Tone library / Black Label Society / In This River

In This River amp settings — Fender Champion 40

The Black Label Society guitar tone for “In This River”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 40 with a Ibanez GIO GRG170DX. Studio version, Mafia (2005) — electric guitar solo tone

Original rig

Gibson Les Paul Custom (EMG 81/85) -> Boss SD-1 / Dunlop ZW44 Overdrive -> Boss CH-1 Super Chorus -> Marshall JCM800 2203 (6550 power tubes) into EV-loaded 4x12 cab

Aggressive, mid-heavy British crunch with searing harmonic bite and thick chorus widening
Amp settings — Fender Champion 40
CHANNELChannel 2 (Voice: British '80s / high gain)BOOSToff
GAIN 6 BASS 6 TREBLE 7 REVERB 2 MASTER 4
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain6
Bass6
Treble7
Reverb2
Master4
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9

Used as a clean boost to tighten low end and add signature pick attack

Drive 1 · Tone 7 · Level 9

02Boss CH-1 Super Chorus

Essential for Zakk's wide, modulated lead tone

E.Level 6 · EQ 6 · Rate 4 · Depth 5

03Boss DM-2W Waza Delay

Set to Standard mode for subtle lead depth without washing out fast runs

Repeat Rate 4 · Intensity 3 · Echo 4
Why these settings

The Champion 40 lacks a physical mid knob, so the British voice provides the Marshall-style midrange push while dialing treble to 7 mimics the searing bite of Zakk's EMG 81 and 6550-tubed JCM800. The TS9 is set as an aggressive front-end boost (drive almost off, level pushed) to saturate the amp without flubbing out the low end. Your passive Infinity humbuckers run a bit darker than active EMGs, so the pedal tone and amp treble are raised slightly to restore harmonic cut. Clean piano section: switch to Channel 1 or bypass the TS9 and roll the guitar volume down to 6.

PRO TIPDig in hard using a heavy pick turned slightly sideways to catch the edge of your thumb for Zakk's trademark aggressive pinch harmonics on the G and B strings.

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These settings are for a Fender Champion 40. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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