Tone library / Metallica / For whom the bell tolls

For whom the bell tolls amp settings — Orange Crush 20

The Metallica guitar tone for “For whom the bell tolls”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 20 with a Jackson JS22 Dinky. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Mark IIB (lead channel), ESP/B.C. Rich Warlock with humbuckers, no pedals for main rhythm tone

Tight aggressive crunch with cutting midrange, pre-scooped-era Metallica — more mid-forward and raw than later albums

Amp settings — Orange Crush 20

CHANNELDirty

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	4
Mid	6
Treble	7
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Orange Crush 20 Dirty channel has warm British voicing with compressed low-mids, closer to the Mesa's thick grind than a Marshall would be. Pushed mids to 6 (vs typical scooped Metallica) because Ride the Lightning era was mid-forward before the Black Album V-curve. Bass dropped to 4 to tighten the Crush's naturally thick low-end. Your HM-2W stays bypassed — the Crush's gain structure reaches this crunch level without stacking, and the HM-2's chainsaw voicing is wrong for this tone.

PRO TIPHetfield's tone on this track comes from relentless downpicking on the palm-muted sections — no alternate picking. Anchor your palm firmly near the bridge saddles and attack with consistent downstrokes to get that machine-gun chug.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Orange Crush 20. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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