What 536 Famous Guitar Tones Reveal About Amp Settings
We took the researched gear and knob settings behind 536 famous guitar tones in our library and crunched the numbers. Here is what the records actually use — average settings, how genres differ, and the gear that shows up most.
5.66avg gain
6.71avg treble
5.86avg mid
80%distorted
The average famous tone
Gain
5.66/10
Bass
5.78/10
Mid
5.86/10
Treble
6.71/10
Presence
5.84/10
💡 Treble is the most-pushed knob (6.71/10), not gain (5.66/10). Famous tones cut more than they crush — clarity beats raw saturation.
How genres dial it in
Genre
Tones
Avg gain
Avg mid
Avg treble
rock
249
5
6.5
6.7
metal
165
7.5
4.9
6.9
punk
22
6.5
6.2
7.1
metalcore
13
7.3
5.9
6.5
blues
11
4.2
6.5
6.5
🎚️ The metal scoop is real. Metal averages mid 4.9 while rock pushes mids to 6.5. Metalcore runs metal-level gain but keeps mids higher for definition — exactly why those riffs cut.
Gain distribution
Clean / edge-of-breakup (0–3)
79
Crunch (3–5)
85
Classic overdrive (5–7)
122
High-gain (7–8.5)
167
Extreme / modern metal (8.5–10)
83
Most-used amps
Mesa
78
Marshall JCM800
54
Peavey
22
Fender Twin Reverb
18
Marshall
14
Marshall Super Lead
11
Vox AC30
10
Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
9
Hiwatt DR103 Custom
9
Marshall JMP
8
🔌 Marshall and Mesa/Boogie dominate. Add up the Marshall variants (JCM800, Super Lead, JMP…) and the Marshall family is the single most-recorded amp brand in the library.
Most-used guitars
Fender Stratocaster
52
Gibson Les Paul Standard
32
Gibson Les Paul Custom
21
Fender Telecaster
15
Dean ML
10
Gibson SG Standard
9
Schecter Synyster Gates Custom
8
Fender Jazzmaster
8
🎸 Strat vs Les Paul is a dead heat. The Fender Stratocaster is the single most-used model, but combined Les Paul variants (Standard + Custom) just about match it — the eternal rivalry, settled in famous records as a tie.
Numbers are computed from the 536 tones in the GuitarToneAdapt library, each researched from rig rundowns, interviews and gear lists. Knob values are normalised to a 0–10 scale; where original settings were estimated they are community-researched starting points, not official recall sheets, so treat the averages as directional. Amp/guitar counts use the primary instrument listed per tone. You may cite or link this page freely — a link back to guitartoneadapt.com is appreciated.