Guitar Presets by Genre: 322 Tones from Bedroom Pop to Shoegaze

Most amp sims ship with presets organized by amp model. "Fender Clean," "Marshall Crunch," "Mesa High Gain." This makes sense if you're trying to replicate a specific amp, but it's useless if you're trying to sound like a specific band or genre.

When I'm working on a song, I don't think "I need a Fender Twin." I think "I need that jangly Arctic Monkeys thing" or "I need something that sounds like The 1975's guitar on 'Somebody Else.'"

So we organized our presets by genre and artist. Search "Mac DeMarco" and get the Mac DeMarco tones. Browse "Shoegaze" and find My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Beach House. No guessing which amp model might work.

Bedroom Pop

The defining characteristic of bedroom pop guitar is intimacy. Warm, slightly saturated cleans. Heavy use of chorus and reverb. Nothing too aggressive. The guitar sounds like it's being played at conversation volume in a small room.

The trick to bedroom pop guitar is not trying too hard. Simple chord voicings, loose playing, imperfect takes left in. The production aesthetic favors "recorded in my room" over "professional studio."

Indie / Alternative Rock

Indie guitar sits at the edge of breakup—clean enough to hear chord definition, dirty enough to have attitude. The tone cuts through without dominating. Think rhythm guitar that drives a song, not lead guitar that shows off.

The midrange is key. Indie guitar needs presence in the 1-3kHz range to cut through drums and bass. Too much bass and it gets muddy. Too much treble and it gets harsh. The sweet spot is narrow.

The 1975

The 1975 deserve their own section because their guitar tones are so specific and so requested. Each era of the band has a distinct sound, from the jangly pop of their debut to the shoegaze textures of later albums.

Matthew Healy favors Fender amps and heavy use of reverb and delay. The tones are surprisingly simple—it's the production and arrangement that make them sound complex.

Dream Pop & Shoegaze

Shoegaze guitar is about texture over notes. Walls of sound built from reverse reverb, heavy modulation, and gain. The guitar becomes a pad, washing underneath vocals rather than cutting through them.

The Cigarettes After Sex tone is worth explaining: Greg Gonzalez plays through an Ampeg SVT (a bass amp) with a Neunaber Stereo Wet reverb at 70-80% wet. That's why it sounds so cavernous yet intimate. Our "Dream Pop" presets capture this.

Lo-Fi

Lo-fi guitar is about degradation as aesthetic. These presets simulate vintage recording equipment, worn tape, AM radio, telephone lines. The imperfections are the point.

Each lo-fi preset uses authentic broadcast and tape specifications. The AM Radio preset uses the actual NRSC-1-C standard. The Telephone preset uses ITU-T G.711 codec specs. This is what makes them sound authentic rather than "just a low-pass filter."

Math Rock & Midwest Emo

Math rock guitar needs clarity and attack. Complex fingerpicking patterns and tapped lines require definition. The "twinkle" comes from bridge pickup cleans with a percussive transient.

These presets use our Transient Shaper effect to enhance pick attack without adding gain. The notes pop out even at low volumes, which is essential for the genre's intricate patterns.

Post-Punk & New Wave

Post-punk guitar is angular and dry. Minimal reverb, cutting treble, rhythmic patterns. The tone serves the groove rather than filling space.

Blues & Roots

Blues guitar is about dynamics and feel. The amp responds to your touch—clean up when you play soft, break up when you dig in. These presets sit at that sweet spot where technique matters.

Many of these presets include Pultec-style Vintage Tube EQ for that classic recorded blues warmth—the "low-end trick" that adds punch without mud.

Classic Rock

Classic rock tones are surprisingly mid-forward. What sounds huge on a record is usually a Marshall stack with the mids cranked. The "scooped" sound people try to dial in actually doesn't cut through a mix.

90s Alternative

The 90s had several distinct guitar sounds: grunge's heavy saturation, Britpop's jangly crunch, emo's melodic distortion. These presets cover the era's diversity.

How We Researched Artist Tones

We didn't guess. Every artist preset is based on documented gear research—interviews, rig rundowns, studio footage, isolated tracks.

Tame Impala: Kevin Parker runs a Fuzz Face and Boss BD-2 into a Fender Deluxe Reverb. The trick is he often puts overdrive after his reverb and delay, which gives that thick, almost synth-like quality.

Arctic Monkeys: Alex Turner's early sound is trebly single-coils through Pro-Co Rat pedals into Orange and Vox amps. Raw, cutting, mid-forward.

Mac DeMarco: Clean amp, heavy chorus, neck pickup, light touch. Often recorded direct to tape with a Tascam 388.

My Bloody Valentine: Kevin Shields uses a Jaguar/Jazzmaster tremolo arm while playing, creating that pitch-warped chaos. Heavy reverse reverb and fuzz stacking.

The goal isn't perfect replication—it's getting you 90% of the way there so you can focus on playing instead of tweaking.