Barracuda by Heart (Riff · Distorted) — Guitar Tone

The Barracuda by Heart guitar tone is built on a Music Man head, dialed in at gain 5.5/10, bass 5, mid 6, treble 6.5, presence 5.5 (community-researched baseline). Full breakdown below — then adapt every knob to your exact guitar and amp, free.

Amp settings (0–10)

Community-researched baseline. Your rig is different — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials every knob for your specific guitar, amp and pickups.

How these settings compare

Measured against the 540 rock tones in our researched catalog: Gain 5.5 sits right around the rock average (4.8); mids at 6 are right around average (6.2).

Guitar controls

Original gear

Amp: Music Man head (cranked) with a slow flanger on the gallop

Roger Fisher played a Strat into a Music Man head; the galloping intro uses a flanger (a Phoenix Systems kit) set as SLOW as it goes. The "laser" sweep at the end was the guitar feeding back near the amp head with the flanger on. Palm-muted gallop, mid-forward crunch.

Gear used on this tone

Don’t own this gear? GuitarToneAdapt re-creates the sound on the rig you actually have.

Pickups

bridge (bright)

Effects / signal chain

flanger, distortion

Tone character

galloping palm-mutes, slow flange sweep, mid-forward crunch, bright

Recording context

studio

How it’s played

mid-forward crunch with slow flange distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the Barracuda sound.

Difficulty

3/5 · Riff

The gallop is tight palm-muted picking; the tone needs a slow flanger over a moderate crunch. Bright bridge pickup.

Level: Beginner-friendly — see more easy guitar songs to play →

Worth knowing

• Barracuda’s signature is a SLOW flanger over a tight, palm-muted gallop — a bright Strat into a cranked Music Man, moderate crunch (not high gain). Set the flanger as slow as it goes.
• Palm-mute the gallop tightly, moderate gain, bridge pickup, and add a slow flanger. The flange IS the sound.
• Settings are community-researched starting points, not official recall sheets.

🎸 All Barracuda guitar tones — every part & section →

Barracuda guitar tone — FAQ

Share this tone

Sources

• Roger Fisher’s Barracuda Gear — WoodyTone
• Roger Fisher Gear — Equipboard
• Recreate the Barracuda Gallop — Songs From Memory

Free practice tools

🎤 Online guitar tuner →  ·  🎶 Guitar chords →  ·  🎸 Guitar tunings →  ·  🎚️ Tuning chart →  ·  🎼 Guitar scales →  ·  🎚️ Chord transposer & capo →  ·  🥁 Metronome →  ·  🎶 Song chords →  ·  🎧 Guess the Tone game →  ·  🎸 Tone Legend quiz →  ·  📊 Tone data report →

🔥 The most famous guitar tones of all time →  ·  🗂️ Browse tone collections (by genre & language) →

Songs by level: 🎯 Easy  ·  🎸 Intermediate  ·  🔥 Hardest — each with the amp settings.

More like this

🎸 How to get Heart’s guitar tone →  ·  🎸 more Hard-Rock guitar tones →  ·  🎛️ best rock amp settings →  ·  🎸 more iconic guitar riffs →  ·  🎚️ Distortion tone guide →  ·  🎚️ Flanger tone guide →  ·  🎯 more mid forward tones →  ·  📖 New to amp settings? What every knob does →

Related tones