Byob amp settings — Boss 300 MKIII

The System of A down guitar tone for “Byob”, dialed in for a Boss 300 MKIII with a Squier Contemporary telecaster RH. Studio cut, Mezmerize (2005) - Main heavy riff and chorus

Original rig

Marshall JMP 2203 / JCM800 + Divided by 13 FTR-37, Marshall 1960B 4x12, Gibson SG / Ibanez Custom with Seymour Duncan SH-6 Distortion

Aggressive, mid-forward high-gain British bite with tight low end and rapid picking attack

Amp settings — Boss 300 MKIII

CHANNELBrown amp type (Variation on)BOOSTon

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Katana 50 Gen 3 / MkIII lacks an external presence knob, so treble is pushed to 7 to recreate the JCM800 upper-mid bite and high-end cut. The Brown amp type with the onboard Boost engaged delivers Daron Malakian's saturated British crunch without flubbing out on the low end. Drop C tuning requires keeping bass disciplined at 5 to prevent modern rail humbuckers from turning the muted alternate-picking muddy. Middle Eastern breakdown: switch to the neck pickup and roll guitar volume back to 6.

PRO TIPDaron's signature rhythm tone relies heavily on violent, precise alternate-picking attack right up close to the bridge saddles; pick with a heavy 1.0mm+ tortex pick held firmly to get that percussive metallic clack on the chugged low strings.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss 300 MKIII. 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.