Tone library / Iron Maiden / Fear of the Dark

Fear of the Dark amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII

The Iron Maiden guitar tone for “Fear of the Dark”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 50 MkII with a fender stratocaster Boss Katana 50. Studio version, Fear of the Dark (1992) — main distorted riff and harmony leads

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster (bridge pickup) → Marshall JCM800 2203 → Boss CE-2 Chorus

Tight British high-gain with cutting mids, crisp treble clarity, and signature Maiden twin-guitar shimmer
Amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII
CHANNELBrown amp typeBOOSToff
GAIN 7 BASS 5 MID 7 TREBLE 6 REVERB 3 MASTER 5
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain7
Bass5
Mid7
Treble6
Reverb3
Master5
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Katana Onboard Chorus (MOD FX)

Built-in MOD block emulation of the Boss CE-2

Rate 4 · Depth 5
Why these settings

The Brown amp type replicates the JCM800 high-gain crunch without needing an external drive pedal. Pushing the mids to 7 compensates for a standard Stratocaster's scooped character, delivering the punchy Maiden lead bark. Clean intro: switch pickup to neck and select Clean amp type.

PRO TIPPick aggressively near the bridge with medium-heavy downward pressure to bring out the harmonic bite in the fast gallops.

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These settings are for a Boss Katana 50 MkII. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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