Bullet for My Valentine's gear on The Poison (2005)

Bullet For My Valentine - The Poison (2005)

In 2005, the musical landscape was changing. The electric guitar was beginning to regain popularity and a new wave of heavy bands were emerging. This movement was titled Metalcore - a combination of extreme Metal and Hardcore Punk.

One of the bands leading the charge from the UK was South Wales-based Bullet For My Valentine. Having already made waves on the UK Metal scene with their debut EP, the band entered the studio in late 2004 to begin work on their debut album with renowned Metal producer, Colin Richardson at the helm.

The Poison was released in October 2005 and lit the torch for the band to become one of the UK's biggest Metal exports.

Bullet For My Valentine's guitars on The Poison

Bullet For My Valentine are a twin guitar band, taking inspiration from their heroes such as Iron Maiden and Metallica. Frontman Matt Tuck shares lead guitar duties with co-guitarist Michael "Padge" Paget, however during the recording of The Poison, all the rhythm guitar, and even bass guitar parts, were tracked solely by Tuck. This approach provided a tighter overall sound, with more consistency in both note attack and technique.

For the recording of the album, all the guitars were tuned to Drop C (C G C F A D).

Bullet for My Valentine performs at The Knitting Factory in New York NY on Nov 28 2005. Michael "Padge" Paget (l) and Matt Tuck (r). Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy

Jackson DK-1 Custom

Matt Tuck's Jackson DK-1 Custom, as used on The Poison. Credit: Kevin Papworth

It's not known if this particular Jackson DK-1 Custom was owned by Matt Tuck or if it belonged to the studio, but it is the only guitar that is known to have definitely been used on the The Poison sessions. The guitar is loaded with a set of EMG pickups, with an 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck.

The guitar, with its very distinctive blue cracked glass finish was subsequently owned by Kevin Papworth of Acid Reign and Lawnmower Deth. It was later sold in 2017 at a charity auction.

Jackson RR5 / RR1T (Matt Tuck)

Matt Tuck was often seen playing a white and pinstripe Jackson RR5 and his black RR1T during The Poison-era live shows. It is unclear if these guitars were used in the album sessions, but they were the main guitars for the live gigs.

Both are loaded with an EMG 81/85 combo.

ESP LTD DV8-R Flying V (Padge)

During the live tour for The Poison, Padge was also seen playing an ESP LTD DV8-R, which was, at the time, a Dave Mustaine signature model. The DV8-R came stock with Seymour Duncan pickups but it is believed that Padge swapped these out for his preferred EMG 81/85 pickups.

The DV8-R was one of his main live guitars and later, after Mustaine parted ways with ESP, became the template for his very own signature model, the MP-600, which was based off the design of the DV8-R.

Gibson Flying V (Padge)

The other main touring guitar for Padge was his white Gibson Flying V. There's not a lot of information known about this particular guitar – other than the colour – and that you can see from video footage from the band's ‘Live at Brixton’ DVD that it still appears to have the stock Gibson humbuckers.

Bullet For My Valentine's amps on The Poison

The recording sessions for The Poison were fairly straight forward in terms of amp-related equipment, with one main amp being used for the heavy tones and one amp for the cleans:

Peavey 5150/6505

Peavey 6505 owned by Bullet For My Valentine's Matt Tuck. Credit: Essex Recording Studios / Reverb

The main amp used for all the heavy tones on The Poison was the Peavey 5150/6505. This amp was the staple amp for Metalcore sounds at the time and appeared on countless records across the genre. 

The 5105 is known for its tight, high gain tone which is perfect for downtuned Metal riffing.

The 5101/6505 was recorded with a combination of a Shure SM57 and a Sennheiser MD421 microphone.

Fender Cyber Twin

All the clean tones on the album, including the iconic Tears Don't Fall, were recorded using a fairly affordable digital modelling combo, the Fender Cyber Twin. This is a 2x12 Fender combo that has built in modelling and effects capabilities.

The clean parts were thickened up with the built in chorus and delay effects of the amp.

What pedals and effects did Bullet For My Valentine use on The Poison?

When it comes to pedals, the band chose a bit more of a straightforward tonal approach to this album. Pedals were using sparingly and only when required for specific roles.

Ibanez Tubescreamer

For every heavy guitar part on the album, the Ibanez Tubescreamer is present. Pairing a TS style overdrive with an overdriven 5150 style amp is a go-to recording combination for any metalcore band.

This was used to tighten up the amp a little and add a slight boost to the input stage. The pedal was run with the gain on zero so it's not adding any additional gain, but it is being used as a tone shaping tool.

Morley Bad Horsie Wah

The wah pedal of choice during this era of the bands career was the Morley Bad Horsie. Both Matt Tuck and Padge used one when playing guitar solos. The switchless design of the pedal also make it a great addition to their live rigs.

