Tone library / Black Label Society / Farewell Ballad

Farewell Ballad amp settings — Marshall JCM800 2203

The Black Label Society guitar tone for “Farewell Ballad”, dialed in for a Marshall JCM800 2203 with a Squier Affinity Telecaster. Studio version, Book of Shadows (1996) — Zakk Wylde solo album, clean ballad

Original rig

Epiphone Les Paul with EMG pickups (likely HZ or 81/85), Marshall amplifier on clean/edge-of-breakup settings, no distortion pedals

Warm, melancholic clean with slight grit on pick attack, sustain-focused, intimate and dynamic

Amp settings — Marshall JCM800 2203

CHANNELSingle channel (2203) — run clean by keeping preamp gain lowBRIGHToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	5
Mid	6
Treble	5
Presence	4
Reverb	0
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE6 VOLUME8

Signal chain

01Reverb (Spring or Hall) — RECOMMENDED

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. A TC Electronic Hall of Fame Mini or Boss RV-6 would add the ambient depth this ballad needs. The original has subtle room reverb from the studio.

Mix/Level 4 · Decay/Time 5 · Tone 6

Why these settings

Your JCM800 2203 is the same platform Zakk uses for his heavy tones — for this clean ballad, you're pulling the preamp gain to 2 to stay clean. Your Telecaster's single coils are brighter and thinner than his EMG-loaded Les Paul, so I've rolled your tone knob to 6 and kept treble neutral at 5 to avoid ice-pick harshness. Mid at 6 compensates for the Tele's naturally scooped voice. Volume at 8 allows pick dynamics to breathe without breaking up.

PRO TIPPlay with your picking hand positioned over the neck pickup or even over the fretboard edge — this darkens the attack and mimics the warmer, rounder note bloom of a humbucker neck pickup, which your Tele bridge lacks naturally.

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These settings are for a Marshall JCM800 2203. 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.