No More Tears
Thick, chorus-widened Marshall crunch pushed by an overdrive pedal.
What is the No More Tears guitar tone?
The No More Tears guitar tone is thick, chorus-widened Marshall crunch pushed by an overdrive pedal, heard on Ozzy Osbourne's 1990s heavy metal recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Ozzy Osbourne reportedly tracked it with Zakk Wylde's Gibson Les Paul through a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive and a Boss CH-1 Super Chorus left on for the whole song, into Marshall JCM800 2203 heads and cabinets fitted with 75-watt Celestions, with the delay at the end of the solo added in the mix. The bite in this kind of heavy metal comes from a boost or drive pedal pushing a loud amp, so the tone is thick but never smooth, with the mids left in.
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.
No More Tears amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 6, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 7
- Bass 6
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive → Boss CH-1 Super Chorus, on throughout → Marshall JCM800 2203
- The control that matters most
- The overdrive pedal. Wylde's crunch is a Boss SD-1 pushing Marshall JCM800 2203 heads, with a chorus left on for body, so an overdrive into a moderately driven Marshall-style channel gets closer than turning the amp's own gain up.
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.
Published settings
What amp settings did Zakk Wylde use on No More Tears?
Guitar World's 2020 breakdown of the song gives presence 3, bass 10, middle 5, treble 9, master 4 and preamp 10 on two Marshall JCM800 2203 heads, with the Boss SD-1 at level 6.5, tone 5 and drive 6.5. The article does not say where those numbers came from, so treat them as the magazine's reconstruction rather than Wylde's own: in his own account of the song he names only the gear, a Les Paul through a JCM800 2203 into cabinets with 75-watt Celestions. The same article describes the rhythm sound as bass and treble boosted almost all the way, with a decent amount of midrange left for definition.
Source: Guitar World: the secrets behind Zakk Wylde's tone on No More Tears
What gear did Ozzy Osbourne use on No More Tears?
Zakk Wylde's Gibson Les Paul through a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive and a Boss CH-1 Super Chorus left on for the whole song, into Marshall JCM800 2203 heads and cabinets fitted with 75-watt Celestions, with the delay at the end of the solo added in the mix.
Sources: Guitar Player: Zakk Wylde on Ozzy's No More Tears, Guitar World: the secrets behind Zakk Wylde's tone on No More Tears
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 No More Tears tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of No More Tears
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
No More Tears tone questions
What amp settings do you need for No More Tears?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 6, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 1, 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 thick, chorus-widened Marshall crunch pushed by an overdrive pedal from different positions.
What is the most important control for the No More Tears tone?
The overdrive pedal. Wylde's crunch is a Boss SD-1 pushing Marshall JCM800 2203 heads, with a chorus left on for body, so an overdrive into a moderately driven Marshall-style channel gets closer than turning the amp's own gain up.
Can you get the No More Tears tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Zakk Wylde's Gibson Les Paul through a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive and a Boss CH-1 Super Chorus left on for the whole song, into Marshall JCM800 2203 heads and cabinets fitted with 75-watt Celestions, with the delay at the end of the solo added in the mix, 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 No More Tears a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Ozzy Osbourne's 1990s heavy 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.
