Tone library / Megadeth / Sweating Bullets

Sweating Bullets amp settings — Fender Squier sp10

The Megadeth guitar tone for “Sweating Bullets”, dialed in for a Fender Squier sp10 with a Gibson Les Paul Special. Studio version, Countdown to Extinction (1992)

Original rig

Marshall JCM800, Gibson Flying V with Seymour Duncan Livewire pickups, ISP Decimator noise gate

Mid-scooped thrash crunch with tight low-end, aggressive pick attack, and controlled saturation for palm-muted clarity

Amp settings — Fender Squier sp10

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	10
Bass	7
Mid	4
Treble	8
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	5

Don’t have a Fender Squier sp10? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Distortion Pedal (Boss DS-1 or similar)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. The SP10 cannot produce high-gain thrash tones on its own; a distortion pedal is essential. A Boss DS-1 (~$50 new) or Joyo JF-02 (~$30) will get you 70% there. Set amp gain to 3-4 when using this pedal.

Tone 6 · Level 7 · Dist 8

Why these settings

The Fender Squier SP10 is a 10-watt solid-state practice amp with no overdrive channel—it will not produce Marshall JCM800 saturation under any circumstance. I have maxed gain and pushed treble to extract every bit of grit the amp offers, but the tone will remain thin and clean compared to the original. Your Les Paul Special's humbuckers help (hotter than Mustaine's Livewires are bright), so I cut treble by 1 from a Marshall baseline and boosted bass by 1 to compensate for the SP10's scooped, fizzy character. Without a distortion pedal, this tone is unobtainable.

PRO TIPMustaine's 'Sweating Bullets' tone lives in the picking hand—use aggressive downstrokes with the pick angled slightly, and mute hard with the palm right at the bridge saddles to get that tight, percussive 'chunk' even on a clean amp.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Squier sp10. 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.