Bohemiam rhapsody amp settings — Vox VT40X
The Queen guitar tone for “Bohemiam rhapsody”, dialed in for a Vox VT40X with a Gibson Les Paul Special. Studio cut, A Night at the Opera (1975) — signature guitar solo
Brian May Red Special (Burns Tri-Sonic pickups in series, neck + middle out-of-phase) into Dallas Rangemaster / custom silicon treble booster into cranked Vox AC30 Normal channel
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 7 |
| Bass | 4 |
| Mid | 8 |
| Treble | 7 |
| Reverb | 2 |
| Master | 6 |
01Onboard Overdrive / Treble Booster Block (Pedal 1)
Engage the onboard 'Overdrive' or 'Gold Drive' stomp effect in the VT40X pedal section to replicate May's Dallas Rangemaster
The original solo uses Brian May's Red Special with neck and middle pickups in series out of phase, producing an unmistakable hollow, nasal upper-mid focus. Your Les Paul Special's P-90s in the middle position capture the grit and mid honk well, but lack out-of-phase wiring, so we push the VT40X mids to 8 and cut bass to 4 to simulate the low-end phase cancellation. Because the VT40X is a modeling amp, engage its onboard drive block to emulate the classic Dallas Rangemaster slamming the AC30 front end. Hard rock riff section: switch guitar to bridge pickup and turn tone to 10.
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These settings are for a Vox VT40X. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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