Tone library / Ted Nugent / Stranglehold

Stranglehold amp settings — Fender Champion 20

The Ted Nugent guitar tone for “Stranglehold”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 20 with a Gibson Les Paul Special. Studio version, Ted Nugent (1975)

Original rig

1964 Gibson Byrdland (PAF humbuckers) into 4x cranked Fender Twin Reverb amps driving Dual Showman 2x15 cabs with EV SRO speakers, no drive pedals

Cranked-tube power section crunch with massive harmonic bloom and biting attack

Amp settings — Fender Champion 20

CHANNEL'65 Twin (Voice 3/4) or '59 Bassman VoiceBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	6
Treble	7
Reverb	2
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME9

Why these settings

The Fender Champion 20 lacks physical mid and presence controls (both set to null), so select the cranked '65 Twin or '59 Bassman amp voice to get natural mid-forward punch. Nugent achieved his roaring sustain by diming clean Twin Reverbs at extreme volume; on the Champion 20, push the preamp gain to 8 to replicate that power-tube breakup without muddying the P-90s. Keep bass at 6 and treble at 7 to capture the top-end snap of EV speakers while keeping the 8-inch speaker tight.

PRO TIPFace the amplifier directly and stand close: Nugent achieved his iconic controllable feedback and endless sustain entirely through acoustic coupling between his hollowbody guitar and the cranked speaker cone.

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These settings are for a Fender Champion 20. 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.