Tone library / Dire Straits / Sultans of Swing

Sultans of Swing amp settings — Mooer Hornet

The Dire Straits guitar tone for “Sultans of Swing”, dialed in for a Mooer Hornet with a Baccus Universe BST2. Studio version, Dire Straits debut album (1978) — iconic lead and rhythm parts

Original rig

1961 Fender Stratocaster (bridge+middle position) into 1960s Fender Twin Reverb/Vibrolux Reverb & Music Man HD 130, no pedals

Sparkling clean with bell-like chime and percussive attack — all dynamics from fingers, zero amp breakup

Amp settings — Mooer Hornet

CHANNELClean 1 (Fender 65 Twin Reverb voice)BOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge+middle TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Compressor (e.g. MXR Dyna Comp)

RECOMMENDED — not owned; adds the studio optical compression snap, but your amp clean channel covers the tone directly today

Sensitivity 5 · Output 6

Why these settings

Set the Mooer Hornet to Clean 1 to replicate the vintage Fender Twin/Vibrolux clean headroom. Keep gain low at 3 to avoid any digital preamp clipping, and push treble to 7 to deliver the glass-like bite of Knopfler's vintage single coils through your Bacchus Strat. Add a touch of onboard spring/hall reverb to match the Basing Street Studios room ambience.

PRO TIPDitch the plectrum entirely and use your bare thumb and index/middle fingers: pluck upward sharply with the index finger while resting your thumb or palm lightly on the lower strings to get that distinctive 'clucky' percussive 'popping' attack.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Mooer Hornet. 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.