We charted the researched amp settings of 404 famous guitar tones by the decade they were recorded. The trend is unmistakable: gain crept up, midrange dropped.
Average gain, by decade
1960s
4.3/10
1970s
4.3/10
1980s
5.4/10
1990s
5.5/10
2000s
6.9/10
2010s
6.5/10
📈 Gain rose 60% in 40 years — from 4.3/10 in the 1960s to 6.9/10 in the 2000s. The high-gain 2000s (nu-metal, metalcore, modern metal) is the saturation peak.
The full picture
Decade
Tones
Gain
Bass
Mid
Treble
1960s
11
4.3
6.4
6.9
6.9
1970s
55
4.3
6
6.6
6.6
1980s
75
5.4
5.8
5.8
6.9
1990s
132
5.5
5.9
5.9
6.7
2000s
122
6.9
5.8
5.6
6.8
2010s
9
6.5
5.1
5.8
6.4
🎚️ Mids fell as gain rose. Average mids dropped from 6.9/10 in the 1960s to 5.8/10 by the 2010s — as players chased heavier, more saturated tones they scooped the midrange to match. (Ironically, that is also why so many modern tones vanish in a live mix.)
Computed from the 404 tones in the GuitarToneAdapt library that have a known recording era, each researched from rig rundowns and interviews. Knob values are normalised to 0–10; estimated settings are community-researched starting points, so read the averages as directional. Decades with fewer than 8 tones are omitted. You may cite or link this freely — a link back to guitartoneadapt.com is appreciated.