Tone library / Avenged sevenfold / Hail to the king

Hail to the king amp settings — Blackstar HT5R MkII

The Avenged sevenfold guitar tone for “Hail to the king”, dialed in for a Blackstar HT5R MkII with a Ibanez GIO GRG170DX. Studio version, Hail to the King album (2013)

Original rig

Schecter Synyster Gates Custom-S with Seymour Duncan Invader (bridge) into Bogner Ecstasy 101B or Schecter Hellwin 100W. Gain 7, Bass 5, Mid 6, Treble 7, Presence 7. MXR MC401 Boost for solos, subtle delay.

Thick crushing high-gain with classic heavy metal character, tight focused distortion, pronounced midrange bark, clear note separation, aggressive pick attack

Amp settings — Blackstar HT5R MkII

CHANNELOverdriveBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	5
Mid	6
Treble	6
Reverb	2
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boost/Overdrive pedal (TS-style or clean boost)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Use for solo boost only, keep drive minimal for clean volume lift. Engage during lead sections.

Level 7 · Gain/Drive 1 · Tone 5

Why these settings

The HT5R MkII Overdrive channel is voiced British/Marshall-like versus the original Bogner's tighter American high-gain. Pushed gain +1 to compensate for lower output from your GIO's ceramic humbuckers versus the hot Invader pickups. Kept mids at 6 to preserve the midrange bark; dropped treble -1 because the HT5R's smaller speaker emphasizes highs more than a 4x12. The HT5R has no presence control — that's handled by the ISF; set ISF fully clockwise (British) for the thick, compressed character this tone needs.

PRO TIPUse your bridge pickup's pole pieces as a guide — raise the bridge pickup until it's about 3mm from the strings for more output and sustain to match the Invader's aggression. Pick closer to the bridge for that tight percussive attack on the main riff.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Blackstar HT5R MkII. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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