Comfortably Numb amp settings — Mesa Boogie Lone Star
The Pink Floyd guitar tone for “Comfortably Numb”, dialed in for a Mesa Boogie Lone Star with a Gretsch G6120T Players Edition. Studio version, The Wall (1979) — second solo tone
1969 Fender Stratocaster ('Black Strat') with DiMarzio FS-1 bridge + stock neck pickup engaged together, Hiwatt DR103 Custom 100 (linked Normal/Brilliant channels), Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (Ram's Head), MXR Dyna Comp, Yamaha RA-200 rotary speaker
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 3 |
| Bass | 5 |
| Mid | 6 |
| Treble | 5 |
| Presence | 4 |
| Reverb | 0 |
| Master | 5 |
01Compressor (RECOMMENDED — e.g. MXR Dyna Comp or similar)
RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for the squashed attack and blooming sustain Gilmour uses.
02Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (RECOMMENDED — Ram's Head style preferred)
RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This is the primary gain source — the amp stays clean, the Muff provides all the saturation and singing sustain.
The Lone Star is a clean-platform amp like the Hiwatt — keep it on the Clean channel with low gain and let pedals provide saturation. Your Gretsch's Filter'Tron humbuckers are darker and fatter than Gilmour's single-coil Strat, so I dropped presence by 1 and raised mid by 1 to recover the vocal cut. Roll tone knob to 8 to tame the Filter'Tron's natural brightness in the pick attack while preserving sustain. Without a Big Muff, this tone is NOT reachable — the amp alone cannot produce Gilmour's signature singing fuzz sustain.
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These settings are for a Mesa Boogie Lone Star. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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