Nail the ToneKillswitch Engage

The End of Heartache

Killswitch Engage · The End of Heartache · 2004

Adam Dutkiewicz produced this album himself at Zing Studios and quad-tracked the rhythm guitars: a Framus Dragon into a Vintage 30-loaded Mesa 4x12 panned one way, a Peavey 5150 into a VHT 4x12 with P50E speakers panned the other, both fed by Caparison guitars with active EMGs in the bridge. For the main riff, dial a modern high-gain amp with gain around halfway, mids kept present rather than scooped, and put a Maxon OD808 in front with the drive off and the level up to tighten the low C. Andy Sneap's mix is a big part of the record's punch, so expect your single amp to sound smaller than the album until you double-track it.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Drop C (C G C F A D)

Heavy strings (Adam D used DR Tite-Fit .012–.052) make the low C stay tight; the clean intro and bridge use the same tuning on a clean channel, and the guitars are doubled left and right so a single player only tracks one of the two rhythm parts.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Caparison PLM-3 · EMG 85 · bridge pickup
  • Caparison Dellinger · EMG 81/85 active set · bridge pickup

Amp

Peavey 5150 head

GAIN
5.5
BASS
6.0
MID
4.5
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
5.5

Documented as one of the two rhythm amps on the album, run into a VHT 4x12 with P50E speakers; the 5150 has no reverb, and resonance sits around 6. Knob values are inferred from the recording, not published — forum reports of Adam's later 5150 settings (bass near max, mid 4, treble 5) suggest an even more bass-heavy, dark setting than this.

Amp

Framus Dragon head

GAIN
6.0
BASS
5.0
MID
5.0
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
6.0

The other half of the quad-tracked rhythm sound, into a Mesa 4x12 with Celestion Vintage 30s; a Framus Cobra replaced the Dragon on 'Rose of Sharyn.' Some forum accounts claim Bogner Uberschall or Mesa Rectifier amps on this record — the Rectifier was the 'Alive or Just Breathing' amp, and the Dragon/5150 pair is the far better documented account for 'The End of Heartache.'

Pedals

  • Maxon OD808 · overdrive boost · Drive off (0), level near max, tone around noon — used as a tightening mid boost into the front of the amp
  • Boss NS-2 · noise suppressor · Threshold just enough to kill hiss between chugs; OD808 in the NS-2 loop

Tone character

tight low-end chug · forward upper mids · quad-tracked width · saturated but articulate · bright pick attack

medium

Tight palm-muted 16th-note chugs on the low C string with quick jumps up to the melodic double-stops mean the picking hand has to stay even and the muting clean, but no fast lead technique is required in the main riff.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources