One amp settings — Glarry GA-20

The Metallica guitar tone for “One”, dialed in for a Glarry GA-20 with a les paul special 2 Epiphone. Studio version, ...And Justice for All (1988) — James Hetfield's main distorted rhythm tone

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ head, ESP MX-220 with EMG pickups, bridge position. No pedals for main rhythm tone — amp gain only.

Tight, aggressive, scooped-mid thrash rhythm with cutting high-end and punchy low end

Amp settings — Glarry GA-20

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	6
Mid	2
Treble	7
Presence	5
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The Glarry GA-20 is a basic solid-state practice amp with limited gain and a darker voicing than the Mesa Mark IIC+. The original's scooped mids translate directly (mid at 2), but the GA-20 won't achieve the same tight saturation — push gain to 8 to get maximum available dirt. Treble at 7 compensates for the amp's softer top end. Your Epiphone LP Special II has passive humbuckers (lower output than Hetfield's EMGs), so the tone will be slightly looser and less compressed, which is acceptable.

PRO TIPPalm mute HARD and pick aggressively right over the bridge pickup pole pieces — Hetfield's attack is half the tone. The GA-20 won't fully saturate, so your picking dynamics will define the chunk more than the amp's gain will.

Get this tone on your amp

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.