Jerry Cantrell — £500 · Sweet Spot Tone

• On the Boss Katana 50 MkII: use the Brown channel — the closest model to a Marshall-voiced preamp at this price. Set character to 8, gain to 5. For Jerry Cantrell's lead volume jump, use the Boost mode rather than adding a separate boost pedal.
• 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
• 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
• ✗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.

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