Tone library / Sum 41 / The hello song

The hello song amp settings — Marshall s80 Valvestate s80

The Sum 41 guitar tone for “The hello song”, dialed in for a Marshall s80 Valvestate s80 with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, All Killer No Killer / Half Hour of Power era (2000-2001)

Original rig

Marshall JCM900 / Marshall Super Lead, Gibson Les Paul / PRS McCarty with bridge humbucker

Punchy late-90s/early-00s pop-punk overdrive with tight low end and aggressive upper mids
Amp settings — Marshall s80 Valvestate s80
CHANNELBoost Channel (OD2)BRIGHToffBOOSTon
GAIN 7 BASS 6 MID 7 TREBLE 6 REVERB 1 MASTER 5
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain7
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Reverb1
Master5
Don’t have a Marshall s80 Valvestate s80? Match your own rig →
Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10
Why these settings

The Marshall Valvestate 8240 (S80) uses a Contour control on the Boost channel instead of a traditional Presence knob, so mid/contour should be set around 6-7 to retain midrange bite without overly scooping. Compensate for the Fender Player Stratocaster's brighter, lower-output single coils by setting the tone knob to 8 and pushing the amplifier's mid and gain slightly higher than a humbucker baseline.

PRO TIPPick aggressively near the bridge with a stiff heavy pick to replicate Dave Baksh and Deryck Whibley's tight, percussive pop-punk palm muting.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Marshall s80 Valvestate s80. 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
Sum 41 tonesALL SONGS Fender Player Stratocaster 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.

Get ToneAdapt — first match free