Tone library / Metallica / Creeping death

Creeping death amp settings — Ibanez Tb15r

The Metallica guitar tone for “Creeping death”, dialed in for a Ibanez Tb15r with a Ibanez ax120. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984)

Original rig

Marshall JCM800 2203 (Jose Arredondo mod) → Marshall 4x12, Gibson Explorer with Dirty Fingers humbucker (bridge)

Tight, aggressive thrash rhythm with scooped mids, cutting high-end bite, and controlled low-end thump

Amp settings — Ibanez Tb15r

CHANNELDrive/Distortion channel

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	5
Mid	2
Treble	8
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	6

Don’t have a Ibanez Tb15r? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 or similar distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. The TB15R's distortion channel lacks the tight saturation of a modded JCM800. A DS-1 or MT-2 into the clean channel will get you closer to the aggressive attack and note definition. Set amp to clean channel with gain at 2, bass 5, mid 3, treble 7 if using this pedal.

Tone 7 · Level 7 · Dist 6

Why these settings

The TB15R is a practice-level solid-state amp with limited gain saturation compared to a cranked modded Marshall. I pushed gain to 8 and treble to 8 to compensate for the amp's darker, softer voicing. Mids dropped to 2 (vs the original's 3) because the TB15R doesn't have the same mid-forward bark—scooping further helps approximate the thrash sound. Reverb must stay at 0; the original is bone dry.

PRO TIPPalm mute hard and pick aggressively right over the bridge pickup pole pieces—Hetfield's attack is half the tone. If the amp sounds fizzy at high gain, back gain down to 7 and dig in harder with your pick hand instead.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Ibanez Tb15r. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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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.