Sugar amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII

The System of a down guitar tone for “Sugar”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 50 MkII with a Harley Benton Fusion-III HH. Studio version, System of a Down (1998)

Original rig

Ibanez Iceman IC100 (ceramic humbuckers) → Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer → Marshall JCM800 2203 (Drop C tuning)

Tight, percussive, aggressive palm-muted crunch with focused midrange punch and modern metal clarity

Amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII

CHANNELBrown amp typeBOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion

Used as a clean mid-boost into the Brown amp type to emulate Malakian's TS9 tightening into the Marshall.

Level 8 · Tone 5 · Dist 1 · Turbo 1

Why these settings

The Katana's Brown voicing delivers the cranked British Marshall roar that defines Daron Malakian's early tone. Setting the DS-2 with minimal distortion and boosted output mimics a classic TS9 overdrive, carving out loose low-end flub while sharpening the transient attack. Because the Katana 50 MkII lacks a dedicated presence control, treble is pushed to 7 to deliver the aggressive upper-register bite of Drop C riffs.

PRO TIPTune to Drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D) and strike the low strings right next to the bridge saddles with a thick, sharp pick (1.0mm+) for immediate percussive punch.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss Katana 50 MkII. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Boss Katana 50 MkII settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Sugar on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP System of a down tonesALL SONGS System of a down on the Boss Katana 50 MkIISAME ARTIST, SAME AMP Harley Benton Fusion-III HH tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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