Chorus Spring Combo
80s studio - chorus with spring reverb character
Home / Roomtone Amp Sim / Indie / Alternative Tone
Indie and alternative guitar covers a lot of ground, but the throughline is character over polish: jangly cleans, edge-of-breakup rhythm tones, and the occasional wall of fuzz. The goal is a tone that has personality and still tucks into a band mix.
Every preset below is built for that, with the amp voicing, EQ, and effects already set. Use them as a fast way to find your starting point, then tweak.
80s studio - chorus with spring reverb character
80s synth pop clean - electronic-influenced guitar
Bright surf-jangle indie clean - Fender clean into FET squash, CH-1 chorus, and a telephone-bandpass 7-band EQ, then a parallel rack of lo-fi cassette grain, a saturated washy reverb, slapback delay and stereo width. Sparse, beachy, bedroom-indie - sounds like a jangle hook through a cheap phone speaker by the sea.
Funky clean rhythm guitar
80s alternative jangle through AM broadcast - JC-120 chime, FET broadcast comp, plate reverb, NRSC-1-C radio bandwidth-limit on the tail
Jangly indie rock - bright and bouncy
Deep pulsing 80s indie tremolo - hypnotic and lush
Clean afro-pop influenced
Lo-fi bedroom recording - warm and warbly
Sparkly 80s alternative pop - bright chorus chime with parallel opto squash, plate splash and wide stereo
Psych rhythm - light crunch chime amp, slow phaser swirl, D-C-V chorus wobble, Dyna-style squash, subtle tape warmth. Tighter reverb for chord clarity.
Warm VHS tape aesthetic - thick compressed wobble
Home recording aesthetic - JC-120 clean into cassette tape with 4-track squash
Distant radio aesthetic - static and nostalgia
80s-inspired haunted carousel with gated verb
Cassette DI baritone - heavy 1176-style squash, tight low end, upfront and dry
UK indie art-rock crunch - FenderClean edge-of-breakup + BluesDriver push, 1176 FET comp, slap delay and plate
Cassette DI - ethereal synth-like with lush reverb
Dark 80s atmosphere - chorus and flanger swirl
Touch sensitive - clean to crunch based on dynamics, tamed output for transparent peaks
Surf pop dream - Princeton edge-of-breakup with classic chorus, spring verb, cassette warmth
Cassette DI - pedal gated reverb character
gritty british indie - british chime top boost + gritty distortion bite
Southern rock - Plexi 50W edge-of-breakup, BluesDriver push, humbucker mid warmth, spring reverb
Dry garage rock
Ethereal indie pop - warm tube clean, deep shimmer, dreamy chorus
Dark romantic 80s atmosphere - Dumble smooth clean, heavy parallel squash, Dimension chorus, flanger glint, modulated hall, tape warmth
Layered mods - flanger into delay into reverb
Arena indie rock
Post-punk chime
80s synth-pop plucky rhythm - JC-120 into Vox cab, 5:1 squash, tight slapback, gated ambience, transient-punched staccato, tape warmth and wide stereo
Polished indie pop - bright sparkle with tight delay
Octave-up shimmer wash - clean amp into granular shimmer reverb with subtle chorus glue
Chorus-drenched new wave jangle - reggae-influenced
Pure reverb wall - Fender clean into prominent CE-2 chorus and huge hall reverb, delay off for maximum reverb focus
Silky smooth - polished bedroom pop
Bright indie pop - sparkly with tasteful ambience
angular art-punk - british chime edge of breakup with single-coil bite
Ultra lo-fi bedroom - warm and intimate
Record player aesthetic - crackle and warmth
Lap-steel space wash - Fender clean into long digital delay and ambient reverb, slide swell envelope, wide stereo
sparkle
Octave-up 12-string emulation - clean Magnatone, granular octave-up doubling (PitchShifter mode 3 - 4-grain Hann/cubic Hermite, polyphonic-clean), CE-2 chorus wobble, plate splash, tape warmth, MidSide widening
garage rock - raw, gritty gritty vintage breakup
90s indie crunch - gritty vintage into british cab
british thick-mid + gritty distortion fuzz - garage punk garage style
Indie cab with jangly clean - purpose-built for jangle pop
12-string jangle with granular shimmer reverb wash - compressed sparkle, stereo chorus, long octave cloud over bright clean
