Tone library / Metallica / seek and destroy

seek and destroy amp settings — Rock jam MG10

The Metallica guitar tone for “seek and destroy”, dialed in for a Rock jam MG10 with a Fender American Professional II Stratocaster. Studio version, Kill 'Em All (1983)

Original rig

Modified Marshall JMP 2203 100W head (Jose Arredondo mod), 1981 Gibson Flying V with humbuckers, ProCo Rat used on some parts

Aggressive scooped thrash with tight low-end, biting treble, and saturated gain

Amp settings — Rock jam MG10

CHANNELOverdrive/Distortion channel

