Tone library / System Of A Down / Toxicity

Toxicity amp settings — TG-30 TG-30

The System Of A Down guitar tone for “Toxicity”, dialed in for a TG-30 TG-30 with a KAWES Stratocaster. Studio version, Toxicity album (2001)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier + Marshall Plexi/JCM800 blend, Ibanez Iceman with humbuckers, no distortion pedals (tone came from amp gain)

Aggressive scooped high-gain chug with tight low end and biting treble, characteristic nu-metal attack

Amp settings — TG-30 TG-30

CHANNELHigh-Gain / Lead channel (select the highest gain voicing available on the TG-30)BRIGHToffBOOSTon

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	7
Mid	3
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Mvave Tank-G (as noise gate only)

Use as noise gate to tighten palm mutes and kill hum between riffs — do NOT use the distortion/gain features, let the amp handle saturation

Threshold 5 · Decay 3

02Tube Screamer style OD (RECOMMENDED — not currently owned)

RECOMMENDED — A TS9 or clone run as a clean boost (drive at minimum) will tighten the low end and add the mid-push needed to cut through. This compensates for your Strat's lower output and the TG-30's smaller speaker.

Drive 1 · Tone 6 · Level 7

Why these settings

Your Strat's single-coil bridge pickup has significantly less output and a brighter, thinner voice than Malakian's Iceman humbuckers. Compensate by pushing gain +1 over the original Rectifier setting, boosting bass +1, and rolling tone knob to 8 to tame ice-pick highs. The scooped mids (3) are authentic to the Rectifier sound. The TG-30 is a practice amp and will not achieve the chest-punch of a Dual Rec at volume — a TS-style boost in front is essential to get the tight, aggressive attack.

PRO TIPTune to Drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D) and use a heavy pick (1.0mm+) with aggressive downstrokes anchored near the bridge for that percussive, chugging attack. Palm mute hard and release precisely — the Toxicity riff lives in the space between muted and open notes.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a TG-30 TG-30. 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.