Nail the ToneMegadeth

Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

Megadeth · Rust in Peace · 1990

The Holy Wars main riff is Mustaine's Jackson King V on the bridge JB into a rack rig — a Bogner Triple Giant preamp driving a VHT 2150 into 4x12s — with Friedman's black Jackson Kelly doubling it. Set gain high but not buried, keep the mids in rather than scooping them, push treble and presence for the pick definition, and trim bass so the palm mutes stay tight instead of boomy. No dirt or delay pedals are documented on the rhythm tracks; the aggression is all preamp gain plus hard picking, and a clean boost in front only helps if your amp needs tightening.

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

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard E at concert pitch, doubled rhythm tracks — Mustaine and Friedman play the riff in unison, so a second panned track gets you closer than any EQ move.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Jackson King V "Number One" (J2713) · Seymour Duncan JB (bridge), '59 (neck) · bridge pickup
  • 1985 Jackson Kelly "#2" · single humbucker · bridge pickup

Amp

Bogner Triple Giant preamp + VHT 2150 power amp

GAIN
7.0
BASS
4.5
MID
6.0
TREBLE
7.5
PRESENCE
6.5

Ground Guitar and forum consensus put the Triple Giant into a VHT 2150 through 4x12 cabs on the album; other accounts credit the later Bogner Fish preamp (used on the 1991 tour) or leftover Marshall JCM800 tracks, so the amp is the contested part, not the guitar.

Amp

Marshall JCM800 2203

GAIN
8.0
BASS
4.0
MID
6.5
TREBLE
8.0
PRESENCE
7.0

Practical stand-in on a common amp: master up, preamp gain high but not maxed, mids left in place rather than scooped, treble forward for the pick attack. Mustaine used JCM800s through the previous albums and possibly on early Rust in Peace tracking.

Tone character

tight low end · forward mids · aggressive pick attack · dry high gain · chainsaw crunch

hard

Fast alternate picking against an open low E at about 168 bpm with tight palm mutes and a hammer-on/pull-off figure that has to stay clean at speed.

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