Tom Morello — £200 · Beginner Rig

• Kill switch: wire a normally-open momentary switch to kill the guitar signal — creates machine-gun stutter
• Toggle switch between pickups creates a tremolo effect when flipped rhythmically
• DigiTech Whammy: set to 2 octaves up for the screaming "Killing In The Name" effect
• DOD EQ as a boost: cut bass and treble, boost 1–2kHz by 6dB before solos
• Phase 90 slow rate adds subtle movement to rhythm parts without being obvious
• Whammy bar as a tremolo arm: slow vibrato throughout melodic sections
• Guitar volume knob as swell effect: attack silent, release the string, turn up the volume
• Hard, consistent downpicking for rhythm parts — the aggression is in the attack

• ✗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
• ✗Neglecting to adjust a floating bridge when changing string gauges or tuning — a Floyd Rose or floating bridge requires re-balancing the spring tension any time the string setup changes.
• ✗Using a high-gain distortion pedal instead of amp gain — British crunch amps have a specific harmonic character when driven from their own gain stage. A pedal changes this character.
• ✗Clean amp at too low a volume — even a clean amp provides warmth and tonal character that the pedal sits in. An amp at minimum volume has no character for the pedal to interact with.
• ✗Moving the wah too fast — wah is a filter effect that needs time to sweep through its range musically. Fast rocking produces a quacking sound; musical use is slower and more deliberate.
• ✗Ignoring down-tuning — trying to achieve dropped-tuning riff character at standard pitch produces a thinner, less aggressive result regardless of EQ.
• ✗Running gain at maximum — above 8 on most high-gain channels, palm mutes become indistinct and individual notes blur. The right amount of gain is the minimum for the target saturation.

Custom "Arm the Homeless" Strat-style (single humbucker) into a Marshall JCM800. The DOD FX40B EQ boosts the midrange for soloing. DigiTech Whammy adds pitch-shifted dive bombs. The kill switch (toggle switch to ground) creates staccato machine-gun effects. Morello uses standard guitar technique and extreme manipulation in equal measure.