Tornado of Souls
A long, melodic lead solo over a fast thrash riff.
What is the Tornado of Souls guitar tone?
The Tornado of Souls guitar tone is a long, melodic lead solo over a fast thrash riff, heard on Megadeth's 1990s thrash metal recording. It is a distorted solo tone, and Megadeth reportedly tracked it with Marty Friedman's 1985 Jackson Kelly, which he bought in Hawaii around 1985 while playing in the band Hawaii and had repainted black and converted to a single humbucker with one volume control when he joined Megadeth; Guitar.com says it can be heard on Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction, but it is not placed on this song in particular, and no amp for the solo is documented in these accounts; Friedman plays lead and Dave Mustaine rhythm, and Guitar World says Mustaine's silver Jackson King V, his "Number One", is on almost every classic Megadeth record from Peace Sells on; Friedman says he wings every solo, sometimes taking a hundred takes to get one he likes, and that a long solo has to tell a story, because spending everything in the first eight bars leaves nowhere to go; he recalled in 2002 that when he finished this one, Mustaine came into the studio, listened to it once and shook his hand without a word; the solo is regarded as one of the greatest metal guitar solos of all time, and the song, more melodic than many on the album, is widely considered one of the hardest to play on guitar; Chris Poland had played the lead parts on the album's demos, this song among them; it was never a single, and Rust in Peace, produced by Mustaine and Mike Clink, recorded by Micajah Ryan and Clink and mixed by Max Norman, came out on 24 September 1990. 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.
Tornado of Souls amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8.5, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 8.5
- Bass 6
- Middle 4
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Noise gate → Amp distortion → Short room reverb
- The control that matters most
- Middle, a little higher than for the riff. A long, melodic solo needs single notes that sing over a fast rhythm part, so lift the mids a step above a scooped thrash setting and keep the gain short of mush. Friedman says a long solo has to tell a story and that spending everything in the first eight bars leaves nowhere to go, so the phrasing matters more than any knob.
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 Tornado of Souls 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 Tornado of Souls?
Marty Friedman's 1985 Jackson Kelly, which he bought in Hawaii around 1985 while playing in the band Hawaii and had repainted black and converted to a single humbucker with one volume control when he joined Megadeth; Guitar.com says it can be heard on Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction, but it is not placed on this song in particular, and no amp for the solo is documented in these accounts; Friedman plays lead and Dave Mustaine rhythm, and Guitar World says Mustaine's silver Jackson King V, his "Number One", is on almost every classic Megadeth record from Peace Sells on; Friedman says he wings every solo, sometimes taking a hundred takes to get one he likes, and that a long solo has to tell a story, because spending everything in the first eight bars leaves nowhere to go; he recalled in 2002 that when he finished this one, Mustaine came into the studio, listened to it once and shook his hand without a word; the solo is regarded as one of the greatest metal guitar solos of all time, and the song, more melodic than many on the album, is widely considered one of the hardest to play on guitar; Chris Poland had played the lead parts on the album's demos, this song among them; it was never a single, and Rust in Peace, produced by Mustaine and Mike Clink, recorded by Micajah Ryan and Clink and mixed by Max Norman, came out on 24 September 1990.
Sources: Wikipedia: Tornado of Souls, Guitar.com: how Marty Friedman came up with the Tornado of Souls solo, Guitar.com: Marty Friedman's 1985 Jackson Kelly San Dimas up for sale, Guitar World: Dave Mustaine's life in guitars, Wikipedia: Rust in Peace
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 Tornado of Souls tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Tornado of Souls
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Tornado of Souls tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Tornado of Souls?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8.5, Bass 6, Middle 4, 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 long, melodic lead solo over a fast thrash riff from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Tornado of Souls tone?
Middle, a little higher than for the riff. A long, melodic solo needs single notes that sing over a fast rhythm part, so lift the mids a step above a scooped thrash setting and keep the gain short of mush. Friedman says a long solo has to tell a story and that spending everything in the first eight bars leaves nowhere to go, so the phrasing matters more than any knob.
Can you get the Tornado of Souls tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Marty Friedman's 1985 Jackson Kelly, which he bought in Hawaii around 1985 while playing in the band Hawaii and had repainted black and converted to a single humbucker with one volume control when he joined Megadeth; Guitar.com says it can be heard on Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction, but it is not placed on this song in particular, and no amp for the solo is documented in these accounts; Friedman plays lead and Dave Mustaine rhythm, and Guitar World says Mustaine's silver Jackson King V, his "Number One", is on almost every classic Megadeth record from Peace Sells on; Friedman says he wings every solo, sometimes taking a hundred takes to get one he likes, and that a long solo has to tell a story, because spending everything in the first eight bars leaves nowhere to go; he recalled in 2002 that when he finished this one, Mustaine came into the studio, listened to it once and shook his hand without a word; the solo is regarded as one of the greatest metal guitar solos of all time, and the song, more melodic than many on the album, is widely considered one of the hardest to play on guitar; Chris Poland had played the lead parts on the album's demos, this song among them; it was never a single, and Rust in Peace, produced by Mustaine and Mike Clink, recorded by Micajah Ryan and Clink and mixed by Max Norman, came out on 24 September 1990, 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 Tornado of Souls a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo 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.
