Medicine Man amp settings — Headrush Pedalboard

The Pantera guitar tone for “Medicine Man”, dialed in for a Headrush Pedalboard with a Fender American Professional II Stratocaster. Studio version, Cowboys From Hell (1990) — Pantego Sound Studio, Texas

Original rig

Randall RG100ES solid-state head, Dean ML with Bill Lawrence L500XL bridge humbucker, MXR Flanger, Furman PQ-3 parametric EQ in loop for mid-scoop

Tight, scooped-mid thrash with razor attack, surgical pick definition, heavy low-end chunk with cutting high frequencies

Amp settings — Headrush Pedalboard

CHANNELSoldano SLO-100 model (or closest Randall/solid-state high-gain model available)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	7
Mid	3
Treble	8
Presence	7
Reverb	0
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Parametric/Graphic EQ block

FX loop position — this is critical to Dime's tone; scoop 600-800Hz, boost presence frequencies. Dime used a Furman PQ-3 to carve the signature scoop.

Low 6 · Low-Mid (400-800Hz) 2 · High-Mid (2-3kHz) 7 · High 7

02Noise Gate block

Tight gate for dead-stop riff endings — essential for CFH rhythms

Threshold 4 · Decay 3

Why these settings

Your Strat's single-coil bridge pickup is significantly lower output and brighter than Dime's hot L500XL humbucker. Compensate by raising gain +1 from a humbucker baseline and boosting bass +1. The Headrush has quality amp models — use a Soldano or Rectifier-style model rather than Marshall; Dime's Randall was solid-state tight, not saggy tube compression. The scooped parametric EQ in the loop is NON-NEGOTIABLE for this tone — without it, you'll have too much mid bark.

PRO TIPDime picked extremely hard with thick picks (.88mm+) and attacked the strings almost perpendicular for that snappy transient click. Anchor your palm firmly on the bridge for the tight CFH chunk — looser muting gives a flabbier tone. The silence between riff stabs is as important as the notes.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Headrush Pedalboard. 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.