Tone library / Rage Against the Machine / Know Your Enemy (Live In Mexico City, MX, 10/28/99)

Know Your Enemy (Live In Mexico City, MX, 10/28/99) amp settings — Marshall MG15CF

The Rage Against the Machine guitar tone for “Know Your Enemy (Live In Mexico City, MX, 10/28/99)”, dialed in for a Marshall MG15CF with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Live in Mexico City, The Battle of Mexico City (10/28/1999) — main heavy riff

Original rig

Marshall JCM800 2205 50W head + Marshall 4x12 cab, 'Arm the Homeless' custom guitar (EMG humbuckers, killswitch), DOD FX40B EQ (flat boost for solos), Digitech Whammy WH-1

Aggressive, mid-forward British crunch with tight bass and biting upper-mid attack
Amp settings — Marshall MG15CF
CHANNELOverdrive
GAIN 7 BASS 6 TREBLE 5 MASTER 6
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain7
Bass6
Treble5
Master6
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01DigiTech Whammy

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned (set to +2 Octaves Up for the solo pitch shifts)

Mode 10 · Treadle Position 5

02Boss GE-7 Graphic EQ

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned (clean mid/level boost mimicking Tom's DOD FX40B)

Level 8
Why these settings

Tom Morello's core live drive comes directly from the gain channel of a Marshall JCM800, which aligns naturally with the Marshall MG15CF Overdrive channel. The MG15CF faceplate features a 3-band EQ with Bass, Middle, Treble, and no presence control, but the compact 8-inch speaker lacks the low-end thump of a 4x12 cabinet, so push bass to 6 while keeping treble at 5 to prevent single-coil harshness. Since a Player Strat has lower output than Morello's active EMG bridge humbucker, gain is set up to 7 to achieve full saturation. For the intro/verse toggle effect, flick your Strat's pickup selector rapidly if one pickup volume is cut, or tap a killswitch.

PRO TIPDig in hard with a thick pick near the bridge for the main riff's percussive attack, and keep your fret-hand muting razor-sharp on the staccato rhythm figures.

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