Tone library / Radiohead / Paranoid Android

Paranoid Android amp settings — Boss Me-90

The Radiohead guitar tone for “Paranoid Android”, dialed in for a Boss Me-90 with a Fender Player Telecaster. Studio version, OK Computer (1997) — main rhythm/solo sections

Original rig

Fender Telecaster Plus (Lace Sensor Blue neck/Dually Red bridge) → Marshall Shredmaster → Fender Eighty-Five (solid state, clean channel); Boss SD-1 → Vox AC30 for cleaner sections; Roland RE-201 Space Echo for delays

Aggressive, buzzy distortion with tight low-end and cutting high-mids; the Shredmaster provides a British-voiced, compressed saturation with pronounced upper harmonics

Amp settings — Boss Me-90

CHANNELCRUNCH amp type (approximates British-voiced Marshall-style gain; Shredmaster was Marshall-derived)BOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	1
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01ME-90 Distortion Block (DS — closest to Shredmaster voicing)

Set ME-90 amp type to CLEAN or JC CLEAN when using this block to avoid double-gain mud; the DS block provides all the saturation

Drive 7 · Tone 6 · Level 7

02ME-90 Overdrive Block (OD — for cleaner verse sections, SD-1 style)

Switch to this for the quieter verse sections; use with CRUNCH amp at lower gain (3-4) for breathing room

Drive 4 · Tone 5 · Level 6

03ME-90 Delay Block (DIGITAL — for Space Echo approximation)

Use ANALOG or TAPE delay mode if available for warmer repeats; original RE-201 had subtle modulation

Time 4 · Feedback 3 · Level 4

Why these settings

Your Player Tele's bridge single coil is brighter and less compressed than Greenwood's Dually Red humbucking Lace Sensors. Rolling tone to 7 tames the ice-pick highs. The ME-90's CRUNCH type approximates the British mid-focus of the Shredmaster running into a clean solid-state amp; Greenwood's Fender 85 stayed clean while the Shredmaster did all the dirt work.

PRO TIPGreenwood's iconic stutter effect on the solo comes from a hardware kill switch, not a pedal. You can approximate this by rapidly toggling your volume knob between 0 and 10 in rhythm, or set up an ME-90 expression pedal as a volume pedal and work it aggressively with your foot.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss Me-90. 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.