Tone library / My Chemical Romance / Drowning Lessons

Drowning Lessons amp settings — Orange Crush 12

The My Chemical Romance guitar tone for “Drowning Lessons”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 12 with a Fender Squier. Studio cut, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002) — main rhythm/intro riff

Original rig

Gibson Les Paul Standard (bridge humbucker) -> Boss OD -> cranked Marshall JCM900 / Super Lead

Raw, aggressive early-2000s post-hardcore crunch with pronounced upper-mids and tight bite
Amp settings — Orange Crush 12
GAIN 2 BASS 6 MID 7 TREBLE 6 MASTER 6
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain2
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Master6
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE9 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

Primary gain source. Bypasses the need to crank the small 6-inch speaker into fizzy solid-state clipping.

Tone 5 · Level 7 · Dist 6

02Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9

Mid-shaping boost placed after DS-1 to tighten the low end and restore Marshall-style upper-mid punch.

Drive 0 · Tone 6 · Level 8
Why these settings

Because you are running the Boss DS-1 as the main gain engine into a single-channel solid-state Orange Crush 12, the amp's Gain is rolled down to 2 for double-gain prevention and clean amplification. To compensate for single-coil Squier pickups against the original Gibson Les Paul humbuckers, Treble is tamed to 6 while Bass is pushed to 6 to restore missing body. Orange Crush 12 controls are Gain, Overdrive, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Volume; Presence and Reverb are physically absent on this model and set to null. Clean arpeggio sections: bypass the DS-1 and leave the TS9 on clean boost.

PRO TIPPick aggressively near the bridge with an angled heavy plectrum; the sharp attack pushes the TS9's mid hump to replicate Ray Toro's cutting, unpolished Bullets-era post-hardcore bite.

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These settings are for a Orange Crush 12. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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