Tone library / System Of A Down / Aerials

Aerials amp settings — Fender Chamion 25

The System Of A Down guitar tone for “Aerials”, dialed in for a Fender Chamion 25 with a Donner Dst 152. Studio version, Toxicity album (2001)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier blended with Marshall JCM800 2203, Gibson SG/Les Paul with humbuckers, no dirt pedals — all gain from amps

Aggressive high-gain with mid-forward punch, tight palm muting, clear note separation, dry and immediate attack

Amp settings — Fender Chamion 25

CHANNELOverdrive

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	10
Bass	4
Treble	7
Reverb	0
Master	6

Don’t have a Fender Chamion 25? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Distortion pedal (Boss DS-1, ProCo Rat, or similar)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for this tone. Set amp to Voice 1 (Clean) with gain at 2-3 when using this pedal.

Dist/Gain 7 · Tone 6 · Level 7

Why these settings

The Champion 20 cannot physically reach Rectifier-level saturation — its overdrive channel maxed produces mild crunch, not modern metal gain. You need an external distortion pedal as your gain source; run the amp nearly clean (Voice 1, gain 2-3) and let the pedal do the heavy lifting. Treble raised to 7 compensates for your Donner's darker ceramic humbuckers vs Daron's brighter Gibson PAFs.

PRO TIPDaron's attack on this riff is extremely precise — use strict downstrokes on the palm-muted sections and fret the notes harder than you think necessary to get that percussive chunk; sloppy fretting kills the clarity this tone is known for.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Chamion 25. 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.