Tone library / Queen / Friends Will Be Friends

Friends Will Be Friends amp settings — Fender Mustang GTX100

The Queen guitar tone for “Friends Will Be Friends”, dialed in for a Fender Mustang GTX100 with a Fender Player Telecaster. Studio version, A Kind of Magic (1986)

Original rig

Brian May: Vox AC30 Top Boost, treble booster (Dallas Rangemaster style), Red Special guitar with Burns Tri-Sonic pickups in series; John Deacon's rhythm guitar parts on Fender Telecaster through Peavey Deuce amp. Recording used layered guitar harmonies and studio compression.

Warm, mid-forward crunch with smooth sustain, chimey British voicing, layered harmonics with controlled gain — more melodic rock than hard rock, piano-driven track with supportive guitar texture

Amp settings — Fender Mustang GTX100

CHANNEL'65 Deluxe Reverb model with Tube Screamer stomp engaged (or British '60s amp model for AC30 flavor)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	5
Bass	4
Mid	7
Treble	6
Presence	5
Reverb	2

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Built-in Tube Screamer (Green Box / Overdrive stomp)

Enable the Tube Screamer or equivalent OD stomp in the Mustang GTX to push the amp into smooth mid-forward breakup — Brian May's treble booster serves this function

Drive 4 · Tone 6 · Level 6

Why these settings

Brian May's AC30 + treble booster creates warm, compressed crunch with emphasized mids. The Mustang GTX's '65 Deluxe or British '60s model approximates this. Your Telecaster is brighter and thinner than the Red Special's series-wired single coils, so I rolled treble back to 6 and pushed mids to 7. Neck pickup with tone at 7 softens the Tele's bite to match May's rounder attack. The built-in OD stomp replaces the Rangemaster's mid-push function.

PRO TIPBrian May's secret weapon is the 'out of phase' middle position on his guitar combined with a sixpence pick for that scratchy harmonic texture — on your Tele, try position 2 (neck+bridge) and pick closer to the neck for a similar bloom, backing off your volume knob to 8 for the verse clean-up.

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These settings are for a Fender Mustang GTX100. 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.