Dave Mustaine's guitar strings: the Megadeth thrash rig, sourced
Dave Mustaine has played Cleartone Monster signature strings (SKU 9520, .010 to .052) since 2013. His current live rig, guitar history from Jackson to Dean to Gibson, and every claim's source.
Megadeth · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Dave Mustaine has played Cleartone's Monster signature strings, SKU 9520 in .010 to .052 nickel-plated Light Top Heavy Bottom, since 2013, confirmed by MusicRadar and Guitar World's launch coverage and still sold today. His live rig has run a Neural DSP Quad Cortex into a Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 since at least 2022, replacing an earlier Fractal Axe-FX setup. His main guitar since 2021 is a Gibson Flying V EXP signature model.
Who Dave Mustaine is
David Scott Mustaine, born September 13, 1961, in La Mesa, California, was Metallica's original lead guitarist from 1981 until he was fired in 1983. He founded Megadeth that same year in Los Angeles, and has remained its only constant member across four decades and seventeen studio albums.
Megadeth's run from Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? (1986) through Rust in Peace (1990) and Countdown to Extinction (1992) helped define thrash metal's technical, riff-driven wing, distinct from Metallica's more anthemic direction. The band won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2017 for the title track of Dystopia (2016). Along with Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, Megadeth makes up thrash metal's "Big Four."
Mustaine is also a documented gear obsessive: multiple signature guitar lines across three manufacturers, a signature string set that predates most of his peers' signature strings, and a live rig that has moved from vintage tube Marshalls to a fully modeled setup.
What he plays
The rig, sourced
- Strings
- Cleartone Monster Signature 'Mustaine' Series (SKU 9520), .010-.052 nickel-plated Light Top Heavy Bottom, since 2013.
- Main guitar
- Gibson Dave Mustaine Flying V EXP, his signature model since 2021.
- In development
- A signature 24-fret Gibson Les Paul, teased in interviews since 2023, not yet shipping.
- Live amp rig
- Two Neural DSP Quad Cortex units into a Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700, per a 2022 rig tour.
- Guitar history
- Jackson King V (1980s-2003) then Dean VMNT (signature deal 2007-2021, still occasionally played) before Gibson became his main signature home in 2021.
The 2013 switch to Cleartone
For most of Megadeth's classic era, Mustaine's strings were not part of the public record the way his guitars were. That changed in August 2013, when Cleartone, developed by Everly Brothers guitarist Phil Everly and run at the time out of Burbank, California under the Everly family's music business, launched a signature "Monster" set built around Mustaine. Cleartone is now headquartered in West Bountiful, Utah, per the company's current site, a separate, present-day fact from its Burbank-era founding. Both MusicRadar and Guitar World covered the launch the same week, and both quote Mustaine directly: "I really feel that Cleartone strings are amazing. They are the best sounding strings out there, which is why I use them exclusively on all my guitars."
The set, catalog number 9520, ships in a .010 to .052 Light Top Heavy Bottom gauge (individual strings 10, 13, 17, 30, 42, 52), treated with Cleartone's VolumeBOOST and ToneLOCK coating technology. Cleartone's pitch at launch: up to 36 percent more volume than an uncoated string, and three to five times the string life, without the slick, gummy feel some coated strings are known for.
More than a decade later, Cleartone's own homepage no longer spotlights the Mustaine line the way it once did, current signature-artist billing on the site favors Chevelle's Pete Loeffler, but the 9520 set remains listed for sale under Mustaine's name. That is worth knowing if you go looking for it: it is a legacy signature set, not the brand's current marketing focus, but still findable.
A heavier bottom end for a rhythm-heavy catalog
A .010-.052 Light Top Heavy Bottom set is a deliberate compromise. The .010 top strings keep bends, vibrato, and lead lines fast and easy under the fingers, the same job a standard .010 top does on any lighter set. The heavy .052 low E, by contrast, is built for aggressive downpicked rhythm work: more mass under the pick means more low-end punch and less flub when you are palm-muting hard eighth notes at tempo, which is most of what a thrash rhythm guitarist does all night.
Megadeth's catalog spans both E standard and D standard tuning across different eras and songs. A heavier bottom string gives a tech more headroom to detune without the low string going slack and lifeless, which is one reason heavier hybrid gauges like this show up across metal generally, not just in Mustaine's own setup. If you are chasing a similar feel for a lower-tuned rhythm guitar, D'Addario's NYXL1052 uses the identical .010-.052 gauge breakdown in a widely available nickel-wound set, and Ernie Ball's Beefy Slinky Cobalt (.011-.054) is a common next step up for D-standard players who want even more low-end weight.
Electric guitars
Current main · Gibson signature · 2021-present
Gibson Dave Mustaine Flying V EXP
Mahogany body and neck, 25.5-inch scale, ebony fretboard with a compound radius, 24 medium jumbo frets, Explorer-style headstock with Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners, Graph Tech nut, Tune-O-Matic bridge, and Mustaine's own Seymour Duncan Thrash Factor pickup set. As of this writing, Gibson's page for the Antique Natural finish shows it as no longer available and kept up for reference; a Silver Metallic finish was also part of the original release.
