Big, saturated American Idiot pop-punk: thick distorted power chords with tight palm mutes in the verses. Standard tuning, F minor. One distorted setting all the way through.
Front of amp: Cheeky Pint (off) → TS Mini (on, tightener) · FX loop: GE-7 (on) → Spark Mini (solo).
Thick but tight — enough gain for sustain on the big chords, not so much that the palm mutes go fuzzy. For the quieter bridge, roll your guitar volume back a little instead of switching channel.
Drive low, level hot: the standard trick that keeps the palm-muted verses punchy.
Off — the amp gain is compressing plenty.
Kick on for Billie Joe's short solo so it sits on top of the band.
Off — tight and dry.
Off — tight and dry.
Low end kept, 200 Hz mud cut, upper mids up for the cutting American Idiot crunch.
Mostly neck, a little bridge, tone up — Mike Dirnt's tone is punchy and bright.
Mike Dirnt: pick, driving 8ths with melodic runs between sections. Learn the fills, they're a big part of the song. (Mix stays at min — it's the line-in blend, not part of your tone.)
Standard tuning, F minor. The verse loops round Fm – D♭ – A♭ – E♭ as palm-muted power chords; open them up in the chorus. Check the Songsterr tab for the bridge.
Find guitar lessons on YouTube ↗Opens in a new window — Songsterr blocks embedding in other sites (X-Frame-Options), so it can't be shown inline. Use the Billie Joe Armstrong guitar track.