Tone library / The Jimi Hendrix Experience / Hey Joe

Hey Joe amp settings — Fender Mustang

The The Jimi Hendrix Experience guitar tone for “Hey Joe”, dialed in for a Fender Mustang with a Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster. Studio version, single release (December 16, 1966, Polydor 56139)

Original rig

Marshall Super Lead 100 Plexi → Fender 1960s Stratocaster (right-handed strung lefty), Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Vox Clyde McCoy Wah

Warm, slightly gritty clean with neck pickup sweetness, subtle fuzz breakup on leads, bluesy and round

Amp settings — Fender Mustang

CHANNELBassman or '65 Twin Reverb model (select in Fender Mustang amp models)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	4
Bass	6
Mid	7
Treble	5
Presence	4
Reverb	2
Master	6

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

Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE7 VOLUME8

Signal chain

01Fuzz (Mustang built-in Big Fuzz or similar)

RECOMMENDED — use Mustang's built-in fuzz effect. Keep fuzz gain LOW; Hendrix used light fuzz on this track, not full saturation. Engage only for lead sections.

Level 5 · Gain/Fuzz 3 · Tone 6

Why these settings

The Fender Mustang is naturally brighter and more scooped than Hendrix's mid-forward Plexi, so I pushed mids +1 and pulled treble -1 from the original Marshall settings. Gain is set at 4 instead of the Plexi's 5-6 because the Mustang's digital gain stages saturate faster. The Bassman model gets you closest to that warm Plexi-adjacent breakup.

PRO TIPRoll your guitar volume to 6-7 for the verse rhythm parts to clean up the amp, then push it to 8-9 for the solo sections—this is how Hendrix controlled his dynamics live and in studio without touching pedals.

Get this tone on your amp

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

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

More tones for the Fender Mustang

Back on blackAcdc

Find your amp

Browse

Fender Mustang settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Hey Joe on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP The Jimi Hendrix Experience tonesALL SONGS Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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.