Josh Homme — £1,000 · Pro-Level Tone

• The Fender Blues Junior IV stays cleaner longer than a Marshall-style amp — push it with a low-gain overdrive (gain at 2–3, level up) rather than cranking its own gain. Set treble at 6, bass at 4, and let the guitar's volume knob handle the dynamics.
• Tune to C or B standard — QOTSA's heaviness is almost entirely tuning-based. In standard tuning, the same riffs sound thin
• Heavy strings (.12s or .13s) are required for the low tunings to stay in tune and have the right tension and articulation
• The tone is thick and mid-heavy, not bright and aggressive — if it sounds like metal, pull the treble back and boost the mids
• Fuzz is used sparingly and specifically — not on every song. When it appears, it's a sudden surge in harmonic density
• Orange amp at moderate gain — the Orange character provides the warmth without excessive distortion
• Drop C power chords with the first finger barring the bottom two strings produce the "wall of riff" QOTSA chord sound

• ✗Stacking a second overdrive after the TS9 with single coils — the combined mid emphasis of two stacked ODs into single-coil pickups produces a congested, nasal sound that struggles to sit in a mix
• ✗Placing a tuner or buffered pedal before the Fuzz Face — most fuzz circuits (especially germanium ones) are sensitive to the impedance of the signal feeding them. A buffered pedal before the fuzz changes how the guitar volume knob responds. Run fuzz first in the chain
• ✗Playing at bedroom volume expecting amp-driven tone — the power-tube saturation that defines this gain structure only occurs when the amp is working at substantial output. This is not replicable at low volumes.
• ✗Setting gain too high on the overdrive pedal — most overdrive pedals are most useful at gain settings of 2-5, where they add character without dominating the tone. High gain settings on an OD pedal become a distortion, not an overdrive.
• ✗Putting fuzz after other pedals (especially wah or overdrive) — most fuzz circuits are sensitive to input impedance. Wah before fuzz is fine; overdrive into fuzz creates unpredictable gating.

If you like Josh Homme's tone, these players use a similar approach — same gear philosophy, comparable sound characteristics.