Plug In Baby guitar tone
Muse · Matthew Bellamy
Origin of Symmetry (2001)
gated-fuzz riff over a two-channel British head
The rig Muse used
Researched from interviews, production write-ups and gear histories — not guessed.
Guitar
Manson DL-1, bridge humbucker
Amplifier
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 into 4x12 cabinets - kept on ONE channel with volume full and gain low, not channel-switched.
Cabinet
Marshall 1960A 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75s
Microphone
Shure SM57 close on the grille
Signal chain
The order the original sound was built in. The exact settings get dialled for your own amp or modeller when you generate the tone.
Get this tone on your rig
Pick your amp or modeller and we’ll build Plug In Baby for it — with a preset file you can load, not a list of knob positions.
Why we think this is right
The riff is a Hugh Manson custom with the onboard Z.Vex Fuzz Factory, which MuseWiki names as the single most notable use of that pedal in the catalogue - the squealing feedback that opens the track is the Fuzz Factory being coaxed into oscillation. The amp is the Marshall JCM2000 DSL100. Two corrections to earlier research: an MXR Phase 90, one of the two circuits built into the Manson Delorean, is audible and was missing; and Bellamy does NOT switch channels for the verse - in his own words he stays on one channel with volume full and gain really low.
Sources
- MuseWiki - Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100 (Bellamy quote on channel usage)
- Guitar.com - 'The Genius Of... Origin of Symmetry by Muse'