Tone library / Metallica / Master of puppets

Master of puppets amp settings — Peavey vypyr 30 Vypyr 30

The Metallica guitar tone for “Master of puppets”, dialed in for a Peavey vypyr 30 Vypyr 30 with a Epiphone les Paul junior Junior. Studio album cut, Master of Puppets (1986) — main rhythm riff

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ slaved into Marshall power amp/cab, graphic EQ V-curve, Gibson Flying V / Explorer with active EMG 81 pickups

Ultra-tight, aggressive thrash rhythm with scooped 750Hz mids and sharp percussive bite

Amp settings — Peavey vypyr 30 Vypyr 30

CHANNELRec (Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier model) - Red Channel (High Gain)

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	8
Mid	2
Treble	7
Reverb	0
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Onboard Tube Screamer Stompbox (Tubescreamer model)

Select 'Tubescr' on the Stompbox knob to tighten low-end tracking before the amp model

Drive 1 · Tone 6 · Level 8

Why these settings

The Vypyr 30 Rec model replicates the cascading American high-gain preamp; scooping mid to 2 mimics the Mark IIC+ graphic EQ V-curve. Because your Les Paul Junior uses a passive bridge pickup rather than Hetfield's compressed, high-output active EMG 81, the internal Tubescreamer stompbox model acts as an essential tight clean boost. For the clean interlude: switch amp model to 'Twin' or 'DLX' with the stompbox bypassed.

PRO TIPHetfield's rhythm sound relies strictly on aggressive, ultra-tight downpicking near the bridge saddle with firm palm-muting right against the bridge saddles to prevent the scooped low-end from blooming.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Peavey vypyr 30 Vypyr 30. 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.