Tone library / Metallica / Ride the Lightning

Ride the Lightning amp settings — Fender Mustang LT25

The Metallica guitar tone for “Ride the Lightning”, dialed in for a Fender Mustang LT25 with a Esp Ltd Viper-10. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984) - rhythm tone

Original rig

Modified Marshall JCM800 2203, Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, Gibson Flying V / Explorer with Dirty Fingers/Seymour Duncan humbuckers, outboard parametric EQ

Aggressive, bright British thrash crunch with tight low-end and scooped 750Hz midrange

Amp settings — Fender Mustang LT25

CHANNELMetal 2000 (or British 80s with internal Overdrive stomp block)BOOSTon

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	7
Mid	3
Treble	8
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Onboard Overdrive / Greenbox (Mustang FX block)

Engage the Mustang LT25's built-in Stomp Overdrive in front of the amp model to tighten low-end

Drive 2 · Tone 7 · Level 9

Why these settings

The Mustang LT25 lacks a physical presence knob, so presence is nulled and top-end sizzle is compensated with treble set to 8. The 'Metal 2000' or boosted 'British 80s' preset provides the modified JCM800 crunch, while cutting mids to 3 recreates the studio console EQ scoop on the LTD Viper-10's high-output bridge humbucker. Engaging the onboard overdrive block with low drive and high level replicates the classic TS9 front-end boost without needing external pedals.

PRO TIPAnchor your palm firmly against the bridge saddles for heavy palm mutes and use strict, aggressive downpicking to achieve James Hetfield's percussive attack.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Mustang LT25. 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.