Adam Jones

Why Adam Jones's Rig Works

Jones's riffs function as hypnotic, repeated loops rather than showcase leads, and the Rectifier's Vintage rectifier mode (rather than the tighter Modern mode) is chosen specifically to support that repetition — the slight power-amp sag it introduces means the riff breathes very subtly with each repetition rather than sounding perfectly identical and mechanical each time, which matters over the extended, meditative riff cycles Tool's songwriting depends on.

Adding the Diezel Herbert in parallel with the Mesa from Lateralus onward addresses a real problem that emerges specifically at Tool's level of gain and complexity: at extreme distortion, individual notes within a chord or fast passage can lose definition against each other. The Diezel's more surgical, clearly defined high-gain voicing running alongside the Mesa's darker, more sustained character lets Jones layer two distinct textures — one for weight and sustain, one for note clarity — rather than relying on a single amp to do both jobs at once.

The Boss NS-2 noise suppressor is functionally load-bearing here, not incidental — Tool's arrangements depend heavily on dynamic contrast, with passages of near-total silence giving way to sudden, massive riffs. At the gain levels this rig runs, uncontrolled noise during the quiet sections would undermine the dramatic silence-to-weight structure that's central to how the band builds tension, which is why the gate is treated as essential infrastructure rather than an optional cleanup tool.