Bright indie clean - sparkly small american combo character
Boutique bell-like clean - articulate Dumble sparkle pushed into its sweet spot, parallel comp glue, short slapback, plate splash, wide stereo
Always-on light drive - offset warmth with edge and note definition
Raw bedroom crunch - frenetic distorted energy with lo-fi edge
british crunch crunchy breakup with clean boost - bass-heavy punchy post-hardcore
british crunch with volume rolled back - glassy edge-of-breakup clean
Tight palm-mute friendly crunch - punchy lows with controlled gain
Bright bedroom-recorded Jazzmaster wash - JC-120 platform with onboard-stereo chorus stacked over Small Clone, slapback digital delay 280ms, Brooklyn apartment plate reverb, light cassette grit. Doused / How Long Have You Known dream-pop signature
Layered krautrock motorik chorus + analog delay wash - JC-120 clean platform, Small Clone Classic chorus stacked, dotted-eighth analog BBD delay 460ms with stereo dual-ratio, long hall, subtle Small Stone phaser drift. Loose Ends / Dopamine / Mire density
Cranked Hiwatt-style mid-scooped fuzz wall - Crunch JCM800 as Hiwatt surrogate driven by RAT distortion, mid scoop, modulated hall through fuzz, subtle Sea Machine chorus underneath. MBV-influenced Skin Game / Acheron / Lorelei wall
Small studio Fender Vibrolux + Blues Junior cranked into breakup - light RAT bite, DimensionD subtle stereo chorus, analog delay, hall, Tascam 424 cassette character with wow/flutter. Frog in Boiling Water Brown Paper Bag / Soul-net dark haunted territory
Single-note lead floating in shimmer cloud - JC-120 platform with BluesDriver clean-boost for note bloom, CE-2 chorus, long melodic digital delay 500ms fb 0.45, shimmer reverb, PreEQ mid boost for articulation. Ethereal lead-melody tone for any era
Lipstick single-coil into AC30TB-style class-A combo pushed by Klon-style transparent boost - chewy EL84 breakup, mid-forward Vox chime, NOT fuzz. Bright scratchy lead riff voice from the debut single
Vintage staple-pickup guitar through fuzz-and-reverb shoegaze pedal stack into small EL84 combo - woolly muff-style fuzz with lush plate reverb pad, Klon-style mid-push on top. Loveless-leaning indie wall
Surf Green Jazzmaster into small American class-A combo - clean rhythm bed for indie verses, glassy single-coil sparkle, light room ambience, sits under fuzz lead parts without competing
2025-era post-punk fuzz - humbuckers into tight muff-style fuzz pushing AC30-style class-A combo, drier than debut shoegaze, faster attack, mid-forward Vox bite. Aggressive indie rhythm and lead
Warm dark jazz clean - Fender Twin edge-of-breakup with hair on dig-ins, slow CE-2 chorus warble, long dark hall wash, light cassette texture, opto compression. Sustained maj7/min7 voicings - intimate, full-bodied, NOT thin
Signature dark-jazz-chord clean wash - Fender Twin edge-of-breakup with hair on dig-ins, slow wide Polychorus-style classic chorus, hall reverb 6s decay, short DD-7-style digital delay, light opto compression. For maj7/min7/dim chord voicings sustained over slow tempos. Czech One / Easy Easy / Slush Puppy territory
Mid-forward woolly Tonebender-style fuzz outburst - BigMuff boost into Fender Twin clean, mid push for Tonebender voicing (NOT scooped), reduced reverb to let fuzz fill space, no chorus. Half Man Half Shark / Dum Surfer / Stoned Again territory - the sudden fuzz explosion from clean jazz
Lo-fi bedroom-demo DIY tone - Tascam 424 op-amp preamp into DI cab, cassette saturation, small-room reverb, light slapback, subtle classic chorus, intentional room hiss. Out Getting Ribs / Zoo Kid / Man Alive! Shrunken Heads home-recording aesthetic
Low-tuning drone wash - Fender Twin edge-of-breakup voiced for drop-D / open-D rumble, wide Polychorus-style chorus on low strings, dark hall reverb, neutral bass (drop tuning provides the low end - don't boost EQ bass). DADF#AD open-D Out Getting Ribs and drop-D Cellular territory
