Master of puppets amp settings — Gear4music W15
The Metallica guitar tone for “Master of puppets”, dialed in for a Gear4music W15 with a Gibson Les Paul Studio. Studio album cut, Master of Puppets (1986) — main rhythm riff
Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (slaved into Marshall power amp/cab), 5-band graphic EQ V-curve, Gibson Flying V / Explorer with active EMG 81 pickups
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 2 |
| Bass | 5 |
| Mid | 4 |
| Treble | 6 |
| Reverb | 0 |
| Master | 5 |
01Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Placed before or after distortion to carve the iconic Mark IIC+ V-curve scooped mid profile
02Behringer Heavy Metal (HM300)
Primary gain source; double-gain prevention active so amp is kept clean
The small Gear4music W15 practice amp lacks both presence and the high-gain architecture of a Mesa Mark IIC+, so the Behringer Heavy Metal pedal acts as the dedicated gain engine into the amp's cleanest channel with gain lowered to 2. The Boss GE-7 is critical here to emulate Mesa's famous onboard graphic EQ by severely cutting 800Hz and boosting low/high bands to remove the pedal's natural midrange honk. Clean interlude: bypass the Behringer distortion pedal and flatten the GE-7.
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