Nail the ToneMegadeth

Symphony of Destruction

Megadeth · Countdown to Extinction · 1992

The main riff is Mustaine on his silver Jackson King V, bridge pickup, into his early-'90s rack: a Custom Audio Electronics 3+ preamp driving a VHT 2150 power amp and Marshall 4x12s at The Enterprise with Max Norman. It's less gain than people expect — mids pushed forward, bass kept in check, treble up for pick bite, and no ambience on the rhythm track. If you're on a single-channel Marshall-style amp, dial crunch that still lets each note speak instead of a wall of fizz.

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

Tuning

Standard tuning, no capo

Standard E — the riff lives on the low E and A strings, with the F5-to-E5 half-step move played as 1-0 on the sixth string.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • Jackson King V "Number One" · Seymour Duncan JB (bridge), Bill Lawrence L-500 (neck) · bridge pickup

Amp

Custom Audio Electronics 3+ preamp / VHT 2150 power amp

GAIN
7.0
BASS
5.0
MID
6.5
TREBLE
7.0
PRESENCE
6.0

Rack rig into Marshall 4x12 cabs (greenbacks, V30s, G12-75s), close-miked with an MD421 and an SM57; accounts differ, with some players arguing a Bogner Fish or Bogner-designed Triple Giant preamp was still in use into 1992, and sources split over 3+ versus 3+SE.

Amp

Marshall JCM800 2203

GAIN
8.0
BASS
5.0
MID
7.0
TREBLE
7.0
PRESENCE
6.0

Not the record's amp — a practical stand-in for the same voicing if you don't have the rack; keep the gain short of mush so the palm mutes stay percussive.

Pedals

  • Yamaha SPX900 · rack multi-effects · Barely used on rhythm — the riff is essentially dry, so leave delay and reverb off

Tone character

forward mids · tight low end · moderate high gain · bright pick attack · dry, no ambience

easy

Low-string power chords with a half-step F5-to-E5 move and steady palm-muted eighths — easy shapes, but the groove only sounds right if the muting and the rests are tight.

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