Sultans of swing amp settings — Harley benton Hb-20r
The Dire strats guitar tone for “Sultans of swing”, dialed in for a Harley benton Hb-20r with a Harley Benton SC-Custom II. Studio version, Dire Straits (1978)
1961 Fender Stratocaster (bridge+middle / neck+middle) into a 1961 brownface Fender Vibrolux 6G11 combo with Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 2 |
| Bass | 4 |
| Mid | 6 |
| Treble | 8 |
| Reverb | 3 |
| Master | 5 |
Your HB-20R lacks a presence control and uses an 8-inch speaker, so treble is pushed to 8 to inject the top-end sparkle of Knopfler's vintage Strat. Because your SC-Custom II has thicker humbuckers instead of single coils, keep the amp on the pristine Clean channel with low gain, and cut bass to 4 to prevent low-end mud. If your guitar has a coil-split push/pull pot, activate it on both pickups to get much closer to the iconic single-coil out-of-phase quack.
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These settings are for a Harley benton Hb-20r. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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