Tone library / Megadeth / Holy wars... the punishment due

Holy wars... the punishment due amp settings — Mooer hornet BT combo BLK

The Megadeth guitar tone for “Holy wars... the punishment due”, dialed in for a Mooer hornet BT combo BLK with a Harley benton ST-20HH Active SBK. Studio version, Rust in Peace (1990) — Marty Friedman solo section / Dave Mustaine rhythm

Original rig

Marshall JCM800 2203 head, Jackson Kelly with Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB bridge humbucker, ISP Decimator noise gate, minimal delay on solos

Tight, aggressive thrash with scooped mids, razor-sharp pick attack, and controlled low-end aggression under palm mutes

Amp settings — Mooer hornet BT combo BLK

CHANNELHi-Gain / Lead (select the highest gain voicing available)BRIGHToffBOOSTon

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	5
Mid	3
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	0
Master	6

Don’t have a Mooer hornet BT combo BLK? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Noise Gate (use Mooer's built-in gate if available)

Essential for tight thrash palm mutes — set threshold just above noise floor, fast decay to avoid choking sustain. If your Mooer has no gate, a Donner Noise Killer or TC Sentry would be a cheap fix (RECOMMENDED — not currently owned)

Threshold 4 · Decay 2

Why these settings

Your Harley Benton ST-20HH has active humbuckers with hot, compressed output similar to EMGs — this actually suits Megadeth's tight, controlled attack well. The Mooer Hornet is a small solid-state modeling combo that won't naturally break up like a cranked JCM800, so we push the gain to 8 and rely on the amp's digital saturation. Mids dropped to 3 for the classic thrash scoop; treble at 7 for pick articulation without fizz. Reverb at 0 — the original is bone dry.

PRO TIPMustaine's right hand is the secret weapon: anchor your palm firmly on the bridge saddles and pick with a stiff, downward attack angle using the thick part of the pick. This mechanical precision creates the machine-gun tightness no EQ setting can replicate.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Mooer hornet BT combo BLK. 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.