Tone library / Tears For Fears / Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Everybody Wants To Rule The World amp settings — Yamaha THR10II

The Tears For Fears guitar tone for “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, dialed in for a Yamaha THR10II with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Songs from the Big Chair (1985) — main arpeggiated riff

Original rig

Fender 'The Strat' (walnut) into Boss CS-2 Compressor and Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus with built-in stereo chorus

Pristine, ultra-clean '80s solid-state chime with lush dimensional chorus, light compression, and studio hall reverb
Amp settings — Yamaha THR10II
CHANNELCLEAN (Classic model mode)BOOSToff
GAIN 3 BASS 5 MID 5 TREBLE 7 REVERB 4 MASTER 7
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain3
Bass5
Mid5
Treble7
Reverb4
Master7
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Guitar
PICKUPneck+middle TONE10 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Yamaha THR Onboard Compressor (via THR Remote app)

THR Remote app onboard block; smooths dynamic response on the 16th-note arpeggios

Sustain 6 · Level 7

02Yamaha THR Onboard Chorus (EFFECT knob)

Set hardware EFFECT knob to roughly 11 o'clock in the Chorus sweep to emulate the JC-120 chorus

Effect / Chorus Depth 6
Why these settings

The original relies on the Roland JC-120's crystal-clear solid-state headroom and fixed analog chorus. The Yamaha THR10II's Clean model naturally replicates this hi-fi response with gain kept low at 3 to prevent tube-style breakup, while treble is pushed to 7 for vintage single-coil sparkle. Turning the THR's physical Effect knob to about 11 o'clock engages the built-in chorus circuit without requiring external pedals. For Neil Taylor's high-gain outro solo: switch to the Lead amp model with gain at 7.

PRO TIPUse position 4 (neck+middle) for that signature hollow, 'quacky' single-coil out-of-phase cluck, and drop your low E string down to D to easily voice the signature open root notes of the main shuffle.

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These settings are for a Yamaha THR10II. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Sweet Child O' MineGuns N' Rosesevheddie van halenAin't talking about loveVan halenNightmareAvenged Sevenfoldhotel CaliforniaEaglesFluorescent AdolescentArctic Monkeys
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