Tone library / Iron Maiden / Fear of the dark

Fear of the dark amp settings — Joyo S-15

The Iron Maiden guitar tone for “Fear of the dark”, dialed in for a Joyo S-15 with a Ibanez GRGR131EX. Studio version, Fear of the Dark album (1992)

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster (neck pickup for intro, bridge for main riff) → 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 — Joyo S-15

CHANNELOverdrive (OD)BOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	5
Mid	7
Treble	7
Master	6

Don’t have a Joyo S-15? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Joyo S-15 is a small solid-state practice amp with no presence or reverb controls. Its voicing is mid-forward like a budget Marshall, so the JCM800 settings translate fairly directly. Pushed mid +1 from original to compensate for the smaller speaker's lack of low-mid body. Your Ibanez humbuckers are hotter than Murray's Strat singles, so gain stays at 7 rather than needing a boost—this reaches the saturated-but-articulate Maiden crunch without mud.

PRO TIPFor the clean F#m intro, roll your guitar volume knob to 5-6 and switch to the neck pickup—the amp cleans up and you get that atmospheric shimmer without changing any amp settings, just like Murray does live.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Joyo S-15. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.