Tone library / Dire Straits / Money for Nothing

Money for Nothing amp settings — Borne F60

The Dire Straits guitar tone for “Money for Nothing”, dialed in for a Borne F60 with a Tagima Sixmart. Studio version, Brothers in Arms (1985) — the original intro riff tracking at AIR Montserrat

Original rig

Gibson Les Paul Junior (bridge humbucker), Marshall JTM45 head → Laney 4×12 cab, Morley wah pedal half-cocked as a fixed mid-boost

Aggressive mid-forward bark with honky wah-filtered mids, crunchy but defined attack, fingerpicked percussive edge

Amp settings — Borne F60

CHANNELOverdrive/Crunch channel (if available) or single channel driven hardBRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	6
Bass	3
Mid	7
Treble	6
Presence	5
Reverb	0
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Wah Pedal (any brand — parked half-cocked)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Park the wah pedal at roughly 50% (halfway between heel-down and toe-down) and leave it there. This creates a fixed mid-frequency boost around 800Hz-1kHz that gives the tone its nasal, honky bark. Without this, you lose 40% of the signature sound. A Dunlop Cry Baby GCB95 or Morley Power Wah are cheap options.

Pedal Position 5

Why these settings

The Borne F60 is a budget solid-state practice amp with limited mid-range character compared to the original non-master-volume tube Marshall. I pushed mids to 7 (original was around 6) to compensate for the F60's flatter response and kept bass at 3 to avoid muddiness. Gain at 6 provides crunch without fizz — the original JTM45 was cranked with no master volume. Without a parked wah pedal, this tone will sound generic; the wah is essential.

PRO TIPKnopfler plays with his fingers, not a pick — this is critical to the percussive attack and round note bloom. Use your thumb and index finger to pluck the riff aggressively, striking slightly closer to the bridge for extra snap. The fingerstyle attack is half the tone.

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These settings are for a Borne F60. 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.