# Bolt Thrower IVth Crusade guitar tone



## ProphetOfHatred (Sep 14, 2014)

Really bored so yeah, anyone have any idea how to get that sound?


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## MrNotFlyWhiteGuy (Sep 14, 2014)

I know that both guitarists use the same really old rack setups. I like Hughes and kettner for imitating it. that being said, for the most part their absolutely massive and ridiculous sound comes from their writing style.


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## Fretless (Sep 14, 2014)

I've always felt that the kind of tone they use would be doable with like a boss HM-2 and a good bogner uberschall.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Sep 15, 2014)

I'm also curious. Everyone know what they used on the albums released after 4th Crusade, but anything before that seems impossible to find out. 

I agree with Fretless that it sounds like a distortion pedal, but not a HM-2.


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## Albionic (Sep 15, 2014)

I love that album 

I keep reading they used marshall 9010 power amp (i assume they mean the 9100 is there a 9010?) and a boss gx700 preamp/fx processor.


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## Ancient (Sep 15, 2014)

I remember reading a blog from the drummer (who does their recordings) where he discussed their guitar tones at various stages. For the most part they used rack units either a boss one that I can't remember (for the older stuff) or the ADA MP-1 (for the newer stuff) into 9100 series power amps and then into Marshall 1960 cabs, recorded with 57's. Real basic setup, the big key is the bass tone. I'm not sure what set up they've used but that to me is what gives them that thick growling tone.

If you want a simple single head setup that NAILS the early bolt thrower tone look into a Peavey VTM 120. First time I heard / played through one I was like holy carp this is the Bolt Thrower tone.


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## Tysonimmortal (Sep 15, 2014)

Yeah, and old-school BC Rich guitars with the BOSS and Marshall racks. Their gear list is on their official website. I don't think its changed since the early 90's.


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## Ancient (Sep 15, 2014)

From their website:

THOMSON, Barry
Rank: Guitarist
Equipment: BC Rich Warlock, Jackson Kelly, Boss GX700, Marshall 9040 200w power amp, 4 x Marshall 4x12

WARD, Gavin
Rank: Guitarist
Equipment: BC Rich Virgin/Beast, Boss GX700, Marshall 9040 200w power amp, 4 x Marshall 4x12

BENCH, Jo
Rank: Bassist
Equipment: BC Rich Ironbird, Peavey T-Max, Ibanez Tube Screamer, 2 x Laney 2x15


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## Albionic (Sep 15, 2014)

I read in an interview the bass player used an old marshall jcm 800 guitar head how true that is I don't know


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Sep 15, 2014)

Ancient said:


> From their website:
> 
> THOMSON, Barry
> Rank: Guitarist
> ...



The GX700 was released 3 - 4 years after 4th Crusade, so that isn't it.


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## Ancient (Sep 15, 2014)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> The GX700 was released 3 - 4 years after 4th Crusade, so that isn't it.



Valid point, I've had very little luck finding live pics from that era to decipher what they might have been using. I found one pic but all I can see is a marshall logo on rack gear. It's very possible they were using some kind of Marshall rack pre like an ADA MP-1 or maybe even some kind of Peavey rack mount preamp as Jo seems to have used peavey for bass gear for a long long time.


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## Wookieslayer (Sep 15, 2014)

Wouldn't be surprised if they used some ADA MP-1 stuff. When I used to have my ADA Microcab, running my TightMetal into that, it would definitely get me in the ballpark of the 4th Crusade tones. 

Though I wouldn't be surprised either if they just used some Marshalls in the studio with a Metal Zone or something like that


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## Albionic (Sep 16, 2014)

heres a link to an interview where jo states he used the jcm 800 on the bass. whether that was on the 4th crusade or not it doesn't say.

Bolt Thrower : Interviews

I'm quite keen to try a gx700 now though


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## Loomer (Sep 16, 2014)

Is it possibly it could be the Boss GL-100? This is just an unsubstantiated, wild guess, mind you.


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## Ancient (Sep 16, 2014)

Albionic said:


> heres a link to an interview where jo states he used the jcm 800 on the bass. whether that was on the 4th crusade or not it doesn't say.
> 
> Bolt Thrower : Interviews
> 
> I'm quite keen to try a gx700 now though



I'll have to read that later today, but jcm 800 on bass definitely can sound sick on bass. 



Loomer said:


> Is it possibly it could be the Boss GL-100? This is just an unsubstantiated, wild guess, mind you.



Anything is possible since there's very little documentation available.


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## ProphetOfHatred (Sep 16, 2014)

Yeah anythings possible. I love the tone on the album so much, it is quite similar to a HM-2 but somehow they manage to have way more definition/tightness than any of the notorious HM-2 driven bands.


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## Ancient (Sep 16, 2014)

Well in this video:



They seem to be using JCM 900 or split channel 800 heads, not rack gear. But this is live videos put to a recorded track and in the solo you can hear double tracking. But it also kinda sounds like a good ole boss harmonist pedal which was incorporated into some of their rack gear. So yet again its kinda stumping.

I just went through all the 91-93 era live vids I could find and the stage left guitarist is definitely using Marshall heads, single line of knobs (too many to be a typical 800, looks like a split channel 800 or a 900). The stage right guitarist in some videos uses Marshalls but in other has some weird funky looking side by side rack thing on top of a Marshall stack, and somebody in there has some effects going on so either one of them had pedals or a rack unit.

I still say if you want an easy way to nail the "bolt thrower" tone to me (I may be putting it more akin to their later Mercenary / No Guts No Glory tone) a peavey VTM120 is the way to go. Listen here from 2:06 on, this for sure is a VTM120.


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## Selvmord (Sep 17, 2014)

cant make out much from this pic


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## Selvmord (Sep 17, 2014)

i can also swear to god i read or saw an interview where they said they used Tube Works pedals back in the day.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Sep 17, 2014)

Selvmord said:


> cant make out much from this pic



That's the GX700 rig. Basically the same rig they've used since the mid '90s, but still a few years after 4th Crusade.


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## Tysonimmortal (Sep 17, 2014)

If its not the GX700 or an older BOSS unit into a marshall, I'd guess a Metal Zone'd Jcm 800 or 900. There wasn't many gear choices for death metal in 1992.


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## ProphetOfHatred (Sep 18, 2014)

Tysonimmortal said:


> If its not the GX700 or an older BOSS unit into a marshall, I'd guess a Metal Zone'd Jcm 800 or 900. There wasn't many gear choices for death metal in 1992.



Metal Zone? Really?


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## Loomer (Sep 22, 2014)

ProphetOfHatred said:


> Metal Zone? Really?



Never, ever underestimate the Metal Zone. The EQ is a lot more flexible than people give it credit for, and thus it can really sound amazing when dialed in correctly. With that said, however, I have my doubts whether that pedal would be the thing to use. With the right amp, it might work.


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## redragon (Sep 24, 2014)

Agreed, that is a crushing tone.


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## Hollowman (Sep 24, 2014)

Thanks, I am listening to them now as we speak.. Guitar World I believe did an interview with them back in the day.. They could have been using a pedal or a combination of pedals to get their tone.. Also, What about the possibility of a ProCo Turbo Rat? I used a JCM800 2203/Rat combination in the early 90's and had something similar to this.


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## lethal bedpan (Jan 29, 2022)

I can give you circa 90 tone
hh amp- boss pedals- compressor 
I got this from the drummer.


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## spaghetti_time (Jan 29, 2022)

lethal bedpan said:


> I can give you circa 90 tone
> hh amp- boss pedals- compressor
> I got this from the drummer.



This makes sense given the timeframe and that Bill Steer (Carcass) was using a HH Amp around this time too. Actually, I'm pretty sure Tim Smith (the leader of the starry skies) used one as his main amp throughout the Cardiacs career.


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## gunch (Jan 29, 2022)

ProphetOfHatred said:


> Metal Zone? Really?



Dude None So Vile is a metal zone with a jcm800 power section


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 2, 2022)

Old post but yeah, 4th Crusade's tone sounds very cold, buzzsawy, and artificial, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a Metal Zone. I kinda assumed all these years that it was a Metal Zone > Marshall 9000 Preamp > Marshall 9000 (or Valvestate) Power amp, given they were using rack rigs even in the early '90s before the Boss GX. 

...Also listen to At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul. That was a Metal Zone > Peavey Supreme. Sounds very similar, but with more mids and treble.


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## Accoun (Feb 2, 2022)

Ancient said:


> Real basic setup, the big key is the bass tone. I'm not sure what set up they've used but that to me is what gives them that thick growling tone.



Not sure which era, but in one of these interviews she mentions an Ibanez PD-7.
https://uglybass.wordpress.com/2016/09/27/jo-bench-bolt-thrower-collected-interview-snippets/
(the original page is dead, link is an aggregate combining multiple sources)


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 2, 2022)

lethal bedpan said:


> I can give you circa 90 tone
> hh amp- boss pedals- compressor
> I got this from the drummer.





spaghetti_time said:


> This makes sense given the timeframe and that Bill Steer (Carcass) was using a HH Amp around this time too. Actually, I'm pretty sure Tim Smith (the leader of the starry skies) used one as his main amp throughout the Cardiacs career.



Honestly this doesn't seem out the question since I found these pics.







Anyone know what era this is?  



Accoun said:


> Not sure which era, but in one of these interviews she mentions an Ibanez PD-7.
> https://uglybass.wordpress.com/2016/09/27/jo-bench-bolt-thrower-collected-interview-snippets/
> (the original page is dead, link is an aggregate combining multiple sources)



Seems like she "used" to used a Marshall JCM800

http://www.boltthrower.com/interviews/joGD05.php

Which would mean she potentially used a JCM up until 1999.


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## Loomer (Feb 10, 2022)

lethal bedpan said:


> I can give you circa 90 tone
> hh amp- boss pedals- compressor
> I got this from the drummer.


How?! Through a Ouija board!?


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## Werecow (Feb 10, 2022)

Loomer said:


> How?! Through a Ouija board!?


Andrew Whale was the drummer for those early albums.

This is him in Memorium, who have the Bolt Thrower vocalist as well.


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## akinari (Feb 10, 2022)

I've been obsessed with the For Victory and Crusade tones for a long time, and one thing I noticed is that the quad tracking really makes the tone a lot fuller. When you hear it cut down to 1 or 2 tracks, it's a lot thinner and buzzier. I would try a Metalzone into a slightly dirty SS amp.


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