Cemetery Gates
A clean intro giving way to a scooped, heavy riff and long solos full of legato runs and harmonic squeals.
What is the Cemetery Gates guitar tone?
The Cemetery Gates guitar tone is a clean intro giving way to a scooped, heavy riff and long solos full of legato runs and harmonic squeals, heard on Pantera's 1990s groove metal recording. It is a distorted solo tone, and Pantera reportedly tracked it with Dimebag Darrell's Dean ML, the lightning-graphic Dean From Hell with a Bill Lawrence L-500XL bridge pickup that appears on the album's cover, into his Cowboys from Hell rig: a solid-state Randall RG100ES head and a Randall 412JB cabinet, a Furman PQ-3 parametric EQ and an MXR six-band EQ in front of the amp cutting the mids hard, an MXR Flanger/Doubler kept on, mostly as a doubler, to thicken the sound, a Dunlop Cry Baby wah for the leads and a Rocktron Hush noise gate; for the clean parts there was a 1986 Roland JC-120, which IK Multimedia, working with Dimebag's guitar tech Grady Champion, lists as the amp on this song, and MusicRadar reports the same; bassist Rex Brown wrote the acoustic intro, the last part of the song to be written, and plays acoustic guitar, piano and some rhythm guitar on the track, while Dimebag added some bass; the band recorded the album with producer Terry Date at Pantego Sound in Pantego, Texas, between late 1989 and April 1990, Vinnie Paul's drums first, then the guitars, then Brown's bass played to the guitars alone; Cowboys from Hell came out on 24 July 1990, and MusicRadar calls this the band's last conventional metal power ballad. The character here comes from a hard upper-midrange attack and a fast note decay, which is why solid-state rigs suit it better than most players expect.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Cemetery Gates amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8.5, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 8, Presence 7, Reverb 1 for the riffs and solos, with the bridge pickup. There is a second setting for the clean intro and verses below.
- Gain 8.5
- Bass 6
- Middle 3
- Treble 8
- Presence 7
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Dunlop Cry Baby wah on the leads → MXR six-band EQ and Furman PQ-3, mids cut, into a Randall RG100ES → MXR Flanger/Doubler, mostly as a doubler
- The control that matters most
- The midrange cut. Dimebag scooped the mids hard with two equalisers in front of a solid-state Randall and kept a flanger on as a doubler, so cut the mids well below noon and add a subtle doubling rather than more gain. His Cowboys from Hell rig had a wah for the leads; for the quiet sections, use a bright, clean amp.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Second sound
Cemetery Gates amp settings for the clean intro and verses
For the clean intro and verses, start at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 2, Treble 8, Presence 7, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
- Gain 2
- Bass 6
- Middle 2
- Treble 8
- Presence 7
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Roland JC-120, the clean amp on this song
- Where the song switches
- The heavy parts are the Randall rig; the clean parts went through a Roland JC-120, which IK Multimedia and Dimebag's guitar tech Grady Champion list as the amp on this song, with Rex Brown's acoustic guitar on the intro.
- Pickup
- Neck or middle position
The same reference as the panel above: positions on a generic five-knob amp, a starting point rather than the settings on the record.
What gear did Pantera use on Cemetery Gates?
Dimebag Darrell's Dean ML, the lightning-graphic Dean From Hell with a Bill Lawrence L-500XL bridge pickup that appears on the album's cover, into his Cowboys from Hell rig: a solid-state Randall RG100ES head and a Randall 412JB cabinet, a Furman PQ-3 parametric EQ and an MXR six-band EQ in front of the amp cutting the mids hard, an MXR Flanger/Doubler kept on, mostly as a doubler, to thicken the sound, a Dunlop Cry Baby wah for the leads and a Rocktron Hush noise gate; for the clean parts there was a 1986 Roland JC-120, which IK Multimedia, working with Dimebag's guitar tech Grady Champion, lists as the amp on this song, and MusicRadar reports the same; bassist Rex Brown wrote the acoustic intro, the last part of the song to be written, and plays acoustic guitar, piano and some rhythm guitar on the track, while Dimebag added some bass; the band recorded the album with producer Terry Date at Pantego Sound in Pantego, Texas, between late 1989 and April 1990, Vinnie Paul's drums first, then the guitars, then Brown's bass played to the guitars alone; Cowboys from Hell came out on 24 July 1990, and MusicRadar calls this the band's last conventional metal power ballad.
Sources: Premier Guitar: IK Multimedia's Dimebag Darrell Cowboys from Hell collection, built with Grady Champion, MusicRadar: five Dimebag Darrell songs guitarists need to hear, Wikipedia: Cowboys from Hell, Wikipedia: Dean ML
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Cemetery Gates tone on your own amp?
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Cemetery Gates tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Cemetery Gates?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8.5, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 8, Presence 7, Reverb 1 for the riffs and solos, with the bridge pickup, and at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 2, Treble 8, Presence 7, Reverb 3 for the clean intro and verses, with the neck or middle position. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same clean intro giving way to a scooped, heavy riff and long solos full of legato runs and harmonic squeals from different positions.
Does Cemetery Gates use one amp setting or two?
Two. The heavy parts are the Randall rig; the clean parts went through a Roland JC-120, which IK Multimedia and Dimebag's guitar tech Grady Champion list as the amp on this song, with Rex Brown's acoustic guitar on the intro. On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8.5, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 8, Presence 7, Reverb 1 for the riffs and solos, and at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 2, Treble 8, Presence 7, Reverb 3 for the clean intro and verses.
What is the most important control for the Cemetery Gates tone?
The midrange cut. Dimebag scooped the mids hard with two equalisers in front of a solid-state Randall and kept a flanger on as a doubler, so cut the mids well below noon and add a subtle doubling rather than more gain. His Cowboys from Hell rig had a wah for the leads; for the quiet sections, use a bright, clean amp.
Can you get the Cemetery Gates tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Dimebag Darrell's Dean ML, the lightning-graphic Dean From Hell with a Bill Lawrence L-500XL bridge pickup that appears on the album's cover, into his Cowboys from Hell rig: a solid-state Randall RG100ES head and a Randall 412JB cabinet, a Furman PQ-3 parametric EQ and an MXR six-band EQ in front of the amp cutting the mids hard, an MXR Flanger/Doubler kept on, mostly as a doubler, to thicken the sound, a Dunlop Cry Baby wah for the leads and a Rocktron Hush noise gate; for the clean parts there was a 1986 Roland JC-120, which IK Multimedia, working with Dimebag's guitar tech Grady Champion, lists as the amp on this song, and MusicRadar reports the same; bassist Rex Brown wrote the acoustic intro, the last part of the song to be written, and plays acoustic guitar, piano and some rhythm guitar on the track, while Dimebag added some bass; the band recorded the album with producer Terry Date at Pantego Sound in Pantego, Texas, between late 1989 and April 1990, Vinnie Paul's drums first, then the guitars, then Brown's bass played to the guitars alone; Cowboys from Hell came out on 24 July 1990, and MusicRadar calls this the band's last conventional metal power ballad, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Cemetery Gates a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo part with a distorted character, from Pantera's 1990s groove metal catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
