Knocking on heavens door amp settings — Marshall JCM900
The Guns n roses guitar tone for “Knocking on heavens door”, dialed in for a Marshall JCM900 with a Fender Squire mini. Studio version, Use Your Illusion II (1991) — iconic lead solo / main dirty rhythm tone
1958 Gibson Flying V / Explorer / '87 Les Paul with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups into Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555 / JCM800 2203 with 4x12 Celestion V30s
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 7 |
| Bass | 7 |
| Mid | 7 |
| Treble | 5 |
| Presence | 4 |
| Reverb | 3 |
| Master | 4 |
The JCM900 shares the British Marshall voicing of Slash's Silver Jubilee but carries more aggressive high-treble bite in Channel B. To compensate for the Squier Mini's short scale and thin, bright single-coil neck pickup, bass and mids are boosted to 7 while treble and presence are rolled back to smooth the top end. Rolling the guitar's tone knob down to roughly halfway is essential to replicate Slash's thick, fluty humbucker neck response. For the clean intro chords, roll the guitar volume down to 3 or flip to Channel A.
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These settings are for a Marshall JCM900. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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