Eruption amp settings — Boss Katana 100 MkII

The Van Halen guitar tone for “Eruption”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 100 MkII with a Gould Steelport. Studio version, Van Halen (1978)

Original rig

1968 Marshall Super Lead 100W (Variac to ~90V), Frankenstrat with Gibson PAF bridge humbucker, MXR Phase 90, Univox EC-80 Tape Echo, Sunset Sound EMT 140 plate reverb

Classic Brown Sound — harmonically saturated, mid-heavy crunch with smooth top-end and slow phase sweep

Amp settings — Boss Katana 100 MkII

CHANNELBrown amp typeBOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

BOOST role: Low distortion and high level to tighten the Katana Brown channel's low-end and push upper harmonics without creating double-gain mud.

Tone 4 · Level 8 · Dist 2

Why these settings

The Katana's Brown amp type directly captures Eddie's variac Marshall voicing, with mids pushed high to recreate the focused vocal bark of the Frankenstrat's PAF. The owned DS-1 is set as a low-gain boost in front of the amp to tighten bass response and add sustain for the tapping sections rather than serving as the main gain source. Presence is kept moderate on the Katana 100 to avoid high-end fizz while retaining the attack of the original plate reverb and tape echo reflections.

PRO TIPPick hard near the bridge with a heavy pick angle to maximize pinch harmonics, and use the side of your picking hand's index finger firmly against the fretboard wires during the rapid two-hand tapping sequence.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss Katana 100 MkII. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Boss Katana 100 MkII settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Eruption on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Van Halen tonesALL SONGS Van Halen on the Boss Katana 100 MkIISAME ARTIST, SAME AMP Gould Steelport tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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