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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Rock2004easy to fake

01U2

Vertigo

Distorted Edge — a return to dirty rock riff after a long clean phase. Gretsch Falcon into a Vox AC30 pushed hard, with a Fulltone Soul-Bender for the additional saturation. The riff is muted and aggressive, almost punk-like in attack. No big delay throwing the rhythm — this is one of Edge's tightest dry tones. Slight slapback echo, but the rhythm is intentional and not delay-defined.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 2 pedals between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    Gretsch White Falcon

  2. 01
    Primary fuzz/overdrive for the riff
    Fulltone Soul-Bender

    Drive: 1 o'clock, Tone: 2 o'clock, Output: above unity

  3. 02
    Short slap, less prominent than Edge's signature dotted-eighth
    Korg SDD-3000 delay

    Time: ~90ms, Single repeat, Mix: 15%

  4. Out
    Amp

    Vox AC30 Top Boost, pushed

03Field note

The secret sauce

Edge plays this riff with downstrokes only — every eighth-note is a downstroke. That's why the riff has so much weight without being heavy. The pedal chain enables it, but the picking discipline is what carries the rhythm.