Cochise by Audioslave (Riff · Distorted) — Guitar Tone

The Cochise by Audioslave guitar tone is built on a Marshall JCM800 2205, dialed in at gain 8.5/10, bass 8, mid 8, treble 7, presence 7 (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 8.5 sits well above the rock average (4.8) — a hotter, more saturated take than most rock tones; mids at 8 are above average (6.2) — mid-forward, built to cut through a mix.

Guitar controls

Original gear

Amp: Marshall JCM800 2205 (50W, overdrive channel) into a Peavey 4x12

“Soul Power” Telecaster-style (Seymour Duncan Hot Rails, kill switch) / “Arm the Homeless”; DigiTech Whammy, Boss DD-2 delay.

Gear used on this tone

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

Pickups

bridge humbucker (Seymour Duncan Hot Rails)

Effects / signal chain

distortion, delay, pitch-shifter

Tone character

thick mid-forward gain, Marshall chime, expressive, effects-driven

Recording context

studio

How it’s played

thick, mid-forward JCM800 high-gain distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the Cochise sound.

Difficulty

6/10 · Riff

The riffs are accessible; the magic is in the JCM800 tone plus Whammy and delay tricks.

Level: Expert-level — see more the hardest guitar songs →

Worth knowing

• Cochise opens with that helicopter sound — a Boss delay set to fast slapback with high feedback. Then a thick, mid-forward JCM800 riff. Crank the gain and bass/mids.
• Tom Morello kept the same rig from Rage Against the Machine into Audioslave: a 50-watt Marshall JCM800 2205 (overdrive channel only) into a Peavey 4x12. His long-standing settings are roughly Presence 7, Bass high, Middle high, Treble 7, Gain ~9 — a thick, mid-forward high-gain with Marshall chime. (Sources vary between bass/mid maxed and bass/mid ~4 with treble up; the maxed version is the most-cited.)
• The signature moves are effects: a DigiTech Whammy (the Like a Stone solo, plus Cochise / Revelations) and a Boss DD-2/DD-3 delay set to a fast slapback with high feedback (the helicopter intro of Cochise). Guitars are his 'Soul Power' (Seymour Duncan Hot Rails, kill switch) and 'Arm the Homeless'.
• Settings are community-researched starting points, not official recall sheets — a Whammy and a slapback delay get you most of the way to the signature parts.

Cochise guitar tone — FAQ

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Sources

• Tom Morello Audioslave Rig — Guitar Gear Finder
• Tom Morello Amp Settings — Guitar Chalk
• Tom Morello Amp Settings & Tone — MusicStrive

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