🎚️ Jazz settings

Best amp settings for jazz

Starting-point EQ for jazz tone, averaged from 16 famous jazz recordings. Dial these in, then fine-tune by ear — or let the tool below adapt them to the exact amp and guitar you own.

Starting point: Gain 2 · Bass 5.5 · Mid 6.5 · Treble 5.5 · Presence 4 (out of 10)
💡 Jazz tone is WARM and CLEAN — neck (front) pickup on an archtop, tone control rolled well back (often to 2–3), gain near zero into a clean amp (Polytone, Fender, or a jazz-voiced combo). Dark and round, not bright; let the notes bloom. A touch of reverb, no drive — the phrasing is the tone.
🎛️ Adapt jazz tones to YOUR exact rig — free →

Amps most used for jazz

Roland JC-120 (2)

Famous jazz tones

Midnight Rendezvous — Casiopea · Kid Charlemagne — Steely Dan · So What — John McLaughlin · Mediterranean Sundance — Al Di Meola · Four on Six — Wes Montgomery · West Coast Blues — Wes Montgomery · Breezin — George Benson · Bright Size Life — Pat Metheny

Community-researched estimates. More: amp settings by amp · amp comparisons · 495 tones.