Faint amp settings — Harley HB-20R

The LINKIN PARK guitar tone for “Faint”, dialed in for a Harley HB-20R with a Harley Benton Standard Series. Studio version, Meteora (2003)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, PRS Custom 24 with humbuckers, Tube Screamer (for tightening), Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

Aggressive, tight palm-muted rhythm with scooped mids and saturated low-end chunk

Amp settings — Harley HB-20R

CHANNELOverdrive channel (if available) or single channel pushed hard

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

Don’t have a Harley HB-20R? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Tube Screamer style overdrive (TS9 / TS808 clone)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for tightening the low-end and adding pick attack. Run into amp input. Without this pedal, the HB-20R's gain will sound loose and flabby on palm mutes.

Drive 2 · Tone 6 · Level 7

02Noise Gate (Boss NS-2 or similar)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Keeps silence between chugs tight. Critical for nu-metal precision.

Threshold 7 · Decay 2

Why these settings

The HB-20R is a basic 20W practice amp without the rectifier sag or high-gain saturation of Delson's Dual Rectifier. I've pushed gain to 8 (not 10) because small solid-state amps get fizzy at max; the Tube Screamer recommendation compensates by adding the tight compression and mid-push that defines the Meteora tone. Mids are set to 4 rather than the heavily scooped 3 on the original because the HB-20R lacks low-end authority—scooping further would make it thin and weak. Treble raised to 7 to compensate for the amp's duller speaker response vs a 4x12 Rectifier cab.

PRO TIPTune to Drop D and mute aggressively with the heel of your picking hand directly over the bridge saddles—the 'Faint' tone lives in the percussive attack of the palm mute, not sustain. Pick hard and close to the bridge for maximum chunk.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Harley HB-20R. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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