In development · Teased since 2023
Gibson signature 24-fret Les Paul
Described by Mustaine in a 2023 interview, recapped by Killer Guitar Rigs, as carrying his own Seymour Duncan pickups, Grover tuners, and a shaved neck heel for solo access past the 21st fret, unusual for a Les Paul. His own insignia replaces the standard Gibson Custom Shop headstock inlay. Not confirmed shipped as of that recap; this run found no newer update either way, so treat current 2026 availability as unconfirmed rather than assuming it's still in development.
Source: Killer Guitar Rigs, recapping a 2023 Mustaine interview, 2023-06-20.
2007 to 2021 signature · Still occasionally played
Dean VMNT
Debuted at NAMM in January 2007, built on the V shape from his earlier Jackson signature. V-shaped mahogany body, active Seymour Duncan Live Wire humbuckers. Dean's current artist roster no longer includes him following his 2021 move to Gibson, though he has continued to be seen playing a Dean VMNT as recently as 2025 alongside his newer Gibson gear, so this reads as an addition rather than a clean handoff. The commonly repeated claim of a limited 150-unit signed USA run could not be independently confirmed this run and is not repeated here.
Source: The Story of your Instruments, Dave Mustaine Guitars.
1980s to 2003 · The classic-era guitar
Jackson King V
The V shape most associated with Mustaine's classic era, including Rust in Peace (1990). Guitar World's 2026 feature quotes Mustaine's own account of leaving Jackson: the label gave a guitar endorsement to a drummer, which he took as a sign the roster had gotten too diluted ("they started giving their guitars out to everyone"). He has described the split differently in other interviews over the years, including a dispute tied to Fender's acquisition of Jackson, so the exact cause is best read as multiply-reported rather than one settled story. He came to Jackson around the mid-1980s, signed with ESP in 2003, and has said he tried to buy the Jackson brand outright on three separate occasions.
Source: Guitar World, Dave Mustaine on why he left Jackson Guitars, 2026-07-03.
Amps and live rig
Current · Since at least 2022
Neural DSP Quad Cortex (x2) into Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700
A rig-tour video with guitar tech Brian Jones documents the full switch to two Quad Cortex modelers, leaving behind an earlier Fractal Axe-FX rig. Signal chain: Shure Axient wireless, a Radial JX44 switcher, the Quad Cortex units, then the PowerStage 700 driving onstage cabs plus a direct feed to front-of-house. Megadeth still performs with a wall of real cabs onstage for the room and the show.
Source: Guitar World, Dave Mustaine's full switch to Neural DSP's Quad Cortex, 2022-10-14.
Earlier career · Long-running relationship
Marshall JCM800 and JVM410H
Megadeth's own site confirms the JVM410H directly: a Scorpion Q+A column on megadeth.com states the JVM410 "is used for all recordings, clinics, small shows, some television-related things," with a Fractal Axe-FX (since replaced by the Quad Cortex) handling most live shows at the time. A separate Megadeth blog post names the signature Marshall 1960DM cabinet (1960A-DM and 1960B-DM configurations) directly, quoting Jim Marshall. Marshall's own current endorser page for Mustaine lists the JVM410 head plus a 1960AV angled cabinet and a 1960B base cabinet, the same angled-plus-base pairing as the 1960DM. That page does not carry the quote widely attributed to Mustaine, "I've played Marshall forever, it's just I established the band on Marshall sound," so that exact wording is repeated across gear-history sources but unverified against Marshall's own copy. JCM800 use on Megadeth's earliest albums is widely reported but not independently confirmed here.
Source: Megadeth.com, Scorpion Q+A 157, Megadeth.com, 1960DM cabinet announcement, Marshall.com, Dave Mustaine endorser page.
Strings
| Cleartone Monster (Mustaine) | D'Addario NYXL1052 | Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky Cobalt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gauge | .010-.052 | .010-.052 | .011-.054 |
| Wrap alloy | Nickel-plated steel | Nickel-plated steel | Cobalt-iron alloy |
| Documented via | MusicRadar + Guitar World, 2013 launch | D'Addario's own product page | Ernie Ball's own product page |
| Role here | Mustaine's own documented signature set | Same gauge breakdown, CYS-reviewed | Heavier option for lower tunings |
Documented since 2013 · Signature set
Cleartone Monster Signature "Mustaine" Series (SKU 9520)
Nickel-plated steel, .010-.052 Light Top Heavy Bottom, ToneLOCK coated. No CYS review page for this exact Cleartone set yet, so it is cited directly by ASIN below.
Source: MusicRadar, Dave Mustaine unveils signature Cleartone strings, 2013-08-08.
Same gauge · CYS reviewed
D'Addario NYXL1052 (.010-.052)
The identical .010-.052 Light Top Heavy Bottom gauge breakdown in a widely stocked, CYS-reviewed nickel-wound set, if you want this exact feel with a set we have tested.
Source: D'Addario, NYXL1052 product page.
If you want this rig
Monster Signature 'Mustaine' Series (.010-.052)
Why this one: Mustaine's own documented signature string since 2013, confirmed by MusicRadar and Guitar World's launch coverage and still sold today.
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