Tone library / Metallica / Fade to black

Fade to black amp settings — Marshall Mg30fx

The Metallica guitar tone for “Fade to black”, dialed in for a Marshall Mg30fx with a Esp ldt M-400. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984) — heavy rhythm sections, E♭ Standard tuning

Original rig

Gibson Flying V → Boss DS-1 → Marshall JCM800 2203 (Hetfield rhythm); ESP through Marshall with Cry Baby wah (Hammett leads)

Tight, aggressive 80s thrash crunch with cutting high-mids and controlled low-end — not modern scooped, more raw and punchy

Amp settings — Marshall Mg30fx

CHANNELOD1 (lower-gain overdrive channel)

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	6
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Joyo Extreme Metal

This is your primary gain source — amp set to OD1 at low gain acts as a clean-ish platform. The Joyo Extreme is voiced more modern/scooped than a DS-1, so keep the Low knob conservative to avoid mud.

Level 6 · Low 4 · High 5 · Dist 6

Why these settings

The MG30FX's OD channels are fizzy and lack the JCM800's natural midrange punch, so I'm using OD1 at low gain as a cleaner platform and letting the Joyo Extreme provide the saturation — this avoids the mud of double-stacked gain stages. Mids pushed to 6 compensates for both the MG's naturally scooped voicing and the Joyo's modern scoop. Your ESP's active-style hot output means we don't need as much pedal gain as a passive Flying V would.

PRO TIPTune to E♭ Standard before dialing in — half the tightness of this tone comes from the tuning. Palm mute directly over the bridge saddles, not further up the strings, to get Hetfield's percussive chunk without losing note definition.

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These settings are for a Marshall Mg30fx. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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