Nightmare
A straightforward thrashing riff with harmonized twin leads and a widescreen chorus.
What is the Nightmare guitar tone?
The Nightmare guitar tone is a straightforward thrashing riff with harmonized twin leads and a widescreen chorus, heard on Avenged Sevenfold's 2010s metal recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Avenged Sevenfold reportedly tracked it with Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance's signature Schecters, the Synyster Custom and the Vengeance Custom, which Gates says he used for all his rhythms and most of his solos, through the blend Guitar World reported as the album's main amp sound: a Bogner Uberschall, a Diezel, a Marshall JVM and a Marshall JCM800, with Vengeance naming the Uberschall, the first Bogner the band ever owned, as the heart of their tone; the album was recorded with producer Mike Elizondo, partly at his Phantom Studios in Westlake Village, in the months after The Rev's death in December 2009, with Mike Portnoy playing drum parts based on patterns The Rev had worked up, and which of those amps is on this song is not documented. The weight comes from layered takes and controlled low end rather than from raw gain, which is the part most players overshoot.
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.
Nightmare amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 5, Middle 4, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 7
- Bass 5
- Middle 4
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Noise gate → Amp distortion → Short reverb
- The control that matters most
- Gain, short of the maximum. The album's main sound was a blend of four amps, a Bogner Uberschall with a Diezel and two Marshalls, and one amp on one track will not match it with gain alone, so keep the gain where palm mutes stay tight and add size with a doubled take instead.
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.
What gear did Avenged Sevenfold use on Nightmare?
Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance's signature Schecters, the Synyster Custom and the Vengeance Custom, which Gates says he used for all his rhythms and most of his solos, through the blend Guitar World reported as the album's main amp sound: a Bogner Uberschall, a Diezel, a Marshall JVM and a Marshall JCM800, with Vengeance naming the Uberschall, the first Bogner the band ever owned, as the heart of their tone; the album was recorded with producer Mike Elizondo, partly at his Phantom Studios in Westlake Village, in the months after The Rev's death in December 2009, with Mike Portnoy playing drum parts based on patterns The Rev had worked up, and which of those amps is on this song is not documented.
Sources: Guitar World: Avenged Sevenfold on making Nightmare, Wikipedia: Nightmare (Avenged Sevenfold song), Wikipedia: Nightmare (Avenged Sevenfold album)
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 Nightmare tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Nightmare
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Nightmare tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Nightmare?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 5, Middle 4, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the 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. 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 straightforward thrashing riff with harmonized twin leads and a widescreen chorus from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Nightmare tone?
Gain, short of the maximum. The album's main sound was a blend of four amps, a Bogner Uberschall with a Diezel and two Marshalls, and one amp on one track will not match it with gain alone, so keep the gain where palm mutes stay tight and add size with a doubled take instead.
Can you get the Nightmare tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance's signature Schecters, the Synyster Custom and the Vengeance Custom, which Gates says he used for all his rhythms and most of his solos, through the blend Guitar World reported as the album's main amp sound: a Bogner Uberschall, a Diezel, a Marshall JVM and a Marshall JCM800, with Vengeance naming the Uberschall, the first Bogner the band ever owned, as the heart of their tone; the album was recorded with producer Mike Elizondo, partly at his Phantom Studios in Westlake Village, in the months after The Rev's death in December 2009, with Mike Portnoy playing drum parts based on patterns The Rev had worked up, and which of those amps is on this song is not documented, 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 Nightmare a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Avenged Sevenfold's 2010s 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.
