Cemetery gates amp settings — Artist Ac20

The Pantera guitar tone for “Cemetery gates”, dialed in for a Artist Ac20 with a Kramer Baretta fr1000. Studio version, Cowboys from Hell (1990) — heavy/riff section

Original rig

Dean ML 'Dean From Hell' (Bill Lawrence L-500XL) → MXR Six-Band EQ (V-scoop) → Randall RG100ES solid-state

Tight, scooped, aggressive solid-state attack with razor-sharp pick definition and compressed low-end

Amp settings — Artist Ac20

CHANNELClean channel

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	4
Mid	3
Treble	6
Presence	6
Reverb	0
Master	6

Don’t have a Artist Ac20? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss MT-2 Metal Zone

The MT-2's parametric mid EQ is critical here — Dimebag's tone was heavily V-scooped via an MXR 6-band. Set Mid Freq around 800Hz (4 o'clock position) and cut the Mid knob to replicate that scoop. This pedal is your entire gain source.

Level 7 · High 7 · Low 6 · Mid 3 · Mid Freq 4 · Dist 8

Why these settings

Your Artist AC20 is a tube amp voiced for classic British crunch — the opposite of Dime's tight solid-state Randall. Set the amp completely clean (gain at 2) so the MT-2 provides all distortion; two gain stages would create mud and lose the pick attack Dime was known for. The AC20's natural midrange warmth fights the scoop, so I've pulled amp mids to 3 and let the MT-2's parametric mid cut do the heavy lifting.

PRO TIPDimebag picked extremely hard with a very stiff pick held at an angle — the 'sizzle' in his tone is pick attack, not treble boost. Dig in aggressively right over the bridge pickup and angle your pick for that chirpy harmonic squeal on accents.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Artist Ac20. 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.