Tone library / Metallica / Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets amp settings — Roland Micro cube cosm

The Metallica guitar tone for “Master of Puppets”, dialed in for a Roland Micro cube cosm with a Jay turser Jt-300-h. Studio version, Master of Puppets (1986) — main rhythm riff

Original rig

Jackson Custom Shop King V (Seymour Duncan Invader) -> Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (slaved into Marshall JCM800 power amp) with graphic EQ V-curve

Aggressive, tight, scooped thrash rhythm with crushing low-end chunk and sharp attack

Amp settings — Roland Micro cube cosm

CHANNELR-FIER (COSM Amp Type)

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Reverb	0
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

Used strictly as a clean boost/tightener in front of the high-gain amp model

Tone 5 · Level 8 · Dist 0

Why these settings

The Roland Micro Cube uses a single Tone knob rather than a 3-band EQ, so set the COSM model to 'R-FIER' and dial the Tone knob to 7 for aggressive top-end bite. Keep the DS-1 Distortion knob at 0 with Level high to tighten the low-end chunk without creating muddy double-distortion on the high-gain channel. Clean interlude: switch to the JC Clean model and engage your Quickdraw delay with low feedback.

PRO TIPJames Hetfield achieved this iconic rhythm entirely with heavy, disciplined downpicking near the bridge—palm-mute hard against the bridge saddles to get the signature percussive thud.

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These settings are for a Roland Micro cube cosm. 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.