top jimmy amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII
The Van halen guitar tone for “top jimmy”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 50 MkII with a Ibanez GIO GRG170DX. Studio version, 1984 album (January 1984, Warner Bros.)
Two Music Man 1×12 combo amps (~30W each) with 25W Celestion Greenbacks, Steve Ripley stereo guitar with custom Bartolini 6-in-1 single-coil pickups, stereo panning per string
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 4 |
| Bass | 4 |
| Mid | 6 |
| Treble | 7 |
| Presence | 6 |
| Reverb | 1 |
| Master | 7 |
The original used low-wattage Music Man combos with single-coil pickups for a bright, open crunch—not Eddie's usual hot-rodded Marshall brown sound. Your GRG170DX has humbuckers, so I raised treble to 7 and used the middle pickup position to approximate single-coil brightness. The Katana's Crunch channel emulates a pushed mid-gain British-style amp; gain stays moderate at 4 because the original tone was cleaner and more articulate than typical Van Halen.
Get this tone on your amp
These settings are for a Boss Katana 50 MkII. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
Get ToneAdapt on Google PlaySong, 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.