Jerry Cantrell — £2,500 · Premium Tone

• The Marshall DSL40CR delivers power-tube saturation at master volume 6–7 — this compression and sag is what separates amp-driven tone from pedal tone. Set the master first, then dial back the channel gain to taste rather than the other way around.
• 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 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
• The overall gain level is medium, not extreme — what makes it heavy is the playing technique (palm muting, downpicking) not massive distortion
• The JCM800's gain at 7-8 with Les Paul humbuckers gives you the target saturation — above 8, palm mutes lose individual string definition. The clarity you're hearing at 7 versus 10 is not a small difference
• Rat-style distortion into a JCM800: the pedal has its own voice that dominates regardless of the amp character. This is different from an OD pedal — the amp's job is mainly to amplify, not add character. A flat, clean JCM800 is more appropriate than a crunchy one

• ✗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
• ✗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.

If you like Jerry Cantrell's tone, these players use a similar approach — same gear philosophy, comparable sound characteristics.