Bad Horsie amp settings — Blackstar BA261010

The Steve Vai guitar tone for “Bad Horsie”, dialed in for a Blackstar BA261010 with a Jackson JS22 Dinky. Studio version, Alien Love Secrets (1995) — main riff

Original rig

Ibanez JEM7V (DiMarzio Evolution bridge), Bogner Ecstasy 101B / Carvin Legacy VL100, Morley Bad Horsie Wah locked half-cocked

Nasal, mid-heavy attack with high gain sustain and a cocked-wah vocal resonance

Amp settings — Blackstar BA261010

CHANNELOD2 (or Super Crunch / Lead voice; ISF set to 4 / American-British blend)BOOSTon

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	5
Mid	8
Treble	7
Reverb	2
Master	6

Don’t have a Blackstar BA261010? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Morley Bad Horsie Wah (or Dunlop Cry Baby)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; park the wah pedal roughly halfway forward to nail the signature vocal resonance

Level 7 · Frequency 6

Why these settings

The signature sound relies on high gain pushed through an aggressive mid-range bandpass filter from a cocked wah pedal. Since you do not own a wah pedal, run the Blackstar on its highest-gain overdrive channel with the mid EQ pushed to 8 and ISF set slightly American-leaning to approximate the vocal bite. Adding an actual wah pedal parked at mid-sweep will instantly close the gap to the studio record.

PRO TIPDrop your low E string down to D (Drop D tuning) and dig in hard with the side of your pick right near the bridge for the percussive, metallic chunk Steve Vai gets on the low-register riff.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Blackstar BA261010. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

Find your amp

Browse

Bad Horsie on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Steve Vai tonesALL SONGS Jackson JS22 Dinky tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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.