Home » Tone Recipes » Tone Recipe: How to Get the Jet ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ Guitar Tone

Tone Recipe: How to Get the Jet ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ Guitar Tone

by

This post contains independently chosen affiliate links. See full affiliate disclosure. 

If a cover band is worth their salt, it’s in their repertoire. The opening floor-tom thud of Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ is sure to get the crowd on your side. It is the ultimate cover band mainstay, a song that managed to bridge the gap between 60s Motown grooves, 70s stadium rock, and the early 2000s garage rock revival.

But for guitarists, it’s a deceptive beast. It sounds like a wall of high-gain punk rock, but the tonal truth is much more nuanced. Below, you’ll find tone recipes that will help you recreate the tonal breath of vintage British amps and nail that Jet guitar sound.

Line 6 HX Stomp / Helix Recipe

  • Amp Model: Essex A30 (Vox AC30)
  • Drive: 3.5 (Keep it clean-ish!)
  • Master Volume: 8.5 (This is where the “sag” lives)
  • Cab: 2×12 Silver Bell (Stock or 3rd-party Impulse Response)
  • EQ Block: High-cut set to 6kHz to remove the “fizz” and mimic vintage tape saturation.
  • Forensic Tip: If the riff isn’t “clucking” enough, add a Kinky Boost (Xotic EP Booster) at the very front with the “Bright” switch on and the drive at zero.

Need more recipes for your gear? Choose your unit below!

Line 6 HX Stomp: 8 recipes.

Fractal FM3: 8 recipes.

Kemper Player: 7 recipes.

2. Fractal FM3 / Axe-FX III Recipe

  • Amp Model: Class-A 30W TB
  • Input Drive: 4.0
  • Master Volume: 7.5
  • Preamp Sag: Increase to 5.5 to get that “loose” garage-rock feel.
  • Cab: Use a Celestion Blue IR. It provides the upper-midrange “honk” that allows a low-gain signal to sound aggressive.

3. Kemper Profiler Player Recipe

  • Profile Choice: Look for a “Cranked AC30” or “JTM45” profile with low gain.
  • Definition: Turn this up to 6.0 to emphasize the pick attack.
  • Power Sag: Increase to 4.0.
  • Forensic Tip: The Jet sound is “Dry.” Turn off all Reverb and Delay. If you need space, use a very short “Room” Ambience (Mix at 10%) to simulate a small studio.

Reminder: “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” is a dry track—no reverb, just the sound of two legendary British amps fighting it out.

This blend of vintage chime and modern drive is a recurring theme in our recipes, much like the ‘jangle-rock’ foundation found in the Tom Petty American Girl Tone.

Session Notes

The original session featured Nic Cester playing a Gibson Les Paul into a Marshall Super Lead (Plexi), while Cameron Muncey used a Gretsch into a Vox. This ‘Double-Track’ approach is why the song sounds so wide. To mimic this on a single guitar rig, use a Stereo Chorus with the depth set nearly to zero but the rate slightly active—this creates a double-tracking effect without the mud.

Fun Fact: The song was recorded at Sunset Sound in LA, the same studio where Van Halen and The Doors captured their legendary “room” sounds.

Are You Gonna Be My Girl Theory Notes

The “Motown” Swing: While the gear is pure rock, the riff’s DNA is stolen directly from the 1960s (think “Lust for Life” or the classic Motown “four-on-the-floor”). The key the staccato delivery with heavy palm-mutes. If you let the notes ring too long, the tone becomes muddy. You need to choke the strings with your palm to keep that “garage” feel.

Key & Scale: The song is in A Major, utilizing the classic A Mixolydian scale for the solo. The riff itself relies on the I – bIII – IV movement (A – C – D), which gives it that bluesy, aggressive “push” without needing heavy metal levels of gain.

Quick Facts

  • Release Date: August 2003 (Get Born)
  • Producer: Dave Sardy
  • Studio: Sunset Sound, Los Angeles
  • Chart Success: Top 30 in the US and UK; became a permanent fixture in commercials and film soundtracks.
  • The Main Gear: Gibson Les Paul and Gretsch Duo Jet through Marshall Plexi and Vox AC30 stacks.

More Tone Recipes