Tone library / Green Day / Boulevard of broken dreams

Boulevard of broken dreams amp settings — Marshall Mg series 100DFX

The Green Day guitar tone for “Boulevard of broken dreams”, dialed in for a Marshall Mg series 100DFX with a Fender Classic 70's stratocaster. Studio version, American Idiot (2004) — iconic heavy rhythm/chorus tone

Original rig

Modified Marshall 1959SLP Super Lead heads ('Pete' and 'Meat') + Gibson Les Paul Junior (P-90) / ES-335 + Boss TR-2 Tremolo

Punchy, mid-focused, crunchy modern punk-rock distortion with tight low end
Amp settings — Marshall Mg series 100DFX
CHANNELCleanBRIGHToffBOOSToff
GAIN 2 BASS 6 MID 6 TREBLE 5 REVERB 2 MASTER 5
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain2
Bass6
Mid6
Treble5
Reverb2
Master5
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

Main drive source into clean channel

Tone 4 · Level 6 · Dist 6
Why these settings

To prevent muddy double-gain stacking, the MG100DFX is kept on the Clean channel with preamp gain low while the DS-1 provides the primary crunch. Because your 70s Strat single-coils are brighter and thinner than Billie Joe's P-90 and humbucker guitars, the DS-1 Tone is backed down to 4 and guitar tone to 8 to tame high-end fizz. Marshall MG series solid-state EQ has Contour on the drive side, but on the Clean channel using standard 3-band EQ, bass and mids are boosted to 6 to fill out single-coil body.

PRO TIPDig in hard with a medium-heavy pick right near the bridge saddles on the power chords, and slightly roll back the Strat's tone pot to simulate the thicker midrange warmth of a dogear P-90.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Marshall Mg series 100DFX. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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