Tone library / System of a down / Chop suey

Chop suey amp settings — Carlsbro Carlsbro stingray lead 30

The System of a down guitar tone for “Chop suey”, dialed in for a Carlsbro Carlsbro stingray lead 30 with a Donner Donner DMT 66. Studio version, Toxicity (2001) - Main heavy riff

Original rig

Gibson SG Standard / Ibanez Iceman into Marshall JCM800 2203 and Mesa/Boogie Dual/Triple Rectifier blended, tight aggressive attack in Drop C tuning

Aggressive, punchy, scooped-yet-articulate nu-metal high gain with fast transient bite
Amp settings — Carlsbro Carlsbro stingray lead 30
CHANNELOverdrive ChannelBRIGHToff
GAIN 7 BASS 5 MID 4 TREBLE 7 REVERB 0 MASTER 5
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain7
Bass5
Mid4
Treble7
Reverb0
Master5
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Behringer TO800 Vintage Tube Overdrive

Used as a clean boost to tighten low-end flub and push the analog drive into modern high-gain saturation

Drive 1 · Tone 6 · Level 9
Why these settings

The Carlsbro Stingray Lead 30 is an analog solid-state combo with high-gain limitations, lacking the cascaded tube roar of Malakian's JCM800/Rectifier wall. To reach Toxicity's tight low-end tracking in Drop C without muddying out, set the amp's overdrive gain to 7 and run the Behringer TO800 out front with Drive low and Level pushed to tighten the front end. Keep the mids slightly pulled to 4 and treble crisp at 7 to capture the sharp percussive cut. Clean verse: bypass the TO800 and switch the amp to its clean channel with guitar volume rolled back slightly.

PRO TIPTune the DMT 66 strictly to Drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D) and strike with aggressive, sharp downstrokes near the bridge saddles to keep palm-muted chugs razor-tight.

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These settings are for a Carlsbro Carlsbro stingray lead 30. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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