Tone library / Judas Priest / Painkiller

Painkiller amp settings — Laney Ironheart IRT60H

The Judas Priest guitar tone for “Painkiller”, dialed in for a Laney Ironheart IRT60H with a ESP LTD EC-256. Studio album track, Painkiller (1990) — main riff & rhythm tone

Original rig

Modified Marshall JCM800 2203 / early JCM900 / Gallien-Krueger solid-state preamps boosted into Celestion cabs, EMG / DiMarzio humbuckers (Glenn Tipton / KK Downing)

Searing, razor-sharp high-gain British bite with tight low-end tracking and aggressive upper-mid presence

Amp settings — Laney Ironheart IRT60H

CHANNELLeadBRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	6
Mid	5
Treble	7
Presence	7
Reverb	0
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

Tight boost into front input to focus attack and tighten bass

Drive 0 · Tone 6 · Level 9

02Boss GE-7 Equalizer

FX loop — mid push and high-mid slice for authentic 1990 Priest cutting edge

100Hz 4 · 200Hz 5 · 400Hz 5 · 800Hz 6 · 1.6kHz 7 · 3.2kHz 7 · 6.4kHz 6 · Level 5

Why these settings

The Ironheart IRT60H has a modern British voicing with high gain capacity; setting Dynamics to 5 and Tone to 7 provides the sharp top-end bite of Painkiller without getting fizzy. Running your Boss SD-1 as a clean boost with Drive at 0 tightens the low-end for rapid palm-muted 16th notes, while the GE-7 in the loop pushes the characteristic 1.6k–3.2kHz attack. Set the amp's built-in digital reverb and power-amp Watts controls clean and dry to keep the fast riff articulate.

PRO TIPUse aggressive, strictly-angled alternate picking near the bridge saddles to maximize the percussive 'clank' and harmonic bite essential to Chris Tsangarides's 1990 production.

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