Jerry Cantrell — £2,500 · Premium Rig

• Drop D tuning is mandatory for most Alice in Chains riffs — the open D string under a power chord creates the characteristic "sludge"
• Palm muting defines his rhythm playing — the mute should be very heavy, right at the saddles, with almost no string resonance
• The GE-7 mid-boost is the secret weapon — push the 800Hz band by +3–4dB to give the guitar more cut without adding more distortion gain
• Minor third harmony above the main riff is a signature Cantrell technique — double the melody a minor third up for the AIC harmony guitar parts
• The Whammy is set to one octave up, and kick to the toe position for the screaming harmonic — it's not an effect used on most notes
• Down-picking dominates his rhythm playing — alternate picking for faster lead work, but all chug riffs are heavy downstrokes
• The bridge pickup provides the focused attack for palm muting — neck pickup for the cleaner, more melancholic parts
• Tune to Eb standard for most recordings, not full standard — the slightly looser string tension helps with the heaviness

• ✗Running the JCM800's gain channel at maximum — above 8 on most high-gain channels, palm mutes lose note separation and become an indistinct wall. The target is the minimum gain for the target saturation, not maximum
• ✗Leaving the wah pedal engaged but stationary between rocking it — a cocked wah (fixed position, not moving) acts as a midrange filter that changes the core tone. Either rock it expressively or bypass it completely; a cocked wah changes the sound in ways that are often unintended
• ✗Ignoring the individual pickup volume and tone controls — the two-pickup switching options on a Les Paul give you four distinct tones within a single setting. Most players only use two.
• ✗Not using a noise gate — self-noise at metal gain levels is continuous between notes. A gate is not stylistic; it is required for professional-sounding silence between riffs.
• ✗Maximum gain on the amp channel — this is the most common mistake in high-gain playing. The clarity and note separation that makes fast playing readable degrades at maximum gain.
• ✗Leaving the wah in a fixed position (cocked) between uses — a cocked wah acts as a midrange filter and changes the tone. If not using the wah expressively, take it out of the chain.
• ✗Using single-coil pickups — the lack of output and mid-frequency push makes it impossible to achieve the tightness needed for high-gain rhythm playing.
• ✗Skipping the Tube Screamer-style boost — this pedal is not about adding gain. It focuses the low end before the amp sees the signal, which produces tighter palm mutes.

G&L Rampage or Cantrell signature into a Bogner Ecstasy or Marshall, with a Boss GE-7 providing a targeted mid-boost. The tone is thick, palm-muted crunch — not high gain, but heavy. DigiTech Whammy for the octave-up screams and a Dunlop Cry Baby for expressive solos.