Tone library / Metallica / Creeping death

Creeping death amp settings — Harley benton 20mfx

The Metallica guitar tone for “Creeping death”, dialed in for a Harley benton 20mfx with a Ibanez GRGR330EX-BKF. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984)

Original rig

Marshall JCM800 2203 (Jose Arredondo modded) → Marshall 4x12, Gibson Explorer with Dirty Fingers humbucker, no pedals

Tight and percussive, scooped mids, aggressive palm muting, high-gain saturation, articulate pick attack, dry, crushing low end, razor-sharp clarity

Amp settings — Harley benton 20mfx

CHANNELHigh Gain / Lead channel (or 'OD2' if labeled)BRIGHToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	5
Mid	2
Treble	7
Presence	5
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Harley Benton 20MFX is a solid-state practice amp with digital modeling—it lacks the tube sag and harmonic complexity of a JCM800, so I dropped mids to 2 (vs original's 3) to approximate the scooped 80s thrash sound without muddiness. Bass reduced to 5 (from 6) because small speakers flub out with too much low end. Your Ibanez has hot ceramic humbuckers similar in output to the Dirty Fingers, so no gain compensation needed.

PRO TIPPalm mute directly over the bridge saddles, not further up the strings—Hetfield's machine-gun chug comes from extremely tight muting with the picking hand anchored hard against the bridge plate.

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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.