Dry JCM800 Protest Tone — Flanged Intro, Riff & Whammy Solo
Tom Morello’s Drop-D Telecaster ran into a Marshall JCM800 2205 and Peavey 4x12, with the song kept strikingly dry. The original intro used an Ibanez DFL flanger, while the solo uses the DigiTech Whammy’s two-octaves-up mode; later live versions sometimes substitute a Phase 90 for the intro modulation. Published amp positions vary by rig era, so the values below follow Morello’s documented core settings and are adjusted slightly for the recording. Source: Neural DSP’s Tom Morello rig guide and Roland’s Killing in the Name Tone Dissected feature.
Signal Chain
Notes
Mute with both hands and leave almost no reverb. For the solo, treat the Whammy pedal rhythmically—the pitch jumps are part of the phrasing.
Don't have this gear?
See the same signal chain mapped to another platform. Knob values carry over as starting points — gain ranges differ between platforms.