How to Dial in an Indie and Garage Rock Tone with Amped 2
If you like your guitar tones lofi and fuzzy then you’re probably a fan of indie and garage rock. These genres of music put all the focus on great songs and capturing a vibe rather than pristine recorded tones.
Many indie and garage rock icons choose quirky or old gear that creates unique sounds.
In this lesson we’re going to dial in a great tone to start you off in this style using just Amped 2.
Amplifier
In the indie and garage worlds, using a great sounding amp isn’t really a pre-requisite. The whole idea is to create a vibe and capture energy in a unique way. Many indie and garage players opt for rare or quirky vintage gear with lofi sounds.
The EL84 tube response will give you a tone that can chime like the best clean amps but also breaks up in a unique way. Pair this with everything cranked to 10 and you have an amp that reacts totally different to single coils or humbuckers.
You can change the EQ to suit your guitars needs, but this will get you a great “amp about to explode” style tone.
Reverb
A spring reverb, or a room reverb will work great in these styles of music. Reverb isn’t an essential part of the tone, but it just helps put your lofi sounds into a realistic space.
Drive
For the drive section you want to choose Fuzz. Fuzz without a doubt is one of the key ingredients to these styles of music. Crank the drive and let the fuzz break up and glitch as you play your riffs.
Modulation
In this instance, the phaser is used just to add a sense of dissonance and discomfort to your already fuzzed out lead tones. Most indie and garage bands don’t use a great deal of modulation, here it is simply just to make things sound a little nastier.
Delay
A slapback analogue delay is useful for when you’re playing clean, choppy indie style barre chords. This slapback will accentuate the high end of the chords and make them cut through a little more. Keep the delay very, very short. It acts more like a bright snappy reverb than a delay.
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About the Author
This article on how to dial in an indie and garage rock tone was written by Leigh Fuge. Leigh is a professional guitarist and content creator and also works alongside musicteacher.com to create guitar focused, educational and entertainment content.
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