Black amp settings — Fender Frontman 10G

The Pearl Jam guitar tone for “Black”, dialed in for a Fender Frontman 10G with a Squier Affinity Stratocaster. Studio cut, Ten (1991) — iconic clean Hendrix/SRV-style intro and fills (Mike McCready)

Original rig

1962 Japanese Reissue Fender Stratocaster (in-between positions) + vintage Fender Bassman head / Marshall JCM800 + subtle studio plate/room reverb

Warm, dynamic, edge-of-clean chime with scooped quack and rounded top end

Amp settings — Fender Frontman 10G

CHANNELCleanBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	6
Treble	4
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPneck+middle TONE8 VOLUME9

Why these settings

The Frontman 10G has only gain, bass, and treble controls with a small 6-inch speaker that gets piercing fast. Keeping the O.D. button off and treble pulled down to 4 tames the harsh top-end while compensating for the Stratocaster's naturally bright single coils. Setting gain at 3 gives the clean channel just a tiny bit of tactile compression without breaking into harsh solid-state clipping.

PRO TIPUse thumb-over-the-neck Hendrix chord grips and pick softly with your bare fingers or a flexible pick right over the neck pickup to capture McCready's fluid, watery intro fills.

Get this tone on your amp

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

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