Cum On Feel the Noize guitar tone

The rig Quiet Riot used

Researched from interviews, production write-ups and gear histories — not guessed.

Signal chain

The order the original sound was built in. The exact settings get dialled for your own amp or modeller when you generate the tone.

1. Charvel San Dimas (Seymour Duncan Distortion humbucker)

   1

   source

   guitar
2. MXR Ten Band EQ (upper-mid boost)

   2

   boost

   eq
3. Marshall JCM800 2203 (100W)

   3

   crunch

   amp
4. Marshall 1960A 4x12 (Celestion G12-65)

   4

   crunch

   cab
5. Shure SM57 (close)

   5

   crunch

   mic
6. Studio plate/room reverb (short)

   6

   ambient

   reverb

Why we think this is right

Quiet Riot's Slade cover was cut for Metal Health (1983, prod. Spencer Proffer) with Carlos Cavazo's signature anthemic Marshall crunch. Period photos, Guitar World/era features and gear databases consistently place Cavazo on a Charvel San Dimas (Seymour Duncan-loaded bridge humbucker) into a cranked, likely lightly-modified Marshall JCM800 2203 100W head and Marshall 4x12, with minimal effects and an MXR ten-band EQ used for an upper-mid push. The guitar and amp are strongly supported; the pre-amp EQ boost and studio ambience are lower-confidence inferences.

Sources

• Guitar World / early-'80s magazine features on Carlos Cavazo
• Equipboard gear listing (Charvel, Marshall JCM800 2203, MXR 10-band EQ)
• Period stage/studio photos and video of the Metal Health era
• Tone/era analysis of the rhythm and solo tracks

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