Tone library / Metallica / Seek & Destroy

Seek & Destroy amp settings — Fender Champion 50XL

The Metallica guitar tone for “Seek & Destroy”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 50XL with a Jackson Pro Series King V. Studio version, Kill 'Em All (1983)

Original rig

Marshall JCM800 2203 head, 1981 Gibson Flying V (bridge humbucker), Pro Co Rat distortion pedal, Marshall 4x12 cabinet

Tight and percussive, scooped mids, aggressive palm muting, high-gain saturation, sharp biting treble, chunky low end, dry with no reverb

Amp settings — Fender Champion 50XL

CHANNELOverdriveBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	10
Bass	6
Mid	3
Treble	7
Reverb	0
Master	5

Don’t have a Fender Champion 50XL? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Pro Co Rat (or clone)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for reaching the tight, saturated thrash gain of the original. Without this, the Champion's overdrive channel cannot achieve the required saturation.

Distortion 6 · Filter 4 · Volume 7

Why these settings

The original used a cranked Marshall JCM800 with a Rat pedal stacking for tight thrash saturation. Your Champion 50XL overdrive channel is voiced cleaner and Fender-scooped, so gain is maxed but still falls short of true thrash saturation — a Rat-style pedal is essential. Mid dropped to 3 to replicate the scooped character; treble at 7 compensates for the Fender's naturally bright voicing versus the Marshall's mid-forward bark. The Champion 50XL has no presence knob.

PRO TIPPalm mute directly over the bridge pickup for maximum tightness and percussive attack — the original tone's chunk comes from aggressive right-hand technique as much as the gear.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Champion 50XL. 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.