Cemetery Gates by Pantera — Amp Settings & Guitar Tone

Reference tone dialed on a Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster into a Fender Mustang LT25. Settings below are cited from real sources; open the page in a browser for the interactive version, or get this tone dialed for your exact gear.

To recreate Dimebag Darrell's tone for 'Cemetery Gates', we'll use the Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster '60s and the Fender Mustang LT25. The Strat's single-coil pickups will be compensated with EQ to mimic the humbucker character, and the Mustang's modeling capabilities will approximate the Randall RG100ES's gain and voicing. We'll use the onboard effects to cover the flanger and delay.

Signal chain settings

Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster '60s — main guitar

Control	Setting	Why
Pickup Selector	Bridge Pickup	Select the bridge pickup for a tighter, more aggressive tone suitable for the heavy sections.
Master Volume	8	Set to 8 to maintain dynamics and clarity in the clean sections.
Tone 1	Leave at default	Not used for the bridge pickup.
Tone 2	7	Roll back slightly to reduce brightness and mimic humbucker warmth.

Fender Mustang LT25 — main amp

Control	Setting	Why
Preset	02 SILKY SOLO	This preset provides a good starting point for the clean intro and can be adjusted for heavier sections.
Gain	6	Increase from the preset to achieve the saturated tube crunch in heavy sections.
Volume	5	Balance overall output for both clean and distorted sections.
Treble	7	Boost to emphasize the bright and articulate nature of the tone.
Bass	5	Keep neutral to maintain a balanced low end.
Master	6	Output level — set to the volume you're playing at; this sets loudness, not tone.
Effects	Flanger	Engage the flanger to thicken the tone as heard on the record.
Cabinet build	Not used	Not needed for this tone — leave it off.
Amp Models	Not used	Not needed for this tone — leave it off.

Section guide — how the tone changes through the song

Intro Clean

Switch to a clean tone with slight chorus for the intro, using the Marshall JCM800 emulation.

the pedal: Gain → 3

Lead

Engage flanger and delay for the lead sections to thicken the tone and add depth.

the pedal: Gain → 7

What Pantera actually used

For the recording of 'Cemetery Gates' on the 'Cowboys from Hell' album, Dimebag Darrell employed a Dean ML guitar equipped with a Bill Lawrence L-500XL bridge pickup. His signal chain included MXR and Furman EQ pedals for tone shaping, a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah for lead sections, and amplification through a Roland JC-120 for clean tones and a Randall RG100ES for distorted parts. Studio effects like the MXR Flanger/Doubler and Rocktron Hush IIB Noise Gate were used to enhance and refine the final guitar sound.

Dean ML — main. Equipped with Bill Lawrence L-500XL bridge pickup
MXR 6-Band Graphic EQ — tone shaping. Used to boost midrange frequencies
Furman PQ-3 Parametric EQ — tone shaping. Further refined the guitar tone
Dunlop Cry Baby GCB95 Wah — lead effects. Used during lead sections
Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus — clean tones. Utilized for clean guitar parts
Randall RG100ES — distorted tones. Used for heavy, distorted sections
MXR Flanger/Doubler — studio effect. Applied in 'doubler' mode to thicken guitar tone
Rocktron Hush IIB Noise Gate — noise reduction. Used to eliminate unwanted noise

Tuning: Standard

Sources