Communist Eyes amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII

The Germs guitar tone for “Communist Eyes”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 50 MkII with a Fender Mustang. Studio version, (GI) album (1979)

Original rig

Gibson SG (humbucker bridge pickup) → Fender Twin Reverb (cranked clean channel, natural power-amp breakup)

Raw, aggressive punk crunch with thick midrange bark and controlled chaos

Amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII

CHANNELCrunchBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	6
Mid	8
Treble	4
Presence	3
Reverb	0
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

Adds grit and sustain to compensate for single-coil output vs original humbucker

Tone 4 · Level 7 · Dist 6

Why these settings

Original was cranked Fender Twin (clean platform pushed into power-amp breakup). Katana Crunch channel approximates this with controlled preamp saturation. DS-1 compensates for Mustang's lower single-coil output vs Gibson SG humbucker—adds compression and harmonic density. Pushed mids to 8 (vs original Twin's scooped 5) to retain bark through Katana's voicing. Treble cut to 4 prevents ice-pick harshness from single coils.

PRO TIPDig in hard with your pick attack—Pat Smear's tone lives in the dynamics between aggressive downstrokes and brief palm-mute chokes. Let notes ring into controlled feedback rather than clipping them short.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss Katana 50 MkII. 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.