Fear of the Dark
A seven-minute heavy metal epic that keeps building, with melodic guitar lines over a driving band.
What is the Fear of the Dark guitar tone?
The Fear of the Dark guitar tone is a seven-minute heavy metal epic that keeps building, with melodic guitar lines over a driving band, heard on Iron Maiden's 1990s heavy metal recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Iron Maiden reportedly tracked it with the Fender Stratocasters that Wikipedia says Dave Murray has used almost exclusively and that Janick Gers has long championed, Gers's favourite over the years being a black Strat given to him by Ian Gillan, and the Marshall amplifiers Murray used and endorsed almost exclusively apart from the Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son albums and tours, when he used Gallien-Krueger amps, though no source read here places a guitar or an amp on this take; Gers had joined in 1990, when Adrian Smith left just before the band was due to start recording the previous album, and he had played on Bruce Dickinson's solo debut, Tattooed Millionaire; Steve Harris, who wrote the song, had the barn on his Essex estate where the band made No Prayer for the Dying converted into a proper studio, Barnyard, and produced the album there with Martin Birch, his first album as producer and Birch's last, and Dickinson called the result a slight improvement because Birch came in and supervised the sound, though the studio had big limitations because of its physical size; Dickinson says Harris wrote the song because he himself was really afraid of the dark, Louder calls it seven minutes of building malevolence that would instantly become a live favourite and remain a staple of the band's set to this day; it closes Fear of the Dark, released on 11 May 1992, the band's ninth studio album and its third to top the UK Albums Chart. The bite in this kind of heavy metal comes from a boost or drive pedal pushing a loud amp, so the tone is thick but never smooth, with the mids left in.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Fear of the Dark amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 6, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 7
- Bass 6
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Marshall distortion, the players' usual amps, not placed on the take
- The control that matters most
- One sound, ridden by hand. The song keeps building over seven minutes, so set one driven, mid-forward sound like the Marshalls Murray used and let the guitar's volume knob and your picking handle the quieter passages, rather than switching to a second setting.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. A first plan starts with 7 days free, $0 today.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Does the Fear of the Dark tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
What gear did Iron Maiden use on Fear of the Dark?
The Fender Stratocasters that Wikipedia says Dave Murray has used almost exclusively and that Janick Gers has long championed, Gers's favourite over the years being a black Strat given to him by Ian Gillan, and the Marshall amplifiers Murray used and endorsed almost exclusively apart from the Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son albums and tours, when he used Gallien-Krueger amps, though no source read here places a guitar or an amp on this take; Gers had joined in 1990, when Adrian Smith left just before the band was due to start recording the previous album, and he had played on Bruce Dickinson's solo debut, Tattooed Millionaire; Steve Harris, who wrote the song, had the barn on his Essex estate where the band made No Prayer for the Dying converted into a proper studio, Barnyard, and produced the album there with Martin Birch, his first album as producer and Birch's last, and Dickinson called the result a slight improvement because Birch came in and supervised the sound, though the studio had big limitations because of its physical size; Dickinson says Harris wrote the song because he himself was really afraid of the dark, Louder calls it seven minutes of building malevolence that would instantly become a live favourite and remain a staple of the band's set to this day; it closes Fear of the Dark, released on 11 May 1992, the band's ninth studio album and its third to top the UK Albums Chart.
Sources: Wikipedia: Dave Murray (musician), Wikipedia: Janick Gers, Louder: Fear of the Dark and the bitter battle for Iron Maiden's soul, Wikipedia: Fear of the Dark (song), Wikipedia: Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden album)
Tonelify's tone matcher reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Fear of the Dark tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Fear of the Dark
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Fear of the Dark tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Fear of the Dark?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 6, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same seven-minute heavy metal epic that keeps building, with melodic guitar lines over a driving band from different positions.
What amp did Dave Murray and Janick Gers use on Fear of the Dark?
Amp: Marshall, Murray's amp outside 1986 to 1988 (not placed on this song). Guitar: Fender Stratocasters, both players' guitar of choice (not placed on this song). Sources: Wikipedia and Louder.
What were Dave Murray and Janick Gers' amp settings on Fear of the Dark?
None of the sources cited on this page gives Dave Murray and Janick Gers' full amp settings on Fear of the Dark. The numbers here are a starting point for that kind of part, not the settings from the session, and Tonelify rewrites them for the amp and guitar you own.
How do you get Dave Murray and Janick Gers' tone on Fear of the Dark?
One sound, ridden by hand. The song keeps building over seven minutes, so set one driven, mid-forward sound like the Marshalls Murray used and let the guitar's volume knob and your picking handle the quieter passages, rather than switching to a second setting. Play it with the bridge pickup.
Can you get the Fear of the Dark tone without the original gear?
Yes. The parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order, and those translate to other equipment. Tonelify's adaptation step works them out for the amp and guitar you own.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
A match for your own gear takes a plan, and a first plan starts with 7 days free with nothing charged that day: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
