Blackwater Park amp settings — Marshall MG30CFX

The Opeth guitar tone for “Blackwater Park”, dialed in for a Marshall MG30CFX with a PRS S2 Standard 24. Studio album cut, Blackwater Park (2001) - heavy rhythm tone

Original rig

PRS CE24 / Gibson Les Paul Custom -> Studio Fredman ENGL Ritchie Blackmore Signature / Peavey 5150 heads -> Marshall 4x12 cab

Aggressive, tight high-gain progressive death metal rhythm with focused upper-mids and heavy punch

Amp settings — Marshall MG30CFX

CHANNELOD1

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	6
Mid	5
Treble	6
Reverb	1
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The studio recording utilized high-gain ENGL and 5150 tube heads with massive low-end tightness and cutting midrange. On the Marshall MG30CFX, the OD1 channel provides the tightest distortion structure without turning excessively fizzy like OD2. The presence knob is physically absent on the MG30CFX panel (set to null), so treble is set to 6 to capture pick articulation while mids at 5 keep the prog-death riffing focused.

PRO TIPOpeth plays this track in Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E); dig in hard with a thick, sharp pick (1.0mm+) right next to the bridge to emulate Mikael's razor-sharp palm-muted attack.

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These settings are for a Marshall MG30CFX. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Marshall MG30CFX settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Blackwater Park on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Opeth tonesALL SONGS Opeth on the Marshall MG30CFXSAME ARTIST, SAME AMP PRS S2 Standard 24 tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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