Dracula amp settings — Fender Squire sidekick

The Tame Impala guitar tone for “Dracula”, dialed in for a Fender Squire sidekick with a Jackson Js32 warrior. Studio version, Lonerism (2012)

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster (Japanese/Mexican) → Boss BD-2 Blues Driver → MXR Dyna Comp → MXR Phase 90 → EHX Holy Grail Reverb → Vox AC30

Fuzzy and saturated, swirling phase modulation, compressed and punchy, warm midrange focus, slightly lo-fi texture, vintage psychedelic character

Amp settings — Fender Squire sidekick

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	6
Bass	5
Treble	6
Master	5

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

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE6 VOLUME9

Signal chain

01Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This is the primary gain source for the fuzzy saturation. Keep amp gain at 2-3 when using this pedal.

Level 6 · Tone 5 · Gain 6

02MXR Phase 90

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for the swirling psychedelic modulation. Slow to medium rate.

Speed 4

Why these settings

The Squier Sidekick is a basic solid-state practice amp with limited gain and no mid or presence controls—it cannot replicate the AC30's chiming breakup or touch-sensitivity alone. Your Jackson JS32 has hot humbuckers vs the original's single-coil Strat, so I dropped treble by 1 to tame the extra brightness and rolled tone knob to 6 to approximate single-coil openness. Without an overdrive pedal, push amp gain to 6 for mild grit, but this falls short of the original's saturation—a BD-2 is essential to reach the proper fuzz character.

PRO TIPRoll your guitar's volume knob back to 7-8 during verses for cleaner dynamics, then push to 9-10 for the main riff punch—Kevin Parker uses this technique constantly to create the compressed-then-blooming feel without touching pedals.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Squire sidekick. 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.