Tax man amp settings — DONNER DA10

The The beatles guitar tone for “Tax man”, dialed in for a DONNER DA10 with a Fender American Professional II Stratocaster. Studio version, Revolver (1966) — recorded April 21-22, 1966 at Abbey Road

Original rig

George Harrison: 1961 Fender Stratocaster through Vox AC30 with fuzz/distortion; Paul McCartney solo: 1962 Epiphone Casino through cranked Vox AC30 with aggressive overdrive

Choppy, aggressive fuzz-rhythm with biting midrange; lead solo is screeching, raga-influenced with feedback edge

Amp settings — DONNER DA10

CHANNELOD (Overdrive channel)

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE6 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Donner DA10 is a small practice amp with limited gain staging, so pushing the OD channel to 7 approximates the cranked Vox breakup. Mid at 7 compensates for the DA10's tendency toward scooped voicing versus the AC30's aggressive midrange bark. Treble at 6 (not higher) prevents the Strat's bridge pickup from becoming ice-picky through this amp. The original recording is bone dry—zero reverb.

PRO TIPFor Harrison's choppy rhythm part, palm-mute aggressively and attack the strings hard with downstrokes near the bridge; for McCartney's solo sound, roll your tone knob down to 4-5 and dig in with your pick angled sharply to get that nasal, almost sitar-like scream on the high strings.

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These settings are for a DONNER DA10. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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