Orion amp settings — Orange Crush 20

The Metallica guitar tone for “Orion”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 20 with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Master of Puppets (1986) — heavy riff sections (the iconic part)

Original rig

Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ preamp, Marshall JCM800 2203 (lead channel), ESP M-I Custom with EMG 81 bridge humbucker, Boss DD-2 Delay

Aggressive mid-forward thrash rhythm with tight low-end and cutting high-mids, dry and punchy

Amp settings — Orange Crush 20

CHANNELDirty

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

Don’t have a Orange Crush 20? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss MT-2 Metal Zone or similar high-gain distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for reaching Master of Puppets-era saturation. With this pedal: set amp to Clean channel, gain 0-2, let the pedal provide all distortion.

Level 7 · High 6 · Low 5 · Mid 7 · Mid Freq 6 · Dist 7

Why these settings

The original uses high-output EMG 81 humbuckers into a cranked JCM800/Mesa Mark IIC+ — your Strat's single coils have roughly half the output and brighter voicing. The Orange Crush 20 dirty channel maxed still won't reach thrash saturation, so a high-gain pedal is essential. I've pushed mids +1 over the original to compensate for the Crush's warmer British voicing and your Strat's thinner low-mids. Tone knob rolled to 8 tames single-coil ice-pick.

PRO TIPPalm-mute hard directly over the bridge saddles and use all downstrokes on the main riff — the percussive attack is half the Metallica tone, and it helps your single coils punch closer to humbucker territory.

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.

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

More tones for the Orange Crush 20

SchismTool sweet child o mineGun N' Roses Twist and ShoutThe Beatles Radio freindly unit shifterNirvana Segundo PremioLos Planetas ДЕВОЧКА С КАРЕMUKKA

Find your amp

Browse

Orange Crush 20 settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Orion on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Metallica tonesALL SONGS Metallica on the Orange Crush 20SAME ARTIST, SAME AMP Fender Player Stratocaster tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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.