Tone library / Prince & The Revolution / Purple Rain

Purple Rain amp settings — Fender Princeton Reverb

The Prince & The Revolution guitar tone for “Purple Rain”, dialed in for a Fender Princeton Reverb with a Squier Contemporary Active Jazzmaster HH. Studio album cut (tracked live at First Avenue 1983), Purple Rain (1984) — iconic outro lead solo tone

Original rig

Hohner MadCat Telecaster / Cloud Guitar -> Boss SD-1 / Boss 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 subtle spatial ambience

Amp settings — Fender Princeton Reverb

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Bass	4
Treble	5
Reverb	5
Master	8

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

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; essential for Prince's singing, high-gain sustain into a clean Fender

Tone 5 · Level 7 · Dist 8

02Boss BF-2 Flanger

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; set slow and shallow for the signature sweeping metallic sheen

Manual 6 · Depth 4 · Rate 3 · Res 3

Why these settings

The Princeton Reverb lacks a dedicated gain channel and midrange control, so crank the Volume to 8 to squeeze maximum power-tube breakup and compress the low end to avoid flub. Your active humbuckers provide hotter output than Prince's single-coil MadCat, pushing the amp harder while compensating naturally for the Fender's scooped mids. To fully capture the searing sustain and modulation of the original record, an external Boss DS-1 and BF-2 flanger are recommended upgrades.

PRO TIPDig in with a firm pick attack on the bridge pickup and roll your guitar tone back to 8 to tame the active pickup's high-frequency bite, smoothing out your bends for that vocal, crying sustain.

Get this tone on your amp

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

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

More tones for the Fender Princeton Reverb

10sPantera Can't you hear me knockingRolling stones Over the Hills and Far AwayLed Zeppelin HosannaHillsong UNITED & Brooke Ligertwood The LonerGary Moore OneMetallica

Find your amp

Browse

Fender Princeton Reverb settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Purple Rain on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP 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.