The Grudge by TOOL (Riff · Distorted) — Guitar Tone

The Grudge by TOOL guitar tone is built on a Diezel VH4, dialed in at gain 7.5/10, bass 6, mid 6, treble 6.5, presence 6 (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 284 metal tones in our researched catalog: Gain 7.5 sits right around the metal average (7.3); mids at 6 are right around average (5.2).

Guitar controls

Original gear

Guitar: Gibson Les Paul Custom (Silverburst, late 1970s) · Amp: Diezel VH4 (Channel 3, studio recording)

Studio recording for 'Lateralus' (2001). Adam Jones used his late 1970s Gibson Les Paul Custom Silverburst with Seymour Duncan pickups into a Diezel VH4 amp. No evidence of live or alternate gear for the studio riff section.

Gear used on this tone

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

Pickups

Bridge pickup

Signal chain

Gibson Les Paul Custom (Silverburst, late 1970s) → Boss DD-3 Digital Delay → Dunlop Cry Baby Wah → Boss BF-2 Flanger → Boss DD-5 Digital Delay → Pro Co Rat → Diezel VH4 (Channel 3, studio recording)

Effects

delay, wah, flanger, distortion

Tone character

tight and percussive, aggressive, saturated distortion, chunky, metallic rhythm, focused midrange punch, articulate note separation, controlled feedback, crisp attack, heavy, modern metal sound, clear, defined low end, slightly scooped but present mids

Recording context

studio

How it’s played

straight, medium tempo, loud dynamics · high-gain distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the The Grudge sound.

Difficulty

4/5 · Riff

The riff requires tight, percussive palm muting, precise rhythmic accuracy with delay and flanger effects, and dynamic control of wah sweeps, making it challenging for most players.

Worth knowing

• No direct numeric amp settings for 'The Grudge' studio recording found; settings estimated based on Diezel VH4 typical usage for Adam Jones in this era and genre.
• Pedal and effect order inferred from multiple sources and audible cues; no official studio pedalboard photo for this song.
• Pickup model inferred from Adam Jones' known Les Paul Custom mods for the Lateralus era.
• No evidence of amp-based effects (reverb, delay, etc.) being used; all effects appear to be pedal-based.
• Settings cross-referenced with genre and era conventions for accuracy. Adam Jones used a Diezel VH4 and Marshall amps for 'Lateralus,' favoring tight, articulate high-gain tones with balanced mids and a dry, in-your-face sound. The riff in 'The Grudge' is aggressive but not overly scooped, with tight low end, moderate mids, and no audible reverb, matching these settings.

The Grudge guitar tone — FAQ

Share this tone

Sources

• Adam Jones | Equipboard
• Adam's guitar tone on The Grudge : r/ToolBand - Reddit

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