Tone library / Kataklysm / The Black sheep

The Black sheep amp settings — Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40

The Kataklysm guitar tone for “The Black sheep”, dialed in for a Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 with a Epiphone Les Paul Classic. Studio version, Of Ghosts and Gods (2015)

Original rig

Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier / Peavey 5150, ESP guitars with EMG 81/85 pickups, tight modern death metal production with precision low-end

Tight, aggressive modern death metal with scooped mids, massive low-end chunk, and cutting high-frequency attack

Amp settings — Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40

CHANNELUltra (American high-gain voicing)BRIGHToffBOOSTon

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	6
Mid	4
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Noise Gate (GrandMeister built-in)

Essential for tight death metal palm mutes - use the built-in noise gate aggressively

Threshold 6

02Tube Screamer style OD (TS9 or similar)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Used as a clean boost to tighten low-end and add midrange focus. Run into front of amp.

Drive 0 · Tone 6 · Level 7

Why these settings

Your GrandMeister's Ultra channel is voiced for American high-gain (5150/Rectifier territory), making it ideal for this tone. Your Epiphone's passive Alnico humbuckers have less output and compression than JF's active EMGs, so gain is pushed to 8 (vs ~6 on the original rig) and treble is raised to compensate for the warmer passive pickup response. Mids are scooped but not completely gutted to retain note definition in the mix.

PRO TIPFor authentic Kataklysm chunk, pick directly over the bridge pickup with a thick 1.0mm+ pick angled slightly, and focus on absolute rhythmic precision — the tone is tight and unforgiving, so any sloppiness in palm-mute attack will be exposed. Roll the resonance knob to 5-6 to add controlled low-end thump without muddiness.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40. 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.