Tone library / Stray Cats / Rock This Town

Rock This Town amp settings — Fender Blues Deluxe

The Stray Cats guitar tone for “Rock This Town”, dialed in for a Fender Blues Deluxe with a Gretsch 5420. Studio version, Built for Speed (1982) — live rig settings from 1981 era used as reference since the studio recording went direct into SSL console

Original rig

1959 Gretsch 6120 with Filter'Tron humbuckers → Boss DM-2 Analog Delay → 1963 Fender Bassman head (6G6-B, Bass channel) into 2x12 cab

Clean with edge-of-breakup warmth, punchy low-mids, crisp treble attack, slapback echo for percussive rockabilly snap

Amp settings — Fender Blues Deluxe

CHANNELNormal (single channel amp)BRIGHToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	5
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	7
Presence	8
Reverb	0
Master	5

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

Guitar

PICKUPbridge+middle TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Analog Delay (Boss DM-2 or similar)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Set for slapback: 80-120ms delay time, single repeat. This is essential to the tone—without it you lose the rhythmic snap that defines Setzer's sound.

Time 3 · Mix 4 · Feedback 1

Why these settings

Your Blues Deluxe has similar Fender DNA to Setzer's Bassman but with more scooped mids and a brighter top end. I pushed mid +1 from the original's implied setting and dropped treble -1 to compensate for the Blues Deluxe's 6L6 brightness versus the Bassman's warmer 6G6 circuit. Gain at 5 puts you at the clean/breakup threshold where pick dynamics control the dirt—hit hard and it growls, back off and it cleans up. Your Gretsch 5420 with its Filter'Tron-style pickups is the right tool for this.

PRO TIPSetzer's attack is everything—use a medium pick held loosely and strike the strings at an angle near the bridge for that snappy, percussive pop. The tone lives in the right hand: aggressive downstrokes on rhythm, then dig in harder for lead lines to push the amp into breakup naturally.

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These settings are for a Fender Blues Deluxe. 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.