Tone library / Metallica / Ride the Lightning

Ride the Lightning amp settings — Court Cm15r

The Metallica guitar tone for “Ride the Lightning”, dialed in for a Court Cm15r with a Rockdale Hh. Studio version, Ride the Lightning album (1984)

Original rig

Marshall JCM 800 2203 (dimed), Gibson Explorer with humbuckers, Ibanez Tube Screamer for boost/tightening

Aggressive scooped thrash rhythm with tight lows, biting highs, and cutting lead presence

Amp settings — Court Cm15r

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

Don’t have a Court Cm15r? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Tube Screamer (TS9 or clone)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for tightening low end and adding midrange cut. Without this pedal, the tone will be looser and muddier. A Behringer TO800 or Joyo Vintage Overdrive are budget options that get you 80% there.

Drive 2 · Tone 6 · Level 7

Why these settings

The Court CM15R is a basic solid-state practice amp with limited gain structure and no presence control. I maxed gain at 8 to approach the cranked JCM 800 saturation, scooped mids to 2 (original was 3 on a Marshall which has more inherent midrange), and set treble at 7 rather than 8 because solid-state amps tend toward harsh highs without tube compression. Bass dropped to 5 to prevent flabbiness—small speakers can't handle the low-end thump of the original without getting muddy.

PRO TIPPalm mute directly over the bridge pickup with the meaty part of your palm barely touching the strings—too far forward kills the attack, too far back loses the chunk. Hetfield's right hand is as important as any amp setting for that machine-gun rhythm tone.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Court Cm15r. 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.