Panama amp settings — Boss Katana 100 MkII

The Van halen guitar tone for “Panama”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 100 MkII with a Dean Dimebag Razorback. Studio version, 1984 album (1984) — tracked at 5150 Studios

Original rig

EVH Frankenstrat (single bridge humbucker) → MXR Phase 90 (script logo) → Marshall 1959 Super Lead Plexi (Variac'd to ~89V)

Thick, warm brown sound with harmonic compression, mid-forward crunch, subtle phase swirl on verses

Amp settings — Boss Katana 100 MkII

CHANNELBrownBRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	6
Mid	7
Treble	6
Presence	7
Reverb	1
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01MXR Phase 90

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Used on verse riff for subtle thickening swirl. The Katana's onboard Phaser effect can substitute: set Rate to 3, Depth to 5, Resonance to 4

Speed 3

Why these settings

The Katana's Brown channel nails the Plexi voicing directly. Your Razorback's high-output Dimebucker runs hotter than EVH's PAF-style humbucker, so I dropped treble -1 from the original's 7 to prevent ice-pick highs, and pushed mid +1 to 7 to recover the thick midrange character. Tone knob rolled to 8 tames the Dimebucker's ceramic brightness.

PRO TIPTune to E♭ Standard (half-step down) — the track was recorded in E♭. The brown sound lives in your pick attack: dig in hard on palm-muted chugs, then lighten up for the open chord stabs to let the amp breathe and bloom.

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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