Tone library / Radiohead / Street spirit

Street spirit amp settings — Revoltage RV-20A combo amp

The Radiohead guitar tone for “Street spirit”, dialed in for a Revoltage RV-20A combo amp with a Ibanez RG550. Studio version, The Bends (1995) — the iconic clean arpeggio tone

Original rig

Fender Starcaster/Stratocaster with Lace Sensors → Fender Twin Reverb '65 Reissue (clean channel), Boss SD-1 for slight boost, Roland Space Echo RE-201 for delay/ambience

Crystalline clean arpeggios with glassy highs, subtle compression, and haunting modulated delay — no distortion, all atmosphere

Amp settings — Revoltage RV-20A combo amp

CHANNELClean channelBRIGHTonBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	4
Mid	5
Treble	6
Presence	5
Reverb	3
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01RMB Equaliser

Use to add upper-mid presence and slight treble shimmer — compensates for humbucker darkness vs original single coils

Low 4 · Mid 6 · High 7

02Diamond Vintage Distortion

OFF for this tone — Street Spirit is entirely clean. Leave bypassed. If your amp lacks headroom at volume, use as a clean boost only (gain at 0, volume at 6)

Gain 0 · Tone 6 · Volume 5

03Delay (RECOMMENDED — not currently owned)

CRITICAL for this tone. Original uses Roland Space Echo at ~500-600ms. A Boss DD-7, TC Electronic Flashback, or budget Donner Yellow Fall gets you there. Without delay, this tone loses 50% of its character.

Time 6 · Feedback 3 · Mix 4

Why these settings

Your RG550's humbuckers are hotter and darker than the original Starcaster/Strat single coils. Compensate by using the neck pickup with tone rolled to 7 (not 10) for clarity, and boost treble +1 and mid +1 on the EQ pedal. The Revoltage RV-20A is a lower-wattage practice amp — keep gain minimal (2) to preserve clean headroom; any breakup destroys this tone's glass-like quality.

PRO TIPThe magic of this tone is in the right-hand technique: use the flesh of your fingers (not a pick) or a very light pick attack on the high strings to get that soft, rounded arpeggio bloom. Let notes ring into each other and let the delay do the work — don't rush the tempo.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Revoltage RV-20A combo amp. 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.