No. 1352000·nu-metal·5 blocks
Down with the Sickness
The cabinet-busting drop-C# groove of Disturbed's signature song. Dan Donegan tracked The Sickness through a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier with Johnny K at Groovemaster Studios — a tight, mid-present high-gain rhythm built for syncopation and bounce rather than speed. The eerie siren that opens the track is a DigiTech Whammy pitch-dive. Heavy GHS strings and a controlled low end keep the very low tuning from collapsing into mud.
The SicknessSignal path · input → output · 9 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson (Les Paul / SG era, pre-Washburn)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
drop C# (C#-G#-C#-F#-A#-D#)
Noise Gate
Deluxe Comp
Pitch Wham
Scream 808
Cali Rectifire
4x12 Cali V30
Room
Tilt
Noise Gate
← Noise gate
Threshold
-48dB
Decay
0.3s
Level
0
Deluxe Comp
← Tracking compression
Threshold
-32dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
38s
Release
200s
Mix
30
Level
0dB
Pitch Wham
← DigiTech Whammy II
Heel
0
Toe
12
Mix
100
Scream 808
← Tube screamer (added for FRFR tightness — not on the original)
Drive
0.2
Tone
0.6
Level
0.8
Cali Rectifire
← Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier (Modern channel)
Drive
7.5
Bass
6
Mid
4.5
Treble
6.5
Presence
6.5
ChVol
5.5
Master
8
Bias
5
BiasX
5
Sag
3.5
Hum
4
Ripple
4
4x12 Cali V30
← Mesa 4x12 with Celestion V30
LowCut95Hz
HighCut8000Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Room
← Studio ambience (minimal)
LowCut150Hz
HighCut6000Hz
Mix
0.1
Decay
0.3s
Predelay
9ms
Level
0
Tilt
← Global brightness EQ
Tilt
0.5
CenterFreq
1000Hz
Level
0
Engineer's note
File 135
The cabinet-busting drop-C# groove of Disturbed's signature song. Dan Donegan tracked The Sickness through a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier with Johnny K at Groovemaster Studios — a tight, mid-present high-gain rhythm built for syncopation and bounce rather than speed. The eerie siren that opens the track is a DigiTech Whammy pitch-dive. Heavy GHS strings and a controlled low end keep the very low tuning from collapsing into mud.
— Dan Donegan
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