDED — not currently owned
Lemmy's tone comes from maxed Marshall tube mid-grind with the bass and treble rolled off. The Mesa Subway D-800 is an ultra-clean solid-state D-class amp, so drive its input gain high, cut bass to 2, crank low-mid/mid to 10 and high-mid to 9 to mimic his signature Marshall midrange push, and tame the hollow, woofy nature of the short-scale Höfner. A dedicated Marshall-style drive pedal will be needed later to capture the genuine cranked tube distortion.
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These settings are for a Mesa Boogie Subway D-800. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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