Tone library / Dire Straits / Money for Nothing

Money for Nothing amp settings — Marshall Valvestate 8080

The Dire Straits guitar tone for “Money for Nothing”, dialed in for a Marshall Valvestate 8080 with a Jay Turser Telecaster JT-LT-N. Main riff and rhythm tone, Brothers in Arms (1985) studio version

Original rig

1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard into Laney AOR tube head, captured with out-of-phase Shure SM57 and Neumann U87 room mic positioning

Mid-focused, honky, cocked-wah style crunch with compressed attack and tight low end

Amp settings — Marshall Valvestate 8080

CHANNELBoost Channel (OD1)BOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	6
Bass	4
Mid	8
Treble	5
Reverb	2
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Behringer S100 Compressor Sustainer

Tightens pick attack and adds sustain to match the studio tracking compression

Sustain 7 · Attack 4 · Level 7

02BOSS Foot Wah FW-3

Leave rocked forward around 60% toe-down (cocked wah position) to recreate the signature resonant mic-phase vocal peak

Peak 7 · Level 6

Why these settings

To emulate the Les Paul humbucker thickness on your single-coil Telecaster, the tone knob is rolled back to 7 and the Valvestate's Contour control (on the Boost channel) is set low around 3 to push upper midrange rather than scoop it. The BOSS FW-3 left parked in a semi-open sweet spot simulates the accidental out-of-phase mic resonance that defines the studio track. Marshall Valvestate 8080 models do not feature a presence knob on the faceplate, so power-amp presence is omitted.

PRO TIPPlay with bare fingers rather than a pick, plucking upward forcefully with the index and thumb to nail Mark Knopfler's explosive snap and natural string compression.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Marshall Valvestate 8080. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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