Tone library / Metallica / Fade to black

Fade to black amp settings — Rocktile Scream-15

The Metallica guitar tone for “Fade to black”, dialed in for a Rocktile Scream-15 with a Winzz Hss guitar. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984) — clean rhythm tone (intro/verses)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ + Gibson Les Paul Custom (1969, stock passive humbuckers, neck pickup) — no pedals for clean sections, amp reverb only

Warm, glassy clean with gentle sparkle and natural reverb — touch-sensitive dynamics

Amp settings — Rocktile Scream-15

CHANNELCleanBRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	7
Mid	5
Treble	5
Reverb	4
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE8 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Rocktile Scream-15 is a Marshall-voiced solid-state amp, brighter and less compressed than the original Mesa Mark IIC+ (which is warm, mid-forward, tight low-end). To compensate: bass pushed to 7 (vs original 5.5) for body, treble dropped to 5 (vs original 7) to kill brittle highs, gain set to 2 for clean headroom. Your HSS guitar's neck humbucker (if coil-split, use full humbucker mode) sits close to the Les Paul's warmth but lacks output — keep volume at 10, roll tone to 8 for a rounder top-end.

PRO TIPPick closer to the neck joint (not over the pickup) with a light attack — the original tone relies on the touch sensitivity of a tube amp's clean headroom, which your solid-state amp won't replicate dynamically, so compensate with picking finesse to avoid harshness.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Rocktile Scream-15. 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.