Live amp spring + room stack - Fender Hot Rod Deluxe edge-of-breakup into 1x12, onboard-spring character with short 80ms delay acting as room pre-delay for the medium decay bloom underneath. Pretty flat tone stack, light opto compression, slow Polychorus-style chorus. The 'really bare sound with considerable reverb' live wash
Slow ballad jazz-chord wash - Fender Twin Reverb clean with hair on dig-ins, restrained Polychorus-style chorus, dotted-1/8 digital delay locked to 102 BPM (440ms), spacious dark hall reverb for live-room feel, light tape preamp for early-2010s lo-fi studio character. Sustained Strat single-coil voicings, Eb-major maj7/min7 ballad territory
Bright twangy slide-guitar tone - Fender Deluxe clean with light SD-1-style asymmetric overdrive, treble-pushed for slide cut, SlowGear bow-attack swell, hall reverb wash, short tape slapback. Comet Face / Man Alive! era slide passages
Showcase preset for EHX Small Clone chorus mode (mode 7) - filtered-square LFO through cascaded 1-pole LPs at 10Hz creates the signature rounded-square wobble. Slightly slower than CE-2, more pronounced pitch character. Dry-ish overall, lets the wobble shine
Showcase preset for the Pulsar Vibrato chorus mode (mode 9) - variable-shape LFO that interpolates from sine to filtered-square. Pure wet pitch modulation. Fast enough rate for noticeable vibrato character, depth dialed to that classic Pulsar throbbing edge. NEVER combine with Delay (off-key echo bug)
Theatrical baroque indie clean - JC-120 chime with lush stereo chorus and grand hall reverb, glittery sustained chord aesthetic
Fender Bassman edge-of-breakup with LA-2A squash and tape, Albert Hammond Jr Strat into a cranked Tweed, midrange-forward bridge pickup grit, lo-fi tape mastering character
Articulated pop shimmer - slapback into shimmer for stadium-rock worship lead, AC30 chime
Strymon Cloud-Shimmer hybrid worship lead - articulated, vocal-friendly, slapback in front, FET comp for snap
Polished bedroom-pop - HH humbucker chime, plate verb wash, short slap delay, CE-2 chorus
DIY in-the-box surf - clean Twin DI, long plate verb wash, deep CE-2 chorus, stereo delay, cassette
AM 2013 signature riff - Vox Starstream XII 12-string bridge into ValveSlapper + RAT into paired Selmer Zodiac + Magnatone 410. Subtle Magnatone pitch vibrato on sustains, MXR Carbon Copy analog slapback, plate room. 1176 4:1 lets pluck through
AM 2013 hardest rhythm - Black Les Paul Custom bridge into RAT + ValveSlapper into Selmer Zodiac pushed. Mid-forward, presence high, tight close-mic room. Hard 1176 8:1 for upfront punch. Bass tight, no flub. Riff territory
Whatever People 2006 - Tele bridge tone-full-up into single RAT into Hiwatt Custom 50 2x12. Hiwatt built-in spring is the verb. Echoplex tape slap at desk, TG1 console glue comp. Bright, bitey, garagey. Source: Jim Abbiss Sound on Sound feature
Humbug 2009 - Tele NECK pickup fingerpicked A-D-Bm-F#m, Selmer Zodiac barely-breaking-up clean, NO drive pedal, light Magnatone pitch vibrato on sustains, medium plate ~2s for 60s pop width. Transparent optical comp. Warm room mic
Favourite Worst Nightmare 2007 - 505 outro climax wall, heavily fuzzed Hiwatt + Selmer paired, Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere MkII Leslie-sim swirl at slow rotor (the climax sound). Echoplex slapback, plate medium. Treble-heavy stacked
The Car 2022 - Body Paint Mick Ronson tribute solo, Les Paul Deluxe bridge HB into fixed Cry-Baby wah + Tone Bender fuzz. Cocked-wah resonant mid 700-900Hz, treble open, bass cut. Plate medium ~1.2s. No modulation - solo cuts dry
Bedroom Pop · Lo-Fi · Dream Pop · Midwest Emo · Classic Rock · Shoegaze · Ambient · Dynamic · 90s Alternative · Psychedelic · Funk · Clean · Surf · 80s Rock · Country
Indie and alternative guitar covers a lot of ground, but the throughline is character over polish: jangly cleans, edge-of-breakup rhythm tones, and the occasional wall of fuzz. The goal is a tone that has personality and still tucks into a band mix. Every preset above lists its exact amp settings and effects.
Roomtone ships 86 Indie / Alternative presets, all listed above with their settings.
Yes, as a VST3 / AU plugin and a standalone app on macOS and Windows.