Tone library / The Police / Message In a Bottle

Message In a Bottle amp settings — Line 6 Spyder 3

The The Police guitar tone for “Message In a Bottle”, dialed in for a Line 6 Spyder 3 with a Jackson JS32 Dinky. Studio version, Reggatta de Blanc (1979)

Original rig

Modified 1960s Fender Telecaster (PAF neck, Tele bridge, onboard preamp) → Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger (chorus setting) → Fender Twin Reverb (clean)

Shimmery, bright clean with subtle chorus/flanger modulation, crisp attack, crystalline highs

Amp settings — Line 6 Spyder 3

CHANNELCleanBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	3
Master	5

Don’t have a Line 6 Spyder 3? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Spider 3 Onboard Chorus Effect

Use the amp's built-in chorus effect — set to moderate depth, slow speed to approximate the Electric Mistress in chorus mode. If your Spider 3 has a Flanger effect, try that instead with Rate at 2 and Depth at 4.

Speed 3 · Depth 5

Why these settings

Your Jackson JS32 has hotter humbuckers than Summers' Tele single-coil, so gain is dropped to 2 (vs the original's already-clean setting) to prevent muddiness. Mids pushed to 6 to compensate for the humbucker's darker voicing compared to Tele bridge spank. The Spider 3's digital modeling tends bright, so treble stays at 7 rather than higher.

PRO TIPSummers finger-picks this riff with thumb and three fingers to let the high voices ring independently above the bass notes — using a pick will sound flatter and less dimensional. Roll your tone knob to 8 to tame the Jackson's bridge humbucker bite while keeping articulation.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Line 6 Spyder 3. 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.