Tone library / Metallica / Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets amp settings — Glarry Ga 20

The Metallica guitar tone for “Master of Puppets”, dialed in for a Glarry Ga 20 with a Jackson Pro Series Rhoads. Studio version, Master of Puppets album (1986)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ preamp slaved into modified Marshall JCM800 power amp, Jackson King V / Gibson Explorer with EMG 81 bridge pickup, Aphex EQF-1 parametric EQ in effects loop, quad-tracked rhythm guitars

Tight aggressive palm-muted thrash with scooped mids, percussive attack, high-gain saturation, focused low end

Amp settings — Glarry Ga 20

BOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	6
Treble	6
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (or similar high-gain distortion)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This pedal is essential to reach the Mark IIC+ saturation level; the Glarry cannot produce high-gain on its own. Keep amp clean, pedal provides all distortion.

Level 7 · High 6 · Low 6 · Mid 3 · Mid Freq 5 · Dist 7

Why these settings

The Glarry GA-20 is a basic solid-state practice amp with limited gain and no mid or presence controls — it cannot produce thrash-metal saturation from its preamp alone. Amp set near-clean as a pedal platform; a high-gain distortion pedal with mid-scoop capability (MT-2 recommended) is mandatory to approximate the Mark IIC+ tone. Bass and treble set moderately high to compensate for the small speaker's limited frequency response.

PRO TIPPalm mute hard and close to the bridge with your picking hand angled slightly — Hetfield's razor-tight 'chug' comes from aggressive muting technique and strict downpicking, not just gain. Your Jackson's tight mahogany body and high-output pickups are already voiced for this attack.

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These settings are for a Glarry Ga 20. 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.