Tone library / Prince & The Revolution / Purple Rain

Purple Rain amp settings — Fender Champion 20

The Prince & The Revolution guitar tone for “Purple Rain”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 20 with a Fender David Gilmour Stratocaster. Studio cut / First Avenue live tracking, Purple Rain (1984) — signature outro solo

Original rig

Hohner MadCat Telecaster -> Boss SD-1 / DS-1 -> Mesa/Boogie Mark II head into Bag End D12-M cab -> Boss DM-2 Delay & Boss BF-2 Flanger

Searing, vocal, mid-focused 80s singing lead with rich sustain and delay

Amp settings — Fender Champion 20

CHANNELVoice: Metal 2000 (Red) / British (Red)

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Onboard Delay Effect (Champion 20 FX Select)

Select DELAY or DELAY+REV on the FX Select knob and tap tempo to around 430ms

FX Level 5

Why these settings

The Champion 20 lacks a dedicated mid knob, so the mid-forward singing voice of Prince's Mesa Mark II is achieved using the higher-gain Metal or high-gain British voice. Treble is pulled back slightly to 6 to smooth the Strat's Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup and prevent harshness. Reverb and onboard delay recreate the lush spatial wash of the First Avenue recording.

PRO TIPRoll the Strat's bridge tone control back to 8 to shave off the piercing top-end and use a wide, slow vibrato on held notes to trigger the singing vocal feedback Prince relied on.

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These settings are for a Fender Champion 20. 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.