Tone library / Metallica / Fade to black

Fade to black amp settings — Line 6 Spider v 60 mkii

The Metallica guitar tone for “Fade to black”, dialed in for a Line 6 Spider v 60 mkii with a Washburn XM-STD2. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984) — rhythm and lead sections

Original rig

Gibson Flying V → Boss DS-1 → Marshall JCM800 2203 (Hetfield rhythm); Hammett's lead used neck pickup + Cry Baby wah

Tight, aggressive 80s thrash crunch with mid-forward bite; solo has warm, singing wah-filtered vocal quality

Amp settings — Line 6 Spider v 60 mkii

CHANNELMetal (or Insane for heavier sections) — Spider V's closest voicing to cranked JCM800 with DS-1 boost

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Spider V Built-in Wah (for Hammett solo)

Park the wah in the 'up' (treble) position — don't rock it. This filters the tone for Hammett's warm, vocal lead sound. Use toe-down position, roughly 70-80% of travel.

Position 8 · Mix 10

02Spider V Built-in Noise Gate

Tightens palm mutes and kills hum between phrases — essential for thrash tightness

Threshold 4 · Decay 3

Why these settings

The Spider V's Metal channel approximates a hot-rodded Marshall with built-in gain staging, so no external DS-1 is needed — the gain is already baked in. I pulled bass down from the original's 5 to 4 because the Spider's digital low-end can get flubby on palm mutes. Mid pushed to 6 (original was 5) to compensate for the Spider's slightly scooped Metal voicing versus a real JCM800's natural mid-hump. For the clean intro, switch to Clean channel with gain at 2, bass 5, mid 5, treble 6, reverb 2.

PRO TIPFor Hammett's solo, switch to neck pickup and engage the parked wah — the combination of neck pickup warmth plus the wah's fixed treble peak creates that singing, almost human-voice quality. Roll your tone knob to 6 during the solo for extra smoothness.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Line 6 Spider v 60 mkii. 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.