I Don't Wanna Be Me Amp Settings

Original Gear

Guitar

Fernandes Monterey Elite (late-1990s/early-2000s, black with custom green fret markers) — identified from the official 'I Don't Wanna Be Me' video, where Hickey plays a Fernandes single-cut with a Sustainer neck unit and a Seymour Duncan bridge humbucker. Hickey also had a Fernandes Raven Elite Sustainer, a custom Fernandes Revolver X and a Fernandes Dragonfly Pro in rotation in this era; the specific instrument tracked at Systems Two is not documented, so a Fernandes Sustainer-equipped guitar is the best-supported inference.

Pickups

Seymour Duncan humbucker (bridge, exact model unconfirmed — JB SH-4 is the most likely candidate for the era but is not sourced) / Fernandes Sustainer driver + pickup (neck) (bridge)

Amplifier

Mesa/Boogie TriAxis preamp into Mesa/Boogie Simul-Class 2:Ninety 180W stereo tube power amp (inferred as the studio rig — this is the documented Hickey rack for the Life Is Killing Me touring cycle and after). Secondary possibility: A/DA MP-1 / MP-2 tube preamp into a Tube Works MosValve 500, which was his earlier rack and is documented as the main October Rust sound; a Mesa Dual Rectifier was carried as a backup head.

Channel

TriAxis LD2 Red mode (high-gain lead/rhythm voicing), Deep and Modern engaged on the 2:Ninety

Tuning

B standard (B-E-A-D-F#-B), 2.5 steps below E standard. No capo. Confirmed by multiple transcriptions and by Ultimate Guitar's 2026 breakdown of the solo, which states Hickey played this and most Type O material in B standard.

Pickup Selector

bridge

Strings

Unknown — estimated .012–.060 or heavier. Inference only: B standard on a 25.5" scale needs a heavy set for tension, and Hickey later moved to 26.5" baritone Schecters for the same tuning. No source documents his 2002 gauges.

Recorded and mixed at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY (2002), engineered by Michael Marciano, produced by Peter Steele and Josh Silver, with additional recording at Sty in the Sky and Toben Project Studio. Cabinet almost certainly a Marshall 1960B 4x12 (G12T-75s) — the cab documented behind Hickey live; Mesa 4x12s were also in use. Hickey has historically been evasive about his amp chain in interviews and is believed to blend two amp sources, so the studio path is not confirmed. Peter Steele is also credited with guitar on the album, so some rhythm layers may not be Hickey's rig at all.

Amp Settings

Playing Technique

Fast, driving 4/4 at roughly 165-175 BPM (tempo estimated). The verse/chorus riff is relentless palm-muted eighth/sixteenth chugging on the low B and E strings with power-chord stabs — it demands tight right-hand muting and consistent downstroke-heavy picking to keep the low B from turning to mush at that tuning. Attack is heavy but not thrash-rigid; Hickey uses Dunlop Tortex Standard 0.88mm picks (documented from 1999 live footage), a medium gauge that keeps some give in the attack. The solo is deliberately economical: Hickey builds it from a single repeated catchy phrase, executed as rapid hammer-ons/pull-offs on one string (playable as legato or as tapping), with a slow wide vibrato on the resolving notes. He has cited Ace Frehley's phrasing as the model — memorable, singable lines over technical density. Sustainer engaged for the held/feedback notes at phrase ends.