What amp settings do I need for the Just Pretend guitar tone?

Set your amp to roughly: gain 7, bass 5, mid 5.5, treble 6.5, presence 6, reverb 3. These are community-researched baselines — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials them for your exact guitar and amp.

Can I get the Just Pretend 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.

🎸 Metalcore · 2022

Just Pretend (Distorted) — Guitar Tone

Q: What gear was used for the Just Pretend tone?

Original gear/effects: Amp: Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier (Neural DSP Archetype: Gojira studio / Kemper Triple Rectifier live); High-gain amp: Mesa Dual Rectifier / Neural DSP Archetype: Gojira (Kemper Triple Recto live) for the heavy chorus, Overdrive boost to tighten the low end, Boss NS-2 noise gate, Clean/ambient patch with reverb + delay + modulation for the verses.

by Bad Omens · main

The Just Pretend by Bad Omens guitar tone is built on a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, dialed in at gain 7/10, bass 5, mid 5.5, treble 6.5, presence 6 (community-researched baseline). Full breakdown below — then adapt every knob to your exact guitar and amp, free.

🎛️ Adapt this tone to YOUR guitar & amp — free →

Amp settings (0–10)

GAIN

BASS

5.5

MID

6.5

TREBLE

PRESENCE

REVERB

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

Original gear

Amp: Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier (Neural DSP Archetype: Gojira studio / Kemper Triple Rectifier live)

Pickups

Active humbuckers (EMG 81 / Fishman Fluence Modern) for the tight drop-tuned chorus; neck pickup for warm cleans

Effects / signal chain

High-gain amp: Mesa Dual Rectifier / Neural DSP Archetype: Gojira (Kemper Triple Recto live) for the heavy chorus, Overdrive boost to tighten the low end, Boss NS-2 noise gate, Clean/ambient patch with reverb + delay + modulation for the verses

Tone character

anthemic, clean-to-heavy dynamics, ambient cleans, tight drop chorus, emotional, high-gain

Recording context

Modern metalcore, 2022; drop-tuned active guitar, clean/ambient verses into a boosted gated high-gain chorus

How it’s played

emotional, anthemic — soft cinematic verse building to a crushing, soaring chorus, mid, building tempo, huge — clean ambient verses to heavy drop chorus dynamics · high-gain distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the Just Pretend sound.

What makes the Just Pretend part tricky

switching cleanly between ambient clean verse and heavy chorus tones, drop tuning with tight palm muting in the chorus, controlling the big dynamic build. GuitarToneAdapt gets the tone right so you can focus on the playing.

Note: 'Just Pretend' swings from clean, melodic, effected verses to a heavy drop-tuned chorus — set up two voicings: a clean/ambient sound and the boosted high-gain Recto-style chorus tone. A noise gate keeps the heavy parts tight. Knob numbers are community-researched estimates of the high-gain side.

Get these exact settings for your rig →

🎧 Can you guess the tone?

Recognise famous songs from just the amp dials — a quick 10-round game. Beat your friends. Play free →