Tone library / Metallica / Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets amp settings — Boss Katana 50 Gen 3

The Metallica guitar tone for “Master of Puppets”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 50 Gen 3 with a Squier Fender stratocaster. Studio version, Master of Puppets (1986) — signature rhythm track

Original rig

Gibson Explorer / Jackson King V (Seymour Duncan Invaders) into Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ preamp slaved into Marshall JCM800 power amp, Marshall 4x12 cab, studio parametric EQ V-scoop

Aggressive, razor-sharp thrash crunch with tight low end and heavily scooped midrange

Amp settings — Boss Katana 50 Gen 3

CHANNELBrown amp typeBOOSTon

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Brown amp type delivers the tight, cascaded high-gain preamp character of the Mesa Mark IIC+, while engaging the onboard green booster provides the front-end clamp of the original's hot humbuckers. To compensate for single-coil pickups, bass is bumped to 7 and treble held at 7 to prevent ice-pick highs while preserving the iconic 750Hz mid scoop. Clean interlude: switch to the Clean amp type with boost bypassed.

PRO TIPAnchor your palm directly against the bridge saddles and execute strict downpicking on all the eighth-note chugs to achieve the percussive, mechanical attack James Hetfield used on the record.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss Katana 50 Gen 3. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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More tones for the Boss Katana 50 Gen 3

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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.