Tone library / Michael jackson / Beat it

Beat it amp settings — Boss katana Katana boss mini

The Michael jackson guitar tone for “Beat it”, dialed in for a Boss katana Katana boss mini with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio cut, Thriller (1982) — Eddie Van Halen solo tone

Original rig

Custom Frankenstrat / Charvel (PAF humbucker) into 1968 Marshall Super Lead 100W Plexi (variac lowered to ~90V) + slight MXR studio EQ and plate reverb

High-energy brown sound lead tone with aggressive upper-mids, smooth sustain, and tight low end

Amp settings — Boss katana Katana boss mini

CHANNELBrown

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

Don’t have a Boss katana Katana boss mini? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Katana Mini's Brown voice mirrors EVH's cranked Marshall tone, so no external drive is required. Because the Player Strat has a brighter, lower-output single coil at the bridge compared to Eddie's humbucker, mids are bumped to 7 and treble is tamed to 6 to keep high-register solo runs thick instead of piercing. Presence and Reverb are set to null as they are not physical knobs on the Katana Mini faceplate.

PRO TIPFor the iconic tapped arpeggios, tap firmly with the edge of your picking hand index finger right above the fret wire to maintain full note volume and harmonic cut on a single-coil bridge pickup.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss katana Katana boss mini. 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.