Tone library / My bloody valentine / When you sleep

When you sleep amp settings — Fender G dec

The My bloody valentine guitar tone for “When you sleep”, dialed in for a Fender G dec with a Gibson Les Paul Standard 60s. Studio version, Loveless (1991)

Original rig

Fender Jazzmaster (rhythm circuit) → Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz + Octave Fuzz → Fender Twin Reverb / Sound City 120 (clean) → Yamaha SPX90 reverse reverb

Thick, smeared fuzz with pitch-warped swells and gated decay; mid-forward saturation with no pick attack, washed in reverse reverb bloom

Amp settings — Fender G dec

CHANNELClean preset (Fender Twin model if available)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	6
Mid	6
Treble	4
Presence	4
Reverb	7
Master	5

Don’t have a Fender G dec? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE6 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Fuzz (Big Muff or Tone Bender clone)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for this tone. A Big Muff Pi or EHX Op-Amp Big Muff gets close; a Tone Bender clone is more accurate. The fuzz IS the sound—without it you're missing 80% of the tone.

Volume 6 · Tone 5 · Sustain/Fuzz 7

02Reverse Reverb (TC Electronic Hall of Fame, Boss RV-6, or any with reverse mode)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Set to REVERSE mode. This creates the signature 'notes appearing from nowhere' bloom. The G-Dec's onboard reverb is spring/hall type—it won't replicate this; crank it to 7 as a compromise for wash, but know the character differs.

Decay/Time 6 · Level/Mix 7 · Tone 5

Why these settings

Shields used single-coil Jazzmasters into clean Fender amps; your Les Paul humbuckers are hotter and darker, so treble is dropped to 4 (vs original ~5) and bass raised to 6 to compensate for the pickup's inherent mid-push. The G-Dec is a practice modeling amp with limited headroom—keep gain at 2 to stay clean since the fuzz pedal must be the saturation source. Without a fuzz pedal, this tone is fundamentally unreachable; the amp's built-in drive models will not replicate the gated, mid-forward fuzz character.

PRO TIPShields' 'glide guitar' technique is half the sound: use your Les Paul's stopbar tailpiece to simulate it by pressing down on the strings behind the bridge while picking, then releasing—this bends pitch slightly sharp. Combine with slow volume swells (guitar knob from 0 to 10 over the note attack) to remove pick transients and create that signature 'notes rising out of fog' quality.

Get this tone on your amp

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

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When you sleep on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Gibson Les Paul Standard 60s tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.