Tone library / Dire Straits / Sultans of Swing

Sultans of Swing amp settings — NUX MG-30

The Dire Straits guitar tone for “Sultans of Swing”, dialed in for a NUX MG-30 with a Ibanez JEM7V Steve Vai. Studio version, Dire Straits debut album (February 1978)

Original rig

1961 Fender Stratocaster (middle+neck position) → 1961 Fender Vibrolux (brown tolex, ~30W, 6L6 tubes, single 12" speaker). Compression/limiter added in mix, plate reverb. Fingerstyle picking essential to tone.

Clean, warm, bell-like with percussive finger attack. Slight compression, smooth treble without harshness, defined note separation.

Amp settings — NUX MG-30

CHANNELFender Deluxe Reverb or Vibrolux model (NUX 'Dlx Reverb' or closest Fender blackface/brownface clean model)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPneck+middle TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01NUX MG-30 Compressor Block (Studio Comp or similar)

Light compression for note sustain and evenness without squashing dynamics. Place before amp block.

Level 6 · Sustain/Comp 3 · Attack 5

Why these settings

Your JEM7V has high-output DiMarzio humbuckers (Evolution) versus Knopfler's vintage single-coil Strat—this means more low-mids and less glassy treble. Compensate by dropping bass -1 from typical Fender settings, keeping treble conservative at 5 to avoid harshness, and using the neck+middle split position to get closer to that single-coil quack. The NUX Fender models are voiced clean and scooped like the original Vibrolux, so minimal mid boost needed.

PRO TIPThe entire Knopfler tone lives in fingerstyle attack—use your thumb and fingers, striking the strings near the neck pickup with a slight downward angle. No pick will ever replicate that percussive 'cluck.' Roll your tone knob to 8 to tame the DiMarzio's top end and get closer to vintage Strat warmth.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a NUX MG-30. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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