Fender Cyber Twin Modulation and Delay

There are a few tracks that feature some modulated and delay-soaked guitar parts, however these were not created using pedals. Instead, the band opted to use the Fender Cyber Twin amp and use the built in modulation and delay and build them into the tone.

You can hear examples of this on tracks such as “Tears Don't Fall” and “The End”.

Bullet For My Valentine's gear on The Poison 20th anniversary tour

In 2025 the band hit the road to celebrate 20 years of The Poison, and played the entire album from start to finish.

As part of this, the band brought back certain pieces of iconic gear that had not been toured since the original Poison tour in 2005/2006.

Matt Tuck was back playing his Jackson RR5 and RR1T guitars on stage and Padge brought the Gibson Flying V back on tour alongside his current ESP signature models. During the show Tuck would alternate between the white and black RR V guitars and Padge would switch between white and black ESP models and his original Gibson V.

The big difference is in the backline. Rather than using 5150 amps live, the band are using profiles of them inside Neural DSP Quad Cortex's. Both Matt and Padge are running a paid of Quad Cortex's, one main and one backup with all the patch and tone changes done by midi which is sync'd to the click track.

Get Bullet For My Valentine's The Poison guitar sound on a budget

The Poison guitar tone is a very simple one to chase because all the gear that is required is readily available and at affordable prices. Even some of the equipment the band used on the subsequent tour was on the affordable side of things.

The main components you'd need to get this tone on a budget is a good dual humbucker guitar (bonus points if it has active pickups), a high gain amp and a TS style pedal. You can also add some chorus and delay for the modulated cleans.

Guitar

If you want the correct visual aesthetics on a budget, you'd be missing out if you didn't check out the Jackson JS32T RR models. This is an offset Rhodes V style, just like Matt Tucks RR5, and it comes in both white and black.

ESP and LTD no longer produce the Padge models, and prices on the second hand market are creeping up towards 4 figures. However, Jackson offer the JS32Y King V which will give you a similar vibe to Padge's trusty V.

Amp

Real 5150 heads can command high prices, however Peavey now produce the 6505MH which is a mini 20w version of the classic high gain amp. This comes in at around the £600 mark in the UK and will deliver all those classic 5150 tones you need.

Alternatively you could turn your attention to something in the modelling world that features some high gain amp models such as the Line 6 Catalyst or the Positive Grid Spark.

Pedals

One essential pedal to pair with your 5150 style amp is an Ibanez Tubescreamer which remain fairly affordable across the board. You can also get a range of even more budget friendly TS style clones. Brand isn't important here, you just need it to boost and tighten up the amp.

[product=formula-b-4558-od]
Featuring the same Texas Instruments RC4558P chip found in some of the earliest examples of the TS808, the 4558 OD sounds absolutely incredible, giving a rich, gritty, crunchy sound that can cut through the mix.
[/product]

All the other effects came from a digital amp but any chorus and delay pedal will get you in the same ballpark. Alternatively you could explore a multi FX option such as the NUX MG-400 which would give you multiple effects in a single pedal.

[product=kink-guitar-pedals-smashed-kraken]
The Smashed Kraken is a BBD (bucket-brigade delay) chorus based on the Boss CE-2. The gorgeous BBD character is really organic, lush and sweet sounding, and the Blend control adds an extra level of versatility, allowing you to mix in some of your original signal.
[/product]

[product=nobels-del-mini-delay]
The Nobels DEL-Mini is a 3-in-1 stereo delay pedal offering Tape, Analogue and Digital modes in a compact form factor: it's perfect for a pedalboard that's already bursting at the seams! Select from either pristine mono or spacious stereo imaging, and true or buffered trails bypass modes to tailor the DEL-Mini to your setup. Use its tap-tempo feature to dial in your repeats, and know exactly how it's set on a dark stage with handy glow-in-the-dark pointers.
[/product]

[product=metalcore-mayhem-jam-pack-volume-1]
Unleash your heaviest riffs with Metalcore Mayhem: Jam Pack Volume 1 - a high-impact collection of professionally recorded backing tracks crafted for guitarists who live for breakdowns, chugs, and soaring, melodic leads. This downloadable digital pack of five Metalcore backing tracks is your ultimate creative springboard, saving you the hassle of programming drums and giving you time back to come up with that killer riff!
[/product]

Bullet For My Valentine's The Poison track listing

1. "Intro"
2. "Her Voice Resides"
3. "4 Words (To Choke Upon)"
4. "Tears Don't Fall"
5. "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)"
6. "Hit the Floor"
7. "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)"
   
8. "Hand of Blood"
9. "Room 409"
10. "The Poison"
11. "10 Years Today"
12. "Cries in Vein"
13. "Spit You Out"
14. "The End"