Stairway to Heaven guitar tone

Compressed, cranked-amp overdrive with Telecaster bite

Standard edition gear only.

How the Stairway to Heaven tone sounds

A compressed, cranked-amp overdrive with a biting single-coil edge. It suits Led Zeppelin IV, recorded 1970-71, and covers Jimmy Page's solo. Page played his 1959 Telecaster, the Dragon Tele, through a modified 1959 Supro 1690T Coronado, whose pair of 10-inch speakers was replaced by one re-coned Oxford 12-inch. No pedal is evident. Tip: the drive comes from the amp running hard, so keep the gain on the amp rather than adding a pedal.

Amp settings

In signal order. The preset loads all of it.

Amp British Blue Tube 30TB
- Gain, 7 of 10
- Volume, 7 of 10
- Bass, 4.5 of 10
- Mid, 5.5 of 10
- Treble, 6.5 of 10
- Presence, 5.5 of 10
- Reverb, 0 of 10

Cab: 1x12 Open Vintage, loaded by the preset

Signal chain: Amp → cab
Key knob: Sets how hard the cranked amp compresses and drives
Guitar: Two single coils, bridge pickup. Volume 10, tone 10.

Not quite right?

Too dark: Treble 6.5 to 7.5. A starting point; nobody has tried it yet.
Too bright: Presence 5 to 4. A starting point; nobody has tried it yet.
Too much gain: Gain 7 to 6. A starting point; nobody has tried it yet.
Too little gain: Gain 7 to 8. Source

Questions about the Stairway to Heaven tone

What amp did Jimmy Page use for the Stairway to Heaven tone?

Modified 1959 Supro 1690T Coronado, into Single re-coned Oxford 12-inch.

What are the amp settings for the Stairway to Heaven tone?

On the amp modelled on a Vox AC30: Gain 7, Volume 7, Bass 4.5, Mid 5.5, Treble 6.5, Presence 5.5, Reverb 0.

Is the Stairway to Heaven tone a rhythm or a lead tone?

A lead tone, on the amp's crunch channel.

Can I get the Stairway to Heaven tone without a Modified 1959 Supro 1690T Coronado?

This preset uses British Blue Tube 30TB, modelled on a Vox AC30, from the standard edition of AmpliTube 5, with the settings above.