One amp settings — Fender Champion II 25

The Metallica guitar tone for “One”, dialed in for a Fender Champion II 25 with a Gibson Les Paul Special. Studio version, ...And Justice for All (1988) — signature heavy machine-gun rhythm & solo section

Original rig

Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ (slaved into Marshall power section, 5-band EQ V-curve), ESP Explorer / Jackson King V (EMG 81 bridge), Roland JC-120 (clean intro)

Aggressive, razor-sharp scooped-mid thrash metal rhythm with tight low-end and biting top-end attack

Amp settings — Fender Champion II 25

CHANNELMetal voice (Voice selector set to 90s Metal)BOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

BOOST role: Dist almost off and Level cranked into front of amp to tighten bottom end and add razor attack

Tone 6 · Level 9 · Dist 1

Why these settings

The Champion II 25 lacks a physical mid knob, so the signature Metallica 'V-curve' scoop is achieved by boosting bass to 7 and treble to 8 on the onboard Metal voice. Your Gibson Les Paul Special with passive pickups needs the DS-1 acting as a clean boost to match the sharp transient bite and output compression of Hetfield's active EMG 81. For the clean intro arpeggios, switch the amp to the Clean voice and bypass the DS-1.

PRO TIPAnchor your palm firmly across the bridge saddles and execute aggressive, strict downpicking with a stiff 1.0mm+ pick to replicate Hetfield's percussive machine-gun chug attack.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Champion II 25. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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