Tone library / Metallica / Fade to Black

Fade to Black amp settings — Marshall MG30CFX

The Metallica guitar tone for “Fade to Black”, dialed in for a Marshall MG30CFX with a Ibanez GIO GRG170DX. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984) — main heavy rhythm and outro lead tone

Original rig

Modified Marshall JCM800 2203 / José Arredondo mod, Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9 boost, Gibson Flying V with Seymour Duncan Invader/PAF pickups, Marshall 4x12 cab

Saturated, scooped thrash rhythm with aggressive bite and tight palm-muted low end

Amp settings — Marshall MG30CFX

CHANNELOD-2

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	7
Mid	3
Treble	7
Reverb	2
Master	4

Don’t have a Marshall MG30CFX? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS9)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; tightens low-end tracking for thrash riffing

Drive 0 · Tone 6 · Level 9

Why these settings

The Marshall MG30CFX lacks a physical presence control so presence is set to null, and OD-2 provides the necessary cascaded preamp saturation. Mids are pulled down to 3 to recreate the Ride the Lightning scooped character while bass and treble are pushed to 7 for sharp attack on your Ibanez ceramic humbuckers. Clean intro/verse: switch amp channel to Clean, select the neck pickup, and roll guitar volume to 7.

PRO TIPStrict all-downstroke palm muting right against the bridge saddles is essential to get the percussive, chugging low-end bite heard on the heavy rhythm sections.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Marshall MG30CFX. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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