Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
A fast thrash riff that breaks into a slower, heavier middle section.
What is the Holy Wars... The Punishment Due guitar tone?
The Holy Wars... The Punishment Due guitar tone is a fast thrash riff that breaks into a slower, heavier middle section, heard on Megadeth's 1990s thrash metal recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Megadeth reportedly tracked it with Dave Mustaine's Jackson King Vs, among them the silver "Number One" that Guitar World says is on almost every classic Megadeth record from Peace Sells on and a black 1986 King V Custom he used from 1986 to 1992, with Marty Friedman on the 1985 Jackson Kelly that Guitar.com says can be heard on Rust in Peace, though neither account places a guitar on this song and no amp is documented in them; the song opens with a fast thrash section, and at 2:26, after an acoustic bridge by Friedman, it shifts to a slower, heavier section called The Punishment Due, with two Friedman solos, before speeding up again for a third and final solo by Mustaine; the lyrics deal with religious conflict, particularly in Israel and Northern Ireland, and Mustaine says he was inspired to write it after a 1988 concert in Antrim, Northern Ireland, where he unknowingly dedicated the band's cover of Anarchy in the UK to "The Cause", the Provisional IRA, and caused a riot, while The Punishment Due is based on Marvel's Punisher; Chris Poland had played the lead parts on the album's demos, this song among them; Mustaine missed the first half of the sessions at Rumbo Recorders while in rehab, so producer Mike Clink worked mostly on the bass, drums and Friedman's guitar before engineer Micajah Ryan finished the guitars and vocals, primarily with Mustaine, and Max Norman mixed; in 2017 Mustaine said most tabs online had the main riff wrong and posted his own transcription; it opens Rust in Peace, which came out on 24 September 1990, and was one of its two singles, with Hangar 18. Tones in this style live or die on tight low end and a scooped midrange, with the picking hand doing as much of the work as the amp.
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.
Holy Wars... The Punishment Due amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 8
- Bass 6
- Middle 3
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Noise gate → Amp distortion → Short room reverb
- The control that matters most
- Middle, kept near 3. Set one tight thrash sound for both the fast riff and the slow, heavy middle section: cut the mids but not to hollow, and get the weight of The Punishment Due from the picking hand rather than from more gain or bass. The acoustic bridge before it is Friedman's, a separate clean part, and Mustaine said in 2017 that most tabs online had the main riff wrong, so learn it from his own transcription.
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. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
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 Holy Wars... The Punishment Due 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 Megadeth use on Holy Wars... The Punishment Due?
Dave Mustaine's Jackson King Vs, among them the silver "Number One" that Guitar World says is on almost every classic Megadeth record from Peace Sells on and a black 1986 King V Custom he used from 1986 to 1992, with Marty Friedman on the 1985 Jackson Kelly that Guitar.com says can be heard on Rust in Peace, though neither account places a guitar on this song and no amp is documented in them; the song opens with a fast thrash section, and at 2:26, after an acoustic bridge by Friedman, it shifts to a slower, heavier section called The Punishment Due, with two Friedman solos, before speeding up again for a third and final solo by Mustaine; the lyrics deal with religious conflict, particularly in Israel and Northern Ireland, and Mustaine says he was inspired to write it after a 1988 concert in Antrim, Northern Ireland, where he unknowingly dedicated the band's cover of Anarchy in the UK to "The Cause", the Provisional IRA, and caused a riot, while The Punishment Due is based on Marvel's Punisher; Chris Poland had played the lead parts on the album's demos, this song among them; Mustaine missed the first half of the sessions at Rumbo Recorders while in rehab, so producer Mike Clink worked mostly on the bass, drums and Friedman's guitar before engineer Micajah Ryan finished the guitars and vocals, primarily with Mustaine, and Max Norman mixed; in 2017 Mustaine said most tabs online had the main riff wrong and posted his own transcription; it opens Rust in Peace, which came out on 24 September 1990, and was one of its two singles, with Hangar 18.
Sources: Wikipedia: Holy Wars... The Punishment Due, Wikipedia: Rust in Peace, Guitar World: Dave Mustaine's life in guitars, Guitar.com: Marty Friedman's 1985 Jackson Kelly San Dimas up for sale
Tonelify 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 Holy Wars... The Punishment Due tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
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Holy Wars... The Punishment Due tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Holy Wars... The Punishment Due?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 7, Presence 6, 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 fast thrash riff that breaks into a slower, heavier middle section from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Holy Wars... The Punishment Due tone?
Middle, kept near 3. Set one tight thrash sound for both the fast riff and the slow, heavy middle section: cut the mids but not to hollow, and get the weight of The Punishment Due from the picking hand rather than from more gain or bass. The acoustic bridge before it is Friedman's, a separate clean part, and Mustaine said in 2017 that most tabs online had the main riff wrong, so learn it from his own transcription.
Can you get the Holy Wars... The Punishment Due tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Dave Mustaine's Jackson King Vs, among them the silver "Number One" that Guitar World says is on almost every classic Megadeth record from Peace Sells on and a black 1986 King V Custom he used from 1986 to 1992, with Marty Friedman on the 1985 Jackson Kelly that Guitar.com says can be heard on Rust in Peace, though neither account places a guitar on this song and no amp is documented in them; the song opens with a fast thrash section, and at 2:26, after an acoustic bridge by Friedman, it shifts to a slower, heavier section called The Punishment Due, with two Friedman solos, before speeding up again for a third and final solo by Mustaine; the lyrics deal with religious conflict, particularly in Israel and Northern Ireland, and Mustaine says he was inspired to write it after a 1988 concert in Antrim, Northern Ireland, where he unknowingly dedicated the band's cover of Anarchy in the UK to "The Cause", the Provisional IRA, and caused a riot, while The Punishment Due is based on Marvel's Punisher; Chris Poland had played the lead parts on the album's demos, this song among them; Mustaine missed the first half of the sessions at Rumbo Recorders while in rehab, so producer Mike Clink worked mostly on the bass, drums and Friedman's guitar before engineer Micajah Ryan finished the guitars and vocals, primarily with Mustaine, and Max Norman mixed; in 2017 Mustaine said most tabs online had the main riff wrong and posted his own transcription; it opens Rust in Peace, which came out on 24 September 1990, and was one of its two singles, with Hangar 18, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Holy Wars... The Punishment Due a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Megadeth's 1990s thrash metal catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that it takes a plan, charged when you subscribe: 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.
