Tone library / Dire straits / Sultans of swing

Sultans of swing amp settings — Yamaha THR10II

The Dire straits guitar tone for “Sultans of swing”, dialed in for a Yamaha THR10II with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Dire Straits debut album (1978)

Original rig

1961 Fender Stratocaster (bridge+middle position) into clean Fender Vibrolux / Music Man HD130, no pedals

Sparkling clean with bell-like chime and percussive attack

Amp settings — Yamaha THR10II

CHANNELCLEAN amp model (Classic mode)BOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge+middle TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Built-in Compressor (THR Remote app)

Optional: enable via the THR Remote app to subtly enhance the percussive fingerstyle snap

Sustain 4 · Level 6

Why these settings

The Yamaha THR10II Clean voice captures the pristine headroom of Knopfler's vintage Fender/Music Man rig perfectly. Keep the gain low around 3 to eliminate preamp breakup, pushing treble to 7 to deliver the signature out-of-phase Strat chime. Note that the THR10II faceplate has no physical presence knob, so top-end snap is dialed entirely via the treble control.

PRO TIPDitch the pick completely: pluck downward with your bare thumb on the low notes and snap upward with your index and middle fingers right against the pickguard to recreate Knopfler's distinctive percussive pop.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Yamaha THR10II. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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