Nail the ToneIron Maiden

Run to the Hills

Iron Maiden · The Number of the Beast · 1982

This is a cranked 50-watt Marshall stack with a hot bridge humbucker in front of it — Murray's DiMarzio Super Distortion-loaded Strat on one side, Smith's Destroyer or Goldtop on the other, both riffing in standard tuning. The dirt comes mostly from the amp being run flat out rather than from a pedal, with an MXR Distortion + on Murray's side as a boost. Keep the mids up and the bass moderate: the record sounds big because of the double-tracking and Martin Birch's room, not because of a bass-heavy amp setting.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard E tuning at album pitch; the main riff is doubled by both guitarists and spread left and right, so one guitar alone will sound narrower than the record.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Fender Stratocaster (1957 neck / 1963 body, ex-Paul Kossoff) · DiMarzio Super Distortion (bridge), DiMarzio PAF (neck) · bridge pickup
  • Ibanez Destroyer · DiMarzio Super Distortion · bridge pickup
  • Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop · humbuckers · bridge pickup

Amp

Marshall JMP 50-watt head, 4x12 cabinet

GAIN
8.5
BASS
5.0
MID
7.0
TREBLE
7.0
PRESENCE
6.0

Murray told Guitar World in 1983 he ran four 50-watt Marshalls into Marshall cabs; these non-master-volume heads have no gain knob, so 'gain' here is the preamp volume pushed near max for power-tube breakup. Accounts differ on Smith: most period sources put him on 50-watt Marshall heads too, while other write-ups have him on a 100-watt Super Lead in this era.

Amp

Marshall Super Lead 100-watt head, 4x12 cabinet

GAIN
8.0
BASS
5.0
MID
6.5
TREBLE
7.5
PRESENCE
6.5

Second rhythm track for the harmonized/doubled riff; Smith is documented on 100-watt Marshall Super Leads in the early '80s, though the 50-watt heads are the more commonly reported studio choice for this album.

Pedals

  • MXR Distortion + · distortion/boost · Distortion low (around 9-10 o'clock), Output high — used to push the already-cranked Marshall, not as the main dirt
  • MXR Phase 90 · phaser · Slow sweep; a solo-and-lead color rather than part of the main riff

Tone character

tight British crunch · forward mids · bright top-end bite · natural power-tube breakup · double-tracked and wide

medium

The gallop needs steady palm-muted alternate picking at about 190 bpm with clean power-chord shifts up and down the neck, and picking-hand stamina is what usually gives out before the fretting hand does.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources