Tone Card

Paradise City (Intro), Guns N' Roses

Clean, bright and spacious with a restrained chorus shimmer. Mapped to GarageBand's Silver Panel Combo, with the documented history separated from our recreation choices.

S
Slash
Tone inspired by "Paradise City", intro
Guitar
Single-cutaway solidbody with dual humbuckers
Pickup Position
Neck humbucker. This is our tested starting point, not a documented studio setting.
Tuning
E♭ Standard (½ step down)
Amp Settings

Numbers match the 0 to 10 scale printed on the amp in Amp Designer.

Gain
3
Bass
6
Mids
5
Treble
8
Presence
6
Master
6
Heavenly Chorus

Knob positions as they read on the pedal face. This is what creates the width and shimmer.

Rate About 10:30
Depth About 11:30
Feedback About 9:00
Density About 12:00
Bright On
Sync Off
Tru-Tape Delay

Use this as a subtle modulation and doubling tool rather than an obvious delay. Keep Feedback low and Flutter around noon to add the soft, analogue style pitch instability that helps mimic the watery shimmer on the record.

Mode Normal
Lo Cut About 10:30
Hi Cut About 9:30 to 10:00
Dirt About 10:30
Flutter About 12:30
Sync Off
Time About 11:00
Feedback About 9:30
Mix About 12:00
GarageBand Settings
Amp Model Silver Panel Combo. Apple describes it as a loud, clean 2×12 with an articulate attack, which suits a clean arpeggiated intro far better than a stack built for distortion.
EQ Type U.S. Classic. Tighter lows and crisper highs than the vintage or British voicings.
Cabinet Matched 2×12
Mic Condenser 87, slightly off-axis
Amp Reverb On, Level 3
Guitar Controls Volume around 8 to 10, tone around 7 to 8
Input Level Set your interface gain so normal playing peaks comfortably below clipping. The exact knob position depends on your interface and how hot your pickups are.
Character to aim for Clean, bright and spacious with a soft liquid shimmer. The chorus provides the width, while the tape flutter adds the subtle irregular warble that gives the intro its distinctive moving texture. Keep the delay repeats unobtrusive.
Why two modulation pedals The chorus alone gives width but stays too even. Adding a low-feedback tape delay with Flutter near noon layers in an irregular pitch wobble, so the delayed signal behaves like a second moving copy of the guitar rather than an echo you can count.

Watch this card being dialed in. The walkthrough uses the Paradise City intro as its worked example, from reading the card to setting the amp in GarageBand.

The real rig behind this tone

Everything on the card above is our own GarageBand recreation, not a set of documented studio settings. Here is what is actually known about how the original was recorded.

Guitar

Slash's Kris Derrig 1959 Les Paul replica.

Pickups

Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro humbuckers.

Amp

A clean rig, separate from the modified Marshall that carried the distorted tones. A Roland JC-120 is widely reported for the clean sounds on the album.

Effects

The intro has a chorus on it. Slash's guitar tech Ace Bergman says so directly.

Rest of the song

The distorted sections come from the modified Marshall, not this clean rig.

What is not documented

  • The pickup selector position on the studio take. We recommend the neck humbucker because it matched best by ear. Total Guitar recommends the middle position for this style, and a MusicRadar test got close on the bridge with the volume rolled back. None of the three is documented, so trust your ears.
  • The exact guitar volume and tone knob positions.
  • Which chorus pedal or unit produced the effect on the 1987 recording.
  • The microphone used and where it sat.
  • The Tru-Tape Delay on our card is a GarageBand trick for recreating the shimmer, not a documented part of the 1987 studio chain.
Sources

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