Tone library / Michael Jackson / Beat it

Beat it amp settings — Peavey Rage 158

The Michael Jackson guitar tone for “Beat it”, dialed in for a Peavey Rage 158 with a Ibanez Grx70qa. Studio version, Thriller (1982) — Eddie Van Halen solo

Original rig

Frankenstrat (single SH-5 Custom humbucker) → Hartley-Thompson HT45 combo (cranked for amp distortion) → Echoplex tape delay

Aggressive, singing lead tone with saturated midrange, harmonic overtones, and slapback delay

Amp settings — Peavey Rage 158

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	4
Mid	7
Treble	6
Presence	0
Reverb	2
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Delay (RECOMMENDED — not currently owned)

RECOMMENDED — Boss DD-3 or any basic digital delay. Set for short slapback (100-150ms), single repeat. Essential for the solo's spatial character.

Level 4 · Time 3 · Feedback 2

Why these settings

The Peavey Rage 158 is a solid-state practice amp with limited gain saturation compared to the cranked tube amp original. Compensate by maxing the gain stage and pushing mids +1.5 over the original's 5.5 to get the vocal, singing quality. Bass drops from 6 to 4 because the Rage's small speaker gets muddy with low-end under high gain. Your Ibanez's Infinity humbuckers are hotter than the SH-5, so treble stays conservative at 6 to avoid fizz.

PRO TIPRoll your guitar's tone knob back to 8 and use your neck pickup's magnet proximity by fretting near the 12th-15th frets for the sustained, vocal-like notes — EVH's tone breathes because of his right-hand position directly over the bridge pickup, picking lightly for sustain and digging in for attack.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Peavey Rage 158. 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.