Tone library / Metallica / Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets amp settings — Orange Crush 20

The Metallica guitar tone for “Master of Puppets”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 20 with a Gibson Les Paul Modern. Studio version, Master of Puppets (1986) - Main rhythm riff

Original rig

Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ ('Crunchberries' preamp) slaved into Marshall JCM800 power amp into Marshall 1960B 4x12 cab, Jackson King V with Seymour Duncan Invader/EMG pickups, Aphex EQF-1 / onboard 5-band graphic V-scoop

Aggressive, tight high-gain thrash crunch with punchy lows, scooped lower mids, and biting top end

Amp settings — Orange Crush 20

CHANNELCleanBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	6
Mid	3
Treble	7
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Donner Morpher Distortion

Gain source (Suhr Riot circuit). Set toggle switch to Natural or Tight. Runs into clean amp input.

Level 7 · Tone 6 · Gain 8

Why these settings

The Donner Morpher acts as the primary gain source to provide the tight, modern high-gain distortion the Orange Crush 20 preamp cannot authentically achieve on its own. The amp is set to its clean channel with gain dropped to 2 to prevent muddy double-gain stacking, while the mid control is scooped to 3 to replicate the Mark IIC+ 5-band graphic EQ V-curve. Clean interlude: bypass the Morpher pedal and switch to the neck pickup.

PRO TIPAnchor the heel of your picking hand directly against the bridge saddles and execute strict downpicking with heavy attack to get the percussive, mechanical chug authentic to Hetfield's rhythm tracks.

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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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.