Tone library / The Smiths / How Soon Is Now

How Soon Is Now amp settings — BOS GT-1

The The Smiths guitar tone for “How Soon Is Now”, dialed in for a BOS GT-1 with a Tagima TW61. Studio version, Meat Is Murder / 'William, It Was Really Nothing' B-side (1984)

Original rig

1963 Epiphone Casino (P-90s, tuned up a whole step to F#) into Roland JC-120 / DI, re-amped through four 1965 Fender Twin Reverbs with synced tremolo + AMS-DMX 15-80

Hypnotic, pulsating stereo tremolo with clear Fender Blackface clean chime and spring reverb

Amp settings — BOS GT-1

CHANNELTWIN CLEAN (Fender Twin Reverb model) + 2x12 Open-Back IRBRIGHTonBOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge+middle TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss GT-1 FX1/FX2 Block: Tremolo (TRM)

Set Rate around 125-130 BPM sync or ~4.5 Hz; use a smooth triangle-to-sine wave shape for authentic pulse

Wave 4 · Depth 9 · Rate 6

02Boss GT-1 Reverb Block: Spring

Placed after amp model to match the Fender Twin spring tank ambience

Time 6 · Tone 5 · Effect Level 5

Why these settings

The Tagima TW61 features P-90 pickups closely matching Johnny Marr's hollowbody Epiphone Casino. On the GT-1, the Twin Clean preamp replicates the original Fender Twin re-amp rig, running clean headroom with pushed upper-mids and treble to cut through the heavy modulation. The internal GT-1 Tremolo block recreates the pulsing amplitude chop of the original multi-amp setup without needing external pedals.

PRO TIPJohnny Marr tuned the entire guitar up a full step (F#-B-E-A-C#-F#) to get extra string tension and jangly chime; alternatively, place a capo on the 2nd fret and play standard E shapes to get the exact voicing and open-chord resonance.

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These settings are for a BOS GT-1. 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.