Tone library / My Bloody valentine / When you sleep

When you sleep amp settings — Laney LH50

The My Bloody valentine guitar tone for “When you sleep”, dialed in for a Laney LH50 with a Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s. Studio version, Loveless (1991)

Original rig

Fender Jazzmaster (rhythm circuit/neck pickup), Sola Sound Tonebender fuzz, Fender Twin Reverb / Sound City 120 (clean), heavy studio compression, plate reverb

Thick, mid-forward fuzz wall with pitch-smearing glide attacks, dense low-mids, softened highs, sustained and compressed
Amp settings — Laney LH50
CHANNELClean channelBRIGHToffBOOSToff
GAIN 2 BASS 6 MID 6 TREBLE 4 PRESENCE 3 REVERB 3 MASTER 5
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain2
Bass6
Mid6
Treble4
Presence3
Reverb3
Master5
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Guitar
PICKUPneck TONE6 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Fuzz (Tonebender-style clone — EHX Green Russian Big Muff or EQD Hizumitas)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. A mid-forward fuzz is essential; Big Muff variants work but Tonebender clones are closer. This is the ENTIRE gain source.

Fuzz/Sustain 7 · Tone 5 · Volume 6

02Compressor (Keeley Compressor Plus or Boss CS-3)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Placed AFTER fuzz to clamp the sustain bloom. Medium-slow attack lets pitch information through before compression engages.

Sustain/Ratio 6 · Attack 4 · Level 5

03Reverb (plate-style — EHX Holy Grail or TC Hall of Fame)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Short-to-medium plate reverb (1.5-3 seconds). The compression provides sustain, not the reverb tail.

Decay 4 · Mix 4 · Tone 5
Why these settings

Your Laney LH50 is a British-voiced tube head with more natural midrange presence than Shields' clean Fender/Sound City platform. I've set gain at 2 to keep it completely clean — the fuzz pedal must be your only saturation source. Treble dropped to 4 and presence to 3 because the Laney's EL34 power section adds upper-mid bite that Shields' 6L6 Fender amps lack. Your Les Paul humbuckers are hotter and darker than his Jazzmaster single coils, so the rolled-back tone knob at 6 compensates for missing that jangly top-end while the neck pickup approximates his rhythm circuit's thick character.

PRO TIPThe 'glide guitar' technique is non-negotiable for this tone: use your guitar's volume knob to swell from 0 to 10 while simultaneously bending the strings behind the nut (or using a whammy bar if you have one) to create pitch-smearing attacks. Without this playing technique, the fuzz alone sounds static and ordinary.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Laney LH50. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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