Tone library / Metallica / Ride the lightning

Ride the lightning amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII

The Metallica guitar tone for “Ride the lightning”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 50 MkII with a Epiphone Explorer. Studio album track, Ride the Lightning (1984) — main rhythm tone

Original rig

Jose Arredondo-modded Marshall JCM800 (or Marshall SLP 1959 clone with master volume) + Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer / ProCo Rat boost + Gibson Explorer (Seymour Duncan Invader / Gibson 500T pickups)

Aggressive, bite-heavy thrash crunch with tight low-end and scooped mid bark

Amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII

CHANNELBrown amp typeBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	6
Bass	6
Mid	3
Treble	8
Reverb	1
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss OD-3 OverDrive

Used strictly as a clean mid-boost to tighten the low end and punch the front of the Katana Brown voice (run into amp front input)

Drive 0 · Tone 5 · Level 8

Why these settings

The Katana 50 MkII Brown voicing replicates the modded hot-rodded Marshall tone of Ride the Lightning. Your Boss OD-3 functions like Hetfield's TS9/boost: keep Drive at zero and push Level to tighten palm-muted chugs into the amp. Presence is omitted as the Katana 50 faceplate lacks a dedicated presence knob. Clean intro: switch to Clean amp type with OD-3 bypassed.

PRO TIPAnchor your picking hand strictly for heavy, all-downstroke palm muting directly over the bridge saddles to get that precise, percussive 1984 thrash bite.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Boss Katana 50 MkII. 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.