Time amp settings — Vault 20W

The Pink Floyd guitar tone for “Time”, dialed in for a Vault 20W with a Squier Affinity Stratocaster. Studio recording, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), main guitar solo section

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster 'Black Strat' (1969) -> Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (Ram's Head) -> Colorsound Power Boost -> Binson Echorec -> Hiwatt DR103 100W Head -> WEM 4x12 with Fane Crescendo speakers

Singing, sustained fuzz lead with vocal-like midrange, smooth attack, and rhythmic tape echo decay

Amp settings — Vault 20W

CHANNELOverdrive / Drive Switch On

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	6
Treble	5
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Electro-Harmonix Ram's Head Big Muff Pi

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned

Volume 7 · Tone 5 · Sustain 8

02Analog / Tape Delay (Binson Echorec style)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned (set to ~350ms rhythmic delay)

Time 5 · Feedback 4 · Level 4

Why these settings

The Vault 20W practice amp lacks a dedicated midrange control, presence, and onboard delay, so use its drive channel at gain 7 to simulate the heavy fuzz saturation natively. Roll the Strat's tone knob down to 7 to shave off the single-coil harshness and replicate Gilmour's thick, smooth Muff sustain. Once you add a dedicated Big Muff fuzz pedal, switch the amp to its clean channel with gain set low at 2.

PRO TIPGilmour creates his singing sustain using heavy, deliberate vibrato and slow whole-step bends with the meat of his fingers; pluck hard near the bridge pickup to trigger rich upper harmonics before letting the note bloom into feedback.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Vault 20W. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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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.