Tone library / Metallica / For Whom the Bell Tolls

For Whom the Bell Tolls amp settings — hartke HD15

The Metallica guitar tone for “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, dialed in for a hartke HD15 with a arrow session bass 4 abyss black rosewood t shell. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984) — signature intro lead riff / verse bass

Original rig

Rickenbacker 4001 (modded with Gibson EB neck mudbucker & Seymour Duncan bridge pickup) into Morley Power Wah Boost, EHX Russian Big Muff (or Morley Fuzz Wah), Boss CS-2, into Mesa Boogie D-180 tube bass heads

Aggressive, mid-forward distorted bass lead with fuzz saturation, cutting harmonic bite, and controlled low end

Amp settings — hartke HD15

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Bass	4
Mid	8
Treble	7
Master	6

Don’t have a hartke HD15? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge+middle TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Behringer BOD400 Bass Overdrive

Primary distortion source; keep Bal high toward wet to get heavy Cliff-style fuzz saturation without losing all clean low end

Level 7 · High 7 · Low 5 · Gain 8 · Bal 8

Why these settings

The Hartke HD15 is a clean solid-state practice amp with a 3-band EQ and aluminum-cone speaker, so all distortion must come from the Behringer BOD400. Pushing amp mids to 8 and treble to 7 mimics Cliff's Mesa D-180 mid snarl while compensating for the amp's compact 6.5-inch driver; bass is kept modest at 4 to prevent low-end flub under heavy overdrive. For the non-distorted rhythm sections, simply bypass the BOD400.

PRO TIPPlay aggressively with your bare fingers right near the bridge pickup using downward glancing strokes; digging in hard with the flesh of your index and middle fingers creates the sharp transient clack that defines Cliff's lead tone.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a hartke HD15. 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.