🎸 Hard-Rock · 1970s

The Boys Are Back in Town (Riff · Distorted) — Guitar Tone

by Thin Lizzy · riff

The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy guitar tone is built on a Marshall JMP 1959 Super Lead — articulate overdrive, dialed in at gain 6/10, bass 6, mid 7, treble 6, presence 5.5 (community-researched baseline). Full breakdown below — then adapt every knob to your exact guitar and amp, free.

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Amp settings (0–10)

6
GAIN
6
BASS
7
MID
6
TREBLE
5.5
PRESENCE
2.5
REVERB

Community-researched baseline. Your rig is different — GuitarToneAdapt re-dials every knob for your specific guitar, amp and pickups.

Original gear

Amp: Marshall JMP 1959 Super Lead — articulate overdrive

Pickups

bridge/neck (Les Paul humbucker)

Effects / signal chain

distortion

Tone character

articulate mid-forward crunch, twin-guitar harmony, melodic, warm Les Paul

Recording context

studio

How it’s played

articulate mid-forward Marshall crunch distortion. This shapes how hard the amp is pushed and where the EQ sits for the The Boys Are Back in Town sound.

What makes the The Boys Are Back in Town part tricky

twin-guitar harmony, 3rds above melody, articulate picking. GuitarToneAdapt gets the tone right so you can focus on the playing.

Note: The Boys Are Back in Town is an articulate, MID-forward Marshall crunch (Les Paul into a Super Lead) — gain ~6, mids up (~7), don’t over-gain the front end. The signature is the twin-guitar harmony (a 3rd above the melody); layer two parts if you can., Use a humbucker into a moderate Marshall crunch, push the mids, keep gain controlled, and layer/harmonise the lead in 3rds., Settings are community-researched starting points, not official recall sheets.

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Settings are community-researched estimates, not official. GuitarToneAdapt adapts them to your gear. guitartoneadapt.com