Toxicity amp settings — Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212
The System Of A Down guitar tone for “Toxicity”, dialed in for a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212 with a Fender American Ultra Stratocaster. Studio version, Toxicity (2001) — Daron Malakian's rhythm track
Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier + Marshall Plexi 1959SLP, Gibson SG/Les Paul/Jackson RR with humbuckers, no pedals (compression added at recording via Urei 1176LN)
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 7 |
| Bass | 7 |
| Mid | 3 |
| Treble | 6 |
| Presence | 4 |
| Reverb | 0 |
| Master | 5 |
01ProCo RAT 2 (or clone)
RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for this tone. The RAT's hard-clipping gets closer to Rectifier saturation than a TS. Alternative: Boss DS-1 or Metal Zone MT-2 (Daron reportedly used an MT-2 as a boost).
02Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (alternative)
RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. The MT-2 was confirmed in Daron's chain. Its scooped voicing actually fits this tone well. Choose RAT or MT-2, not both.
Your Hot Rod DeVille is a clean-platform amp with Fender's bright, scooped voicing — it will not produce Rectifier saturation on its own regardless of gain setting. A high-gain distortion pedal (RAT or MT-2) is mandatory; the amp's Drive channel adds grit but the pedal does the heavy lifting. I dropped treble from the original's 7 to 6 because Fenders are already brighter than Mesas, raised bass to 7 to compensate for the Strat's thinner low-end vs humbuckers, and scooped mids to 3 to match the Rectifier's signature scoop. Your single-coil Strat will be thinner and twangier than the original's humbuckers — roll tone to 7 to tame ice-pick highs.
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These settings are for a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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