Tone library / Alice in chains / Dam that River

Dam that River amp settings — Washburn Wa15

The Alice in chains guitar tone for “Dam that River”, dialed in for a Washburn Wa15 with a Fender Jazzmaster. Studio cut, Dirt (1992) — main heavy rhythm riff

Original rig

G&L Rampage (Seymour Duncan JB) into Bogner Fish preamp (Shark/Brown channels), Bogner Ecstasy, Mesa Dual Rectifier prototype, and Rockman Sustainor

Thick, aggressive modified-British high-gain with rich low-mids and grinding bite
Amp settings — Washburn Wa15
CHANNELClean channel (Overdrive switch OFF)BOOSToff
GAIN 2 BASS 6 MID 6 TREBLE 5 MASTER 6
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain2
Bass6
Mid6
Treble5
Master6
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01M-Vave Blackbox (High-Gain Amp/Cab Model Block)

Select a high-gain British/Bogner or 5150-style amp model with a 4x12 V30 cab IR. Acts as primary gain source into the clean Wa15 front input.

Gain 8 · Bass 7 · Mid 6 · Treble 6 · Level 7
Why these settings

Because the Washburn Wa15 is a small solid-state practice amp lacking natural high-gain saturation, the M-Vave Blackbox serves as the primary gain source running into the Wa15's clean channel with amp gain kept low to prevent double-gain mud. The Jazzmaster's bright single-coil bridge pickup is compensated by rolling the guitar tone knob back to 8 and pushing the M-Vave's low-mids to emulate Jerry Cantrell's high-output Seymour Duncan JB humbucker. The Wa15 has no presence or reverb controls on its faceplate, so tone shaping relies on the amp's 3-band EQ and the Blackbox modeler.

PRO TIPTune down a half-step with Drop Db (Db-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb) and dig hard with a heavy pick near the bridge using tight palm-muting to capture the percussive, grinding thud of the opening riff.

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These settings are for a Washburn Wa15. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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