🎸 Garage Rock · 2009

How You Like Me Now? by The Heavy (Riff · Distorted) — Guitar Tone

by The Heavy · riff

The How You Like Me Now? by The Heavy guitar tone is built on a Vintage-style combo, dialed in at gain 5/10, bass 5, mid 6, treble 6.5, presence 5 (community-researched baseline). Full breakdown below — then adapt every knob to your exact guitar and amp, free.

🎛️ These settings are for the original rig — re-dial them for YOUR amp in 10 seconds. Free, no signup →

Amp settings (0–10)

5
GAIN
5
BASS
6
MID
6.5
TREBLE
5
PRESENCE
2
REVERB

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 38 indie tones in our researched catalog: Gain 5 sits above the indie average (4.0) — a hotter, more saturated take than most indie tones; mids at 6 are right around average (6.0).

Original gear

Amp: Vintage-style combo (Fender-style breakup) pushed by a fuzz pedal

Dan Taylor plays single-coil Fenders — a '52 Telecaster and a Jaguar — for the bright, spanky garage tone; the song's signature buzz comes from a heavy fuzz pedal into a moderately-driven vintage amp. Source: Equipboard (Dan Taylor) + Premier Guitar 'The Heavy Tone Equation'.

Gear used on this tone

🎚️ Fender Telecaster songs & tones →🎚️ single-coil guitars songs & tones →🎚️ fuzz songs & tones →🎚️ Fender Jaguar songs & tones →

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

Pickups

Single-coil Fender (Telecaster/Jaguar bridge) for bright, spanky garage bite

Effects / signal chain

Heavy fuzz pedal (the core of the riff's raw, buzzy garage-soul tone), Light reverb / room for vintage vibe, Optional boost for solo lift

Tone character

raw, fuzzy, spanky, vintage, garage-soul, punchy

Recording context

Garage / soul rock, 2009; bright single-coil into a fuzz pedal and a driven vintage-style amp

How it’s played

swaggering, horn-backed garage-soul stomp, mid, punchy tempo, raw and punchy throughout dynamics · fuzz distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the How You Like Me Now? sound.

Difficulty

2/5 · Riff

Easy to play — the magic is all in the fuzzy garage-soul tone and the swagger, not technical difficulty.

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

Worth knowing

⚡ Same tone, YOUR gear — re-dials the gain & EQ for your amp and pickups, free →
🎧 Can you guess the tone?
Recognise famous songs from just the amp dials — a quick 10-round game. Beat your friends. Play free →
🎸 Which guitar legend is your tone twin? Take the quiz & share your result →

How You Like Me Now? guitar tone — FAQ

What amp settings do I need for the How You Like Me Now? guitar tone?

Set your amp to roughly: gain 5, bass 5, mid 6, treble 6.5, presence 5, reverb 2. These are community-researched baselines — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials them for your exact guitar and amp.

What gear was used for the How You Like Me Now? tone?

Original gear/effects: Amp: Vintage-style combo (Fender-style breakup) pushed by a fuzz pedal; Heavy fuzz pedal (the core of the riff's raw, buzzy garage-soul tone), Light reverb / room for vintage vibe, Optional boost for solo lift.

Can I get the How You Like Me Now? tone on a different guitar or amp?

Yes. Different guitars and amps need different knob positions to sound the same. GuitarToneAdapt models pickup output and wood brightness, then compensates so you match the record on your own rig.

How do I sound like The Heavy on How You Like Me Now? — what gear and pedals?

Start with Single-coil Fender (Telecaster/Jaguar bridge) for bright, spanky garage bite, the amp EQ above (gain 5, bass 5, mid 6, treble 6.5, presence 5, reverb 2), and Heavy fuzz pedal (the core of the riff's raw, buzzy garage-soul tone), Light reverb / room for vintage vibe, Optional boost for solo lift. Then let GuitarToneAdapt compensate for the guitar, amp and pedals you actually own so it sits like the record.

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

More like this

🎸 more Garage Rock guitar tones →  ·  🎛️ best indie amp settings →  ·  🎸 more iconic guitar riffs →  ·  🎚️ Fuzz tone guide →  ·  🎚️ Boost tone guide →  ·  🎚️ Reverb tone guide →  ·  🎯 more punchy tones →  ·  📖 New to amp settings? What every knob does →

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Settings are community-researched estimates, not official. GuitarToneAdapt adapts them to your gear. guitartoneadapt.com