Nightrain
A mid-forward Marshall crunch on a riff built for two guitars.
What is the Nightrain guitar tone?
The Nightrain guitar tone is a mid-forward Marshall crunch on a riff built for two guitars, heard on Guns N' Roses' 1980s hard rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Guns N' Roses reportedly tracked it with Slash's Les Paul replica built by Kris Derrig, with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups, into the modified 100-watt Marshall he rented from S.I.R. for Appetite for Destruction, a Super Lead with an extra preamp stage added, through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet; Guitar.com lists a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, an MXR chorus and a Roland SRV-2000 as his effects for the album, and says Izzy Stradlin most notably played a Gibson ES-175D and reportedly used a blackface Fender Bassman head with a Mesa/Boogie 4x12, without placing either rig on this song; Stradlin plays the lead intro and the first half of the first guitar solo, and Slash plays every other lead part; the two wrote the main riff sitting on the floor of the band's rehearsal room, Stradlin finished the music with Duff McKagan the next day while Slash was ill, and the words came later, when the band was walking through West Hollywood sharing a bottle of Night Train; it is the third song on Appetite for Destruction, released in 1987, and came out as the album's fifth and final single, reaching number 93 in the US; Slash calls it his favourite song to play live. This is a mid-forward sound rather than a scooped one, and it usually sits closer to the edge of breakup than to full saturation.
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.
Nightrain amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Dunlop Cry Baby wah, on his pedal list for the album → Modded Marshall Super Lead, turned up
- The control that matters most
- Middle. This is a mid-forward Marshall crunch, so keep the mids up and the gain short of full saturation, enough that the chords stay distinct when they ring. The record has two guitarists on the riff and splits the lead between them, Izzy Stradlin on the intro and the first half of the first solo and Slash on the rest, so one guitar sounds thinner than the record does.
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.
What gear did Guns N' Roses use on Nightrain?
Slash's Les Paul replica built by Kris Derrig, with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups, into the modified 100-watt Marshall he rented from S.I.R. for Appetite for Destruction, a Super Lead with an extra preamp stage added, through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet; Guitar.com lists a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, an MXR chorus and a Roland SRV-2000 as his effects for the album, and says Izzy Stradlin most notably played a Gibson ES-175D and reportedly used a blackface Fender Bassman head with a Mesa/Boogie 4x12, without placing either rig on this song; Stradlin plays the lead intro and the first half of the first guitar solo, and Slash plays every other lead part; the two wrote the main riff sitting on the floor of the band's rehearsal room, Stradlin finished the music with Duff McKagan the next day while Slash was ill, and the words came later, when the band was walking through West Hollywood sharing a bottle of Night Train; it is the third song on Appetite for Destruction, released in 1987, and came out as the album's fifth and final single, reaching number 93 in the US; Slash calls it his favourite song to play live.
Sources: Wikipedia: Nightrain, Guitar.com: the gear Slash used on Appetite for Destruction
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 Nightrain tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Nightrain
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Nightrain tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Nightrain?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, 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 mid-forward Marshall crunch on a riff built for two guitars from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Nightrain tone?
Middle. This is a mid-forward Marshall crunch, so keep the mids up and the gain short of full saturation, enough that the chords stay distinct when they ring. The record has two guitarists on the riff and splits the lead between them, Izzy Stradlin on the intro and the first half of the first solo and Slash on the rest, so one guitar sounds thinner than the record does.
Can you get the Nightrain tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Slash's Les Paul replica built by Kris Derrig, with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups, into the modified 100-watt Marshall he rented from S.I.R. for Appetite for Destruction, a Super Lead with an extra preamp stage added, through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet; Guitar.com lists a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, an MXR chorus and a Roland SRV-2000 as his effects for the album, and says Izzy Stradlin most notably played a Gibson ES-175D and reportedly used a blackface Fender Bassman head with a Mesa/Boogie 4x12, without placing either rig on this song; Stradlin plays the lead intro and the first half of the first guitar solo, and Slash plays every other lead part; the two wrote the main riff sitting on the floor of the band's rehearsal room, Stradlin finished the music with Duff McKagan the next day while Slash was ill, and the words came later, when the band was walking through West Hollywood sharing a bottle of Night Train; it is the third song on Appetite for Destruction, released in 1987, and came out as the album's fifth and final single, reaching number 93 in the US; Slash calls it his favourite song to play live, 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 Nightrain a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Guns N' Roses' 1980s hard rock 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 both plans start with a 7-day free trial: 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.
