Megadeth Amp Settings – Dave Mustaine Gear & Tone Guide!

Author: Dedrich Schafer | Updated: | This post may contain affiliate links.

As one of the Big 4 of thrash metal, Megadeth is one of the biggest and most influential metal bands ever.

Frontman Dave Mustaine is at the center of Megadeth’s sound. Not just in his songwriting, but also with his guitar tone.

As one of the most influential guitarists in heavy metal, Mustaine’s signature sound has inspired countless players and fans alike.

Still, I bet there are some things you might not know. For instance, did you know that Mustaine recently transitioned to the Neural DSP Quad Cortex for live shows? No more AXE FX or Marshalls!

Whether you’re a longtime Megadeth fan or just curious about the makings of Mustaine’s powerhouse sound, this article will offer invaluable insights to fuel your geeky passion for Megadeth.

Dave Mustaine’s Guitars

Dave Mustaine has played a number of different guitars over the years. From Jackson to ESP, to the Dean guitars he plays today.

One thing has remained constant, however. He is almost always seen playing V-shape guitars.

After announcing his official partnership with Gibson in 2021, he only plays Gibson guitars on stage, including his signature Dave Mustaine Flying V EXP (EXP because of the Explorer-style headstock) and a Custom Shop Flying V, both designed to meet Mustaine’s exact specifications.

These guitars not only exude a visually striking presence on stage but also serve as critical components in crafting his unique sound.

Of course, not everyone is looking to spend that much cash while trying to emulate his tone. For those of you, I can recommend going for the much more affordable Epiphone Flying V.

Mustaine’s guitars feature a sleek, aggressive body shape with a mahogany neck and body for a rich, resonant tone.

The ebony fingerboard and 24 jumbo frets provide exceptional playability, allowing Mustaine to showcase his iconically aggressive playing style effortlessly. Additionally, the guitar’s custom-designed, string-through bridge offers increased sustain and richness in sound (both qualities Mustaine mentions as vital to him).

He might only play Gibsons during live shows, but I bet he sneaks a few guitars from other brands here and there in the studio.

Apart from Gibson, Mustaine is perhaps most often seen playing one of his Dean Signature guitars. Or a custom-painted Dean VMNT that was made in honor of Megadeth’s 33rd anniversary.

He also still plays Jackson guitars like the KV2 or Pro Series King V.

Dave has also played several guitars that aren’t V-shape. He has played both a BC Rich Perfect 10 and a BC Rich Warlock.

Mustaine also played an ESP Axxion, a custom guitar made with a unique body shape. The Axxion is no longer in production, but if you are looking for a unique-looking ESP, the E-II FRX is a pretty close alternative.

Pickups, Strings, and Picks

Every Mustaine’s guitar features passive Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine Signature pickups, contributing to his crisp, clear tone.

For strings, Mustaine relies on Cleartone custom sets. He uses 11 – 54 for D-standard tuning and 10 – 52 for E-standard tuning.

Additionally, he plays with Cleartone’s .73 mm picks exclusively, further shaping his attack and precision.

Dave Mustaine’s Amps

For the type of high gain thrash metal that Megadeth is known for, there really is only one amp: Marshall.

Mustaine has used both the JCM800 and JVM410H. These amp heads are usually paired with either a 1960 or ORI Marshall cabinet.

He hasn’t exclusively used Marshall amps, however. He actually teamed up with Line 6 to build a signature model.

This amp never made it passed the prototype stage, unfortunately. The Line 6 Spider V is in production, though, and a really good modeling amp. A great (and arguably even more potent) alternative would be the Boss Katana MkII.

Another great modeling amp is the Marshall CODE 50. Mustaine uses a CODE 25 for backstage practice, but the CODE 50 is powerful enough for gigs as well.

Remember: if you want to recreate Mustaine’s tone, you can also choose to do that with an amp modeling/profiling unit like the Quad Cortex, something from the Line 6 Helix (or HX) range, or the Kemper, or the Fractal AXE FX, or the newer IK Multimedia TONEX.

Dave Mustaine Amp Settings – Signature Megadeth Tone!

When it comes to Megadeth’s sound, and particularly Dave Mustaine’s, it is a bit different from other metal bands of the era.

While other bands like Metallica and Slayer have a bit more emphasis on the low end to create a heavier sound, Megadeth’s sound is much sharper and cuts more.

That means that you are going to want to boost your highs a bit. Treble should be set above 7, but never quite maxed.

Mids are also not as scooped as other bands. Your mids setting will depend on your amp, but around 4 or 5 should be enough. Just enough mids that it doesn’t sound quite scooped, but also doesn’t quite start cutting through.

Even though you aren’t going for a very low-end heavy sound, you still want a little bit of bass. The bass should almost just match the treble. So, if your treble is set to 7, then the bass should be set to 7.

Don’t go too crazy with the bass though. It shouldn’t really ever go past 8/8.5.

These settings should get you fairly close to an all-around Megadeth sound:

  • Bass – 7
  • Mids – 4/5
  • Treble – 7-9
  • Gain – 7-9
  • Volume – 9-10

Here are the amp settings for most songs in the album ‘Rust in Peace’, including ‘Tornado of Souls’:

  • Bass – 7
  • Mids – 4
  • Treble – 8
  • Gain – 9
  • Volume – 10

‘Holy Wars’ from ‘Rust in Peace’:

  • Bass – 7
  • Mids – 4
  • Treble – 7
  • Gain – 6
  • Volume – 7

Peace Sells:

  • Bass – 7
  • Mids – 5
  • Treble – 8
  • Gain – 8
  • Volume – 9

Symphony of Destruction:

  • Bass – 6
  • Mids – 5
  • Treble – 7
  • Gain – 7
  • Volume – 9

Youthanasia:

  • Bass – 7
  • Mids – 5
  • Treble – 8
  • Gain – 7
  • Volume – 8

Dave Mustaine Pedals & Effects Rig

Neural DSP Quad Cortex

As mentioned earlier, Dave Mustaine now uses the Neural DSP Quad Cortex as his only sound source.

Influenced by fellow Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro, Mustaine decided to make the leap to the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, a groundbreaking digital modeler, profiler, and effects unit.

Known for its brilliant sound quality, flexibility, and ease of use, the Quad Cortex is quickly becoming essential to Mustaine’s rig. Dave and Kiko employed the versatile device extensively during their 2022 world tour, which really says something about this piece of gear.

Mustaine found the perfect combination of classic amp tones and modern processing capabilities on the Neural DSP Quad Cortex. He uses a Marshall JCM800 profile for his driven tones, capturing the essence of the legendary amp’s powerful, aggressive sound.

For clean tones, he opts for the Fender Twin and Roland Jazz Chorus profiles, which deliver pristine, sparkling sounds with ample headroom.

In addition to these core amp tones, the Quad Cortex also functions as his main pedalboard. Yes, you got that right: there are no physical pedals in Mustaine’s live setup. The only analog gear he uses nowadays is his guitars (and, most importantly, himself).

So, all overdrives, delays, reverbs, and modulation effects come from the QC.

While Mustaine has mostly moved to using the Quad Cortex, he has used a number of pedals over the years.

In 2019, he held a charity auction through Reverb.com where he sold off a large amount of gear, among all that gear were several pedals.

Boss CH-1

The Boss CH-1 is a fairly common chorus pedal among guitarists. It isn’t known when Dave used the pedal, but considering its quality and reputation, it isn’t much of a surprise that he went with this pedal.

Boss MT-2

The Metal Zone is often joked about as a bad distortion pedal for beginners. But spend a little bit of time with it and you will find that it is quite a versatile distortion pedal.

No wonder Dave Mustaine and so many other well known metal artists like Cannibal Corpse and Korn have had it as a part of their setup at some point.

MXR M135

With three modes and an adaptive gate speed, the MXR M135 is a great noise gate to keep your tone under control.

Dunlop Cry Baby

The GCB95 is basically the industry standard when it comes to wah pedals. If you are looking for a wah pedal, but don’t know what to look for, get a GCB95. Chances are, it will be what you are looking for.

Digitech HM2

One of the more interesting pedals sold in 2019, the HarmonyMan is a pitch shift pedal used for creating harmonies. Think of it as making one guitar sound like two harmonizing with each other.

The Whammy DT is the modern equivalent of the HM2, which also functions as a whammy pedal.

Zoom G2-1DM

Perhaps the most surprising pedal sold during the auction was his G2-1DM. This is a signature version of the G2, a fairly basic multi-effects unit.

This pedal was presumably just used for some additional effects, and to help keep his pedalboard as small as possible.

The G1 FOUR is a great multi-effects pedal, while the G3Xn is a full-featured version that can even work as an entire pedalboard.

According to recent interviews, these pedals and effects are now being modeled (or profiled) within the Quad Cortex for Mustaine’s Live Rig.

Mustaine’s Rack Units

Apart from the amp heads and cabinets that he uses, Mustaine also makes use of preamps and rack-mounted effects units.

For preamps, he has used both a Marshall JMP-1 and a DigiTech GSP1101. For effects unit, he used the very popular Fractal Audio Axe-FX II.

These units are used for adding different effects without the need for a massive pedalboard. This helps to make your setup simpler overall and makes the guitar tech and audio engineers’ jobs a bit easier.

The Kempler Profiler is also a great rack unit and excellent alternative. These units are quite expensive, but luckily the Line 6 Pro X offers similar features without breaking the bank.

Mixing Digital Technology with Analog Feel

Even though Dave Mustaine has fully embraced the Neural DSP Quad Cortex for his sound processing needs, he remains loyal to his Marshall Dave Mustaine Signature 1960B-DM 4×12 cabinets regarding on-stage monitoring.

These cabinets, designed explicitly for Mustaine, are equipped with his signature Celestion G12 V30 speakers (now discontinued). They are renowned for their aggressive mid-range and tight low-end response, perfectly complementing Mustaine’s approach to guitar tone.

Using these cabinets on stage demonstrates his dedication to achieving consistent and authentic sound reproduction in a live setting.

While the Neural DSP Quad Cortex handles the primary sound processing and signal routing, the Marshall cabinets provide the familiar punch, presence, and character that he needs to hear himself on stage.

This setup, pairing the advanced technology of modern amp profilers with the time-tested, powerful sound of his signature Marshall cabinets, demonstrates Mustaine’s desire to balance innovation with tradition in his quest for the ultimate guitar tone. Which is endless for everybody, I guess.

Closing Thoughts

Dave Mustaine’s tone and choice of gear has been some of the more straightforward among metal guitarists. He is proof that you don’t need much more than a powerful amp and decent guitar to sound great and shred hard.

To replicate Dave Mustaine’s signature tone, start with the amp settings and effects listed above.

Experiment with pickup selection and EQ on your amp/modeler to fine-tune your sound. Don’t forget that playing technique is crucial in achieving Mustaine’s aggressive, palm-muted riffs and scorching solos.

Remember to practice and be patient, as emulating a player of Mustaine’s caliber takes time and dedication.

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About Dedrich Schafer

Dedrich is a guitar player, songwriter and sound engineer with extensive music production and studio experience. He mostly listens to classic rock and punk bands, but sometimes also likes listening to rap and acoustic songs.

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