Chop Suey!
System of a Down's signature dynamic shift — a clean, fast drop-C arpeggio intro that detonates into a full-distortion chorus. Same rig as the rest of Toxicity: Daron Malakian's Ibanez Iceman in drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D) through a Mesa/Boogie Rectifier blended with a Marshall Plexi-type — Mesa for the teeth, Marshall for the body — no pedals. The trick is dynamics: roll the guitar volume back and pick lightly for the clean intro, then dig in and let the amp blend bite. Recorded dry at Cello Studios under Rick Rubin, mixed by Andy Wallace.
Toxicity
What we checked
Computed by a program, on this recipe, every time this page is built. How this works
Preset files — 1 of 3 complete
- Helix builds complete — every block in the recipe is in the file
- Quad Cortex 4 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Replaced with a stand-in: Noise Gate, Studio Comp, Recto, Room. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
- Katana 3 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Replaced with a stand-in: Lead, Noise Gate, Reverb. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
What we didn't check
- Nobody played this through a real amp. There is no human listening test behind any number on this page.
- The settings are reasoned from the sources below, not measured off the record.
- No audio has been rendered for this recipe yet, so you cannot hear it before you load it.
- 3 platforms on this page (TONEX, Kemper, Fractal) get a model pointer, not a preset file — nothing was built or checked for them.
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