Tone library / Avenged Sevenfold / Nightmare

Nightmare amp settings — Fender 15g

The Avenged Sevenfold guitar tone for “Nightmare”, dialed in for a Fender 15g with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Nightmare album (2010)

Original rig

Bogner Uberschall 120W head, Schecter Synyster Gates Custom-S with Seymour Duncan SH-8 Invader (bridge), MXR MC401 Boost

Aggressive modern high-gain metal with tight low-end, searing upper-mids, and controlled saturation

Amp settings — Fender 15g

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	10
Bass	4
Mid	8
Treble	6
Reverb	0
Master	5

Don’t have a Fender 15g? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01High-Gain Distortion Pedal (RECOMMENDED — Boss MT-2 Metal Zone or similar)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. The Fender 15G cannot produce high-gain metal distortion on its own. A dedicated metal distortion pedal is essential to achieve this tone. Budget alternatives: Behringer HM300, Joyo JF-17 Extreme Metal, or TC Electronic Fangs.

Level 7 · Low 5 · High 6 · Mid 7 · Mid Freq 6 · Dist 8

Why these settings

The original uses a 120W high-gain tube monster with hot humbuckers — your Fender 15G is a 15W solid-state practice amp with no dirt channel, and your Strat has low-output single coils. The amp physically cannot produce this tone alone. I've maxed the amp gain for whatever mild grit it offers and pushed mids to +8 to compensate for the Fender's natural mid-scoop and your Strat's thinner voice. A high-gain distortion pedal is mandatory here — the pedal becomes your entire gain stage while the amp stays as clean as possible to avoid mud.

PRO TIPPalm-mute hard and pick aggressively right over the bridge pickup pole pieces — Syn's attack is percussive and precise. Roll your Strat's tone knob to 8 to tame the single-coil ice-pick without losing definition. If you add the distortion pedal, use a noise gate app or cheap gate pedal after it; high gain + single coils = hum city.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender 15g. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.