Tone library / Metallica / Ride the Lightning

Ride the Lightning amp settings — Hartke HD50

The Metallica guitar tone for “Ride the Lightning”, dialed in for a Hartke HD50 with a Spira Flying v. Studio version, Ride the Lightning (1984). Main rhythm riff tone.

Original rig

Guitar: Gibson Flying V (early 80s) with bridge humbucker. Amp: Marshall JCM800 2203 (borrowed after Hetfield's was stolen). Pedal: Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer boosting the front end. Multitracked rhythm guitars, dry mix with no reverb.

Tight and percussive, scooped upper-midrange, aggressive palm muting, high-gain saturation with articulate note separation, crisp pick attack, focused low end, minimal ambience.

Amp settings — Hartke HD50

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

Don’t have a Hartke HD50? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Distortion (owned)

This is your primary gain source. The Hartke HD50 is a bass combo amp with limited overdrive capability — your distortion pedal must do the heavy lifting. Set the pedal for tight, aggressive saturation. Keep amp clean and let pedal drive the tone.

Gain/Distortion 7 · Tone 6 · Level/Output 7

Why these settings

The Hartke HD50 is a 50W bass combo amp, not a guitar amp — it has a fundamentally different voicing (extended lows, less midrange presence, no presence control, no reverb). It cannot produce Marshall JCM800-style preamp saturation on its own. Your distortion pedal becomes essential as the sole gain source; keep the Hartke's Shape control centered or slightly scooped. Bass raised to 7 compensates for the guitar's thinner low-end vs bass guitar; mid cut to 2 approximates the classic Metallica scoop; treble at 8 restores pick attack and articulation. Gain maxed because the HD50's 'gain' is voiced for bass and stays relatively clean even at 10.

PRO TIPPalm mute aggressively right at the bridge saddles for that tight 'chug' — Hetfield's right-hand precision is half the tone. Downpick every note; no alternate picking on the main riff. If the low end gets flubby through the bass speaker, roll your guitar's tone knob back to 8 to tighten the attack.

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These settings are for a Hartke HD50. 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.