Tone library / Soundgarden / Blackhole sun

Blackhole sun amp settings — Silvertone Smart III

The Soundgarden guitar tone for “Blackhole sun”, dialed in for a Silvertone Smart III with a Schecter Omen 6. Studio version, Superunknown (1994) — Drop D tuning

Original rig

Guild S-100 with humbuckers → Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and Fender Twin Reverb, MXR Phase 90, various chorus/flange effects

Dark, washy clean verses with phaser/chorus shimmer; heavy scooped distortion on heavier sections

Amp settings — Silvertone Smart III

CHANNELClean channelBRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	6
Mid	4
Treble	5
Presence	4
Reverb	5
Master	5

Don’t have a Silvertone Smart III? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE6 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1

Engage for heavy chorus/bridge sections only; keep amp clean, DS-1 provides all distortion

Tone 4 · Level 7 · Dist 8

Why these settings

The Silvertone Smart III is a budget solid-state amp with limited headroom and bright voicing. The original used tube amp warmth and sag — compensate by rolling treble down to 5, boosting bass to 6 for weight, and using moderate reverb to add the song's dreamy atmosphere. Your Schecter's humbuckers are hotter than the Guild's vintage-output pickups, so the DS-1's dist at 8 will approximate the Rectifier's saturation. Neck pickup with tone rolled to 6 recreates the dark, haunting quality.

PRO TIPThayil's tone relies heavily on the Drop D tuning creating that low-end rumble — tune your low E down to D. For the verses, play with a light touch near the neck for that ghostly clean sound; dig in hard when the DS-1 kicks in for the heavy sections.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Silvertone Smart III. 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.