The Planet Telex by Radiohead guitar tone is built on a Fender Eighty Five, dialed in at gain 5.5/10, bass 6, mid 6.5, treble 7, presence 5.5 (community-researched baseline). Full breakdown below — then adapt every knob to your exact guitar and amp, free.
🎛️ These settings are for the original rig — re-dial them for YOUR amp in 10 seconds. Free, no signup →Measured against the 540 rock tones in our researched catalog: Gain 5.5 sits right around the rock average (4.8); mids at 6.5 are right around average (6.2).
Guitar: Fender Telecaster (likely Johnny Greenwood's main Telecaster, mid-90s, maple neck, single coils) · Amp: Fender Eighty Five (solid-state combo, studio recording, 1994-1995 era)
Bridge pickup
Fender Telecaster (likely Johnny Greenwood's main Telecaster, mid-90s, maple neck, single coils) → Marshall Shredmaster → Roland Space Echo (RE-201 or emulation) → Tremolo pedal (model unknown, possibly Boss TR-2 or amp tremolo) → Fender Eighty Five (solid-state combo, studio recording, 1994-1995 era)
distortion, tremolo, delay, reverb
swirling, modulated tremolo pulse, bright and cutting attack, ambient, spacey delay trails, tight, focused low end, chimey upper mids, slightly gritty edge-of-breakup, dynamic, touch-sensitive response, percussive, rhythmic strumming, modulated, wobbly clean tone, distinct tape echo repeats
studio
straight, medium tempo, medium dynamics · edge distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the Planet Telex sound.
3.5/5
The riff requires tight rhythmic accuracy to sync with the tremolo pulse, dynamic picking to control the edge-of-breakup tone, and careful timing to lock in with the delay repeats. While not technically advanced, the interplay of effects and groove makes it moderately challenging.
Set your amp to roughly: gain 5.5, bass 6, mid 6.5, treble 7, presence 5.5, reverb 3. These are community-researched baselines — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials them for your exact guitar and amp.
Original gear/effects: Guitar: Fender Telecaster (likely Johnny Greenwood's main Telecaster, mid-90s, maple neck, single coils) · Amp: Fender Eighty Five (solid-state combo, studio recording, 1994-1995 era); distortion, tremolo, delay, reverb.
Yes. Different guitars and amps need different knob positions to sound the same. GuitarToneAdapt models pickup output and wood brightness, then compensates so you match the record on your own rig.
Start with Bridge pickup, the amp EQ above (gain 5.5, bass 6, mid 6.5, treble 7, presence 5.5, reverb 3), and distortion, tremolo, delay, reverb. Then let GuitarToneAdapt compensate for the guitar, amp and pedals you actually own so it sits like the record.
🎤 Online guitar tuner → · 🎶 Guitar chords → · 🎸 Guitar tunings → · 🎚️ Tuning chart → · 🎼 Guitar scales → · 🎚️ Chord transposer & capo → · 🥁 Metronome → · 🎶 Song chords → · 🎧 Guess the Tone game → · 🎸 Tone Legend quiz → · 📊 Tone data report →
🔥 The most famous guitar tones of all time → · 🎯 Easy guitar songs to play (with settings) → · 🗂️ Browse tone collections (by genre & language) →
🎸 How to get Radiohead’s guitar tone → · 🎸 more Rock guitar tones → · 🎛️ best rock amp settings → · 🎸 more iconic guitar riffs → · 🎚️ Delay tone guide → · 🎯 more percussive tones → · 📖 New to amp settings? What every knob does →