Word Up! amp settings — Marschall MG15G

The Korn guitar tone for “Word Up!”, dialed in for a Marschall MG15G with a inlbanez GRG121DX-BKF. Studio version, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (2004), produced by Toby Wright

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Dual/Triple Rectifier (Modern channel, ~40-50% gain), Ibanez 7-string with stock humbuckers (bridge position), tuned to A standard. Minimal pedals—possibly a Tube Screamer for tightness and noise gate.

Thick, downtuned nu-metal crunch with tight low-end, aggressive upper-mids, and controlled gain—not fizzy or overly saturated

Amp settings — Marschall MG15G

CHANNELOD1 or OD2 (Overdrive channel)

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Tube Screamer style overdrive (TS9 / Boss SD-1)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Use as a clean boost to tighten low-end on downtuned riffs and add pick attack. Essential for getting the Rectifier-style tightness from a solid-state amp.

Drive 2 · Tone 5 · Level 7

02Noise Gate (Boss NS-2 / Donner Noise Killer)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Korn's chug-and-stop riffing style requires a gate to kill noise between hits and add punch to palm mutes.

Threshold 6 · Decay 3

Why these settings

The MG15G is a solid-state practice amp—it cannot replicate the Rectifier's tube compression and sag. Compensate by pushing mids to 7 (Korn's tone is NOT scooped despite common belief—[jemsite.com](https://www.jemsite.com/threads/korn-setup-korn-sound-still-trying.25885/) confirms mid-heavy settings). Keep gain at 6, not maxed—too much gain on solid-state amps creates fizzy, undefined mush. Bass at 4 prevents low-end from becoming boomy on a small speaker. A TS-style pedal in front is critical to achieve the tight, focused chunk.

PRO TIPPick closer to the bridge and use your wrist for tight, percussive downstrokes—Munky and Head's attack is very precise and rhythmic. The 'weight' of their tone comes from picking technique and the gate slamming shut between notes, not from drowning in gain. If you're tuned standard, tune down to Drop D minimum to get closer to the low-end thump.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Marschall MG15G. 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.