Tone library / The Smiths / There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out amp settings — Fender Acoustasonic 15

The The Smiths guitar tone for “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”, dialed in for a Fender Acoustasonic 15 with a Harley Benton DC Custom-II Cherry. Studio version, The Queen Is Dead (1986)

Original rig

Rickenbacker 330 (both pickups) → Roland JC-120 + Fender Twin Reverb (blended), JC-120 onboard chorus, studio delay

Shimmering clean jangle with glassy highs and warm low-mids, chorus-enhanced sparkle

Amp settings — Fender Acoustasonic 15

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Bass	4
Treble	7
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE8 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Acoustasonic 15 is a small acoustic amp with only Bass, Treble, and Master Volume controls—no gain, mid, presence, or reverb knobs exist on this amp. Your DC Custom with humbuckers is darker and hotter than Marr's Rickenbacker, so I'm using the neck pickup with tone rolled slightly back to approximate the glassy chime, and pushing treble high to recover brightness. This amp cannot produce chorus or delay, which are essential to the original tone.

PRO TIPThe original tone absolutely requires chorus and delay—without them you'll have a clean tone but miss the shimmer entirely. A Boss CE-2 clone or any analog chorus plus a delay pedal would get you 80% there; the Behringer OD100 won't help this tone at all since it's pristinely clean. Focus on light fingerpicking with the pick angled to brush the strings rather than attack them.

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These settings are for a Fender Acoustasonic 15. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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More tones for the Fender Acoustasonic 15

While My Guitar Gently WeepsThe Beatles For Whom the Bell TollsMetallica I Me MineThe Beatles Johnny B. Goode (Live At Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA)The Jimi Hendrix Experience Good Old-Fashioned Lover BoyQueen I Saw Her Standing ThereThe Beatles

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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.