Iris amp settings — Yamaha Thr5a

The The Goo Goo Dolls guitar tone for “Iris”, dialed in for a Yamaha Thr5a with a Yamaha Fg800. Studio cut, Dizzy Up the Girl (1998) / City of Angels soundtrack - Iconic acoustic rhythm part

Original rig

Taylor acoustic guitars / Guild 12-strings tracked in studio with high-end condenser mics, alternate B-D-D-D-D-D tuning

Shimmering, open, resonant acoustic strumming with crisp top-end chime and controlled low-end boom

Amp settings — Yamaha Thr5a

CHANNELCONDENSER mic type (or TUBE/DYNAMIC depending on internal pickup type)

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

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Guitar

PICKUPmiddle TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Yamaha THR5A is an acoustic-optimized amplifier; set the Mic Type knob to 'CONDENSER' to replicate the studio-mic air and high-frequency sparkle of the original recording. The solid spruce top of the FG800 provides strong natural lows, so bass is set flat at 5 and mids scooped slightly to 4 to prevent booming while letting the unison high strings cut through. Treble is pushed to 7 to deliver the signature chime and pick attack.

PRO TIPThe secret to the Iris sound is the unique tuning: tune your guitar to B-D-D-D-D-D (low to high: B-D-D-D-D-D, often using multiple high E/B gauge strings to achieve unison D notes) and strum near the bridge with a thin (0.60mm) nylon pick.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Yamaha Thr5a. 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.