Tone library / Metallica / Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets amp settings — gear4music S156 15 watts

The Metallica guitar tone for “Master of Puppets”, dialed in for a gear4music S156 15 watts with a Jackson JS22 Dinky. Studio version, Master of Puppets album (1986)

Original rig

Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ (as preamp) slaved into modified Marshall JCM800 100W, Jackson Custom Shop King V with Seymour Duncan Invader humbuckers, Marshall 4x12 cab

Tight, aggressive thrash rhythm with scooped mids, punchy low end, and biting high-end attack

Amp settings — gear4music S156 15 watts

CHANNELOverdrive/Drive channel if available, otherwise single channel cranked

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	7
Mid	2
Treble	7
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Metal Distortion Pedal (e.g., Boss MT-2 Metal Zone or Behringer HM300)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. A metal distortion with mid-scoop capability is essential for this tone. If you get this pedal, set your amp to CLEAN channel with gain at 2-3, bass 5, mid 5, treble 5 — let the pedal do all the dirt work.

Level 7 · Low 7 · High 7 · Mid 2 · Mid Freq 5 · Dist 7

Why these settings

The gear4music S156 is a small solid-state practice amp without the gain structure or EQ range to replicate a Mark IIC+/JCM800 stack. I've maxed gain and created the V-curve EQ (high bass, low mid, high treble) to approximate the scoop, but this amp cannot produce authentic high-gain metal saturation. A distortion pedal is mandatory to get anywhere close — without one, you'll have fizzy overdrive rather than tight thrash chunk.

PRO TIPHetfield's right-hand technique is 80% of this tone — strict downpicking with the pick angled slightly, palm muting locked tight against the bridge, and hitting the strings hard with zero slop. Practice the main riff at half speed with a metronome, all downstrokes, until your muting is surgically precise.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a gear4music S156 15 watts. 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.