1980s Guitar Tones

196 famous guitar tones recorded in the 1980s, each with community-researched amp settings you can dial in on your own rig.

1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s

Most-covered 1980s artists: Metallica (16) · Guns N' Roses (8) · AC/DC (7) · Bon Jovi (7) · Ozzy Osbourne (6) · Iron Maiden (5) · Kino (5) · The Smiths (5) · Dire Straits (4) · Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble (4) · Van Halen (4) · The Cure (4)

Typical 1980s starting point: gain 5 · bass 5.5 · mid 6 · treble 6.5 · presence 5.5 (out of 10)
🎛️ Dial any 1980s tone in for YOUR amp — free →
Master of Puppets — MetallicaSweet Child O' Mine — Guns N' RosesCreeping Death — MetallicaSeek & Destroy — MetallicaSweet Child O' Mine — Guns N' RosesOne — MetallicaFade to Black — MetallicaEvery Breath You Take (Remastered 2003) — The PoliceWelcome To The Jungle — Guns N' RosesBeat It — Michael JacksonMoney for Nothing — Dire StraitsPurple Rain — Prince & The RevolutionFor Whom the Bell Tolls — MetallicaHoly Diver — DioRide the Lightning — MetallicaMr. Crowley — Ozzy OsbourneIn My Darkest Hour — MegadethPour Some Sugar On Me — Def LeppardStill Loving You — Scorpions...And Justice for All — Metallica...And Justice for All — MetallicaBack for More — RattBattery — MetallicaBillie Jean — Michael JacksonCall Me — BlondieEn la Ciudad de la Furia — Soda StereoFlick of the Switch — AC/DCFor Whom the Bell Tolls — MetallicaHeavy Metal (Takin' a Ride) — Don FelderHells Bells — AC/DCIn My Dreams — DokkenIn My Dreams — DokkenInside Out — XYZIs This Love (2017 Remaster) — WhitesnakeKnock Me Down — Red Hot Chili PeppersKryzysowa narzeczona — Lady PankLenny — Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double TroubleMidnight Rendezvous — CasiopeaOh! Tengo Suerte — Masayoshi TakanakaOrion — MetallicaParadise City — Guns N' RosesPeace Sells — MegadethPeace Sells — MegadethPride and Joy — Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double TroubleRunaway — Bon JoviSobredosis de T.V. — Soda StereoSummer Of '69 — Bryan AdamsTalk Dirty to Me — PoisonThe Four Horsemen — MetallicaThe Number of the Beast (2015 Remaster) — Iron MaidenThe Ultimate Sin — Ozzy OsbourneWelcome To The Jungle — Guns N' RosesWith or Without You — U2Women In Love... — Van HalenСпокойная ночь — KinoСпокойная ночь — KinoСпокойная ночь — Kino18 and Life — Skid RowA Forest — The CureAce of Spades — MotorheadAfrica — TotoAfrica — TotoAngel of Death — SlayerAnother One Bites the Dust — QueenAntisocial — TrustAutumn Leaves — Joe PassBack in Black — AC/DCBack in Black — AC/DCBad Medicine — Bon JoviBalls to the Wall — AcceptBamboleo — Gipsy KingsBlack Star — Yngwie MalmsteenBlandest (Demo) — NirvanaBreaking the Law — Judas PriestBrothers in Arms — Dire StraitsCendrillon — TelephoneCliffs of Dover (Live) — Eric JohnsonCold Shot — Stevie Ray VaughanCopperhead Road — Steve EarleCould You Be Loved — Bob MarleyCouldnt Stand the Weather — Stevie Ray VaughanCrazy Train — Ozzy OsbourneCrazy Train — Ozzy OsbourneCult of Personality — Living ColourCum on Feel the Noize — Quiet RiotDon't Stop Believin' — JourneyDr. Feelgood — Mötley CrüeDr. Feelgood — Motley CrueEvery Rose Has Its Thorn — PoisonEye of the Tiger — SurvivorFast Car — Tracy ChapmanFlying High Again — Ozzy OsbourneFree Fallin — Tom PettyFreewill — RushFriday I’m in Love — The CureGimme All Your Lovin' — ZZ TopGruppa Krovi — KinoGuitars, Cadillacs — Dwight YoakamHallowed Be Thy Name — Iron MaidenHallowed Be Thy Name — Iron MaidenHeaven Knows I’m Miserable Now — The SmithsHere I Go Again — WhitesnakeHier kommt Alex — Die Toten HosenHighway to Hell — AC/DCHome Sweet Home (Demo) — Mötley CrüeHot for Teacher — Van HalenHow Soon Is Now? — The SmithsI Love Rock 'n' Roll — Joan JettI Want Out — HelloweenIgra s ognyom — AriaJump — Van HalenJust Like Heaven — The CureKickstart My Heart — Mötley CrüeKickstart My Heart — Motley CrueKiss — PrinceLa Grange — ZZ TopLast Caress — MisfitsLAventurier — IndochineLets Go Crazy — PrinceLimelight — RushLivin on a Prayer — Bon JoviLivin' on a Prayer — Bon JoviLove Will Tear Us Apart — Joy DivisionLovesong — The CureMaster of Puppets — MetallicaMeu Erro — Os Paralamas do SucessoMoney for Nothing — Dire StraitsMr. Brownstone (Live) — Guns N' RosesMr. Crowley — Ozzy OsbourneOn the Road Again — Willie NelsonOnce Bitten Twice Shy — Great WhiteOne — MetallicaOrion — MetallicaOwner of a Lonely Heart — YesPanama — Van HalenParadise City — Guns N' RosesPatience — Guns N' RosesPhotograph — Def LeppardPretty Girls Make Graves — The SmithsPride and Joy — Stevie Ray VaughanRaining Blood — SlayerRebel Yell — Billy IdolRed Red Wine — UB40Redemption Song — Bob MarleyRock This Town — Stray CatsRock You Like a Hurricane — ScorpionsRosanna — TotoRound and Round — RattRun to the Hills — Iron MaidenRunnin Down a Dream — Tom PettySailin On — Bad BrainsScarified — Racer XSeparate Ways — JourneySharp Dressed Man — ZZ TopSharp Dressed Man — ZZ TopShe Sells Sanctuary — The CultShe's a Beauty — The TubesShould I Stay or Should I Go — The ClashSo What — John McLaughlinSola skinner — Jokke & ValentinerneSonifera Ilha — TitasStart Me Up — The Rolling StonesSuffer — DescendentsSultans of Swing (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK, 1983) — Dire StraitsSunday Bloody Sunday — U2Super Freak — Rick JamesSurfing with the Alien — Joe SatrianiTechnical Difficulties — Racer XTempo Perdido — Legiao UrbanaTexas Flood — Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double TroubleThe House Is Rockin' — Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double TroubleThe Trooper — Iron MaidenThere Is a Light That Never Goes Out — The SmithsThis Charming Man — The SmithsThis Is the One (Remastered 2009) — The Stone RosesThunderstruck — AC/DCTom Sawyer — RushToo Much Time On My Hands — StyxUlitsa Roz — AriaUn autre monde — TelephoneVita Spericolata — Vasco RossiWanted Dead or Alive — Bon JoviWanted Dead or Alive — Bon JoviWere Not Gonna Take It — Twisted SisterWheels of Steel — SaxonWhen Doves Cry — PrinceWhere Is My Mind? — PixiesWhere the Streets Have No Name — U2Whip It — DevoWon't Fall in Love Today — Suicidal TendenciesYou Give Love a Bad Name — Bon JoviYou Shook Me All Night Long — AC/DCYouth Gone Wild — Skid RowYYZ — RushZvezda po imeni Solntse — Kinoלהיות אדם — Zohar Argov

See also: how tone changed over 60 years (data) · tones by genre · all 1252 tones

GuitarToneAdapt · community-researched estimates. guitartoneadapt.com