Tone library / Mötley Crüe / Kickstart My Heart

Kickstart My Heart amp settings — Squier Sp-10

The Mötley Crüe guitar tone for “Kickstart My Heart”, dialed in for a Squier Sp-10 with a Squier Bullet Stratocaster. Studio version, Dr. Feelgood (1989)

Original rig

Marshall JCM800 (modded, cranked), Gibson Les Paul / Kramer Baretta with Seymour Duncan JB humbucker, Boss SD-1 overdrive as boost

Thick, saturated 80s hair metal crunch with scooped mids, aggressive high-end bite, and tight palm-muted attack

Amp settings — Squier Sp-10

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	4
Mid	5
Treble	4
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	6

Don’t have a Squier Sp-10? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

This is your primary gain source — the DS-1 must do all the heavy lifting since the SP-10 has minimal breakup capability

Tone 5 · Level 7 · Dist 8

02Small Clone Chorus

OFF for main riff and solo. Engage only for clean doubled rhythm parts if needed; keep depth switch OFF (shallow)

Rate 3 · Depth 0

Why these settings

The SP-10 is a 10-watt solid-state practice amp with extremely limited headroom and no real overdrive character — it cannot replicate a cranked JCM800. Your DS-1 becomes the entire gain stage; the amp is set clean (gain 3) to avoid muddy stacking. Treble dropped to 4 because the Bullet Strat's single-coil bridge is ice-picky compared to Mars' fat humbuckers, and the DS-1 already adds harsh highs. Mid pushed to 5 to compensate for the Strat's naturally scooped voice against a tone that needs chunk.

PRO TIPPalm mute aggressively right at the bridge saddles with all downstrokes on the main riff — Mars' tone sounds tight because of his right-hand technique, not just gain. Roll your tone knob to 6-7 during the solo for a slightly thicker lead voice that mimics a humbucker's smoother top end.

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These settings are for a Squier Sp-10. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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