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Reference
Reference

Tone recipes

Which amp to load and the three or four moves that matter. Every amp is named the way it appears on the unit, so you can type it straight into the device list.

Tone target

7 recipes

Big sparkly clean

CleanOur starting point

The chimey clean most people want first, and the easiest to get wrong by adding too much.

Start from
  • US TWN Vibrato
  • UK C30 TopBoost
Cab

Whatever cab is paired with the amp by default — change it last, not first.

Steps
  1. AmpNano Cortex

    Gain low, around 2–3.

    A clean amp model still breaks up if you push it. Start below where you think.

  2. ToneGeneral

    Treble up, mids down a touch.

    Scooped mids is what makes a clean sound 'sparkle' rather than 'honk'.

  3. CompressorNano Cortex

    Add one before the amp, gentle.

    Evens out the picking so the sparkle doesn't disappear on quiet notes.

  4. ReverbNano Cortex

    Put it on the second row, mixed low.

    Parallel keeps the note definition that a clean tone lives on.

What gets in the way
  • Clean tones peak much higher than they feel. Leave 12 dB of headroom or they clip at the desk.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0 · Quad Cortex Wiki: Gain Staging

Edge of breakup

Edge of breakupOur starting point

Clean when you play softly, growling when you dig in. The most useful sound on the unit.

Start from
  • US DLX Vibrato
  • Brit TM45 Normal
Steps
  1. AmpNano Cortex

    Gain around 4–5, master up.

    The breakup should come from the amp working, not from a pedal in front.

  2. PlayingGeneral

    Set it with your hardest strum, then play normally.

    If it's clean at full attack, it will never break up.

  3. DriveNano Cortex

    Add a light overdrive as a boost, gain near zero, level up.

    Pushes the amp harder without adding its own distortion.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Classic rock crunch

CrunchOur starting point

Plexi territory. Rhythm parts that cut without turning to mush.

Start from
  • Brit Plexi 100 Bright
  • Brit 2203
Steps
  1. AmpNano Cortex

    Gain 5–6, presence up.

    Plexi-style amps get their bite from presence more than treble.

  2. Low endGeneral

    Roll bass off slightly.

    Most people's crunch sounds are too bassy and disappear in a band.

  3. DriveNano Cortex

    A Screamer-style pedal in front, gain low, level high.

    The classic trick: it tightens the low end as much as it adds gain.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Modern high gain

High gainOur starting point

Tight, aggressive, palm-mute friendly. Where most people use far too much gain.

Start from
  • CA Duo Ch3 Modern
  • EV101III Red
  • PV-505 Lead
Steps
  1. AmpNano Cortex

    Gain around 6, not 9.

    Past a point more gain means less clarity. Modern amp models already have plenty.

  2. DriveNano Cortex

    Screamer in front, gain at zero, tone up, level up.

    This is the tightening trick behind almost every modern metal tone.

  3. GateNano Cortex

    Add an Input Gate, just enough to stop the hiss.

    High gain plus a gate is a package deal. Too much and your notes get chopped.

  4. MidsGeneral

    Do not scoop them all the way.

    A scooped tone sounds huge alone and vanishes the moment a band starts.

What gets in the way
  • The Input Gate is one of the first blocks the unit switches off when a preset runs out of processing.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Lead that cuts through

LeadOur starting point

A solo sound built as a scene on top of your rhythm, so it switches instantly.

Start from
  • Solo 100 Lead
  • Freeman 100 Lead
Steps
  1. ScenesNano Cortex

    Build it as a scene inside your rhythm preset, not a separate preset.

    Scenes switch with no gap. A separate preset drops out mid-solo.

  2. LevelNano Cortex

    Add 2–3 dB, not 10.

    Cutting through is about midrange, not volume. Too much and you just get shouted at.

  3. MidsGeneral

    Push the mids up for the lead scene.

    The frequency range where a guitar actually competes with vocals.

  4. DelayNano Cortex

    Short delay, low mix.

    Adds sustain without smearing fast passages.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Ambient wash

AmbientOur starting point

Big space that doesn't turn your playing to soup. This is what the Grid is for.

Start from
  • US DLX Normal
  • UK C15 TopBoost
Steps
  1. GridNano Cortex

    Split to row 2 after the cab, put reverb and delay there, mix back.

    Parallel means the wet sound sits beside your dry note instead of on top of it.

  2. MixerNano Cortex

    Set the wet row well below the dry row.

    A wet path 3 dB hot sounds great alone and like mud in a band.

  3. DelayNano Cortex

    Long, low mix, feedback moderate.

    The wash comes from repeats, not from a single loud echo.

What gets in the way
  • One reverb per row pair. If it refuses a second, put it on rows 3 and 4.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0 · Forum: the limit of gears

Bass, straight to the desk

BassOur starting point

A clean, solid DI sound that an engineer will be happy with.

Start from
  • Amped Super Valve
  • Amped Flip-Top
Steps
  1. AmpNano Cortex

    Gain low, and let the amp model do the colouring.

    Bass distortion is much less forgiving than guitar distortion.

  2. CompressorNano Cortex

    Gentle, before the amp.

    Evens out string-to-string level, which matters far more on bass.

  3. OutputNano Cortex

    XLR to the desk, cab block on.

    The engineer wants a finished sound, not a raw DI they have to fix.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0
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