Tone library / System Of A Down / Prison Song

Prison Song amp settings — Boss Katana Air

The System Of A Down guitar tone for “Prison Song”, dialed in for a Boss Katana Air with a Donner Hush X pro. Studio version, Toxicity (2001)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier + Marshall JCM800, Gibson SG/Ibanez Iceman with humbuckers, MXR Phase 90 for verse texture, Drop C tuning (CGCFAD)

Tight, aggressive modern metal crunch with percussive attack and scooped mids

Amp settings — Boss Katana Air

CHANNELBrown amp typeBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	6
Mid	4
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Noise Gate (GX-100)

Essential for tight palm-muted chugs in Drop C — kills string noise between hits

Threshold 5 · Decay 3

02Tube Screamer / OD-1 type (GX-100)

Used as a clean boost to tighten low-end and add midrange focus — low drive, high level

Drive 2 · Tone 6 · Level 7

03Phaser (GX-100)

Engage ONLY during verse riff for that swirling texture Daron uses — bypass for chorus chugs

Rate 4 · Depth 5 · Resonance 3

04Parametric EQ (GX-100)

Slight mid-scoop around 400-500Hz for that Rectifier-style voicing

Low 5 · Mid Freq 4 · Mid Level 4 · High 6

Why these settings

The Katana Air's Brown channel emulates a high-gain Marshall/Rectifier voice which suits this tone. Your Donner Hush X has humbuckers matching the original's output. The Katana Air is lower-wattage so I pushed gain to 7 to compensate for the lack of power-amp saturation — the GX-100's TS-style boost tightens the flubby low-end that Drop C tuning creates on smaller speakers. Mids scooped slightly lower than a typical Marshall setting to get closer to Mesa Rectifier territory.

PRO TIPPalm mute HARD and close to the bridge for those machine-gun chugs — Daron's right-hand attack is extremely percussive and staccato. Let your pick dig in aggressively; this tone rewards violence.

Get this tone on your amp

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

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More tones for the Boss Katana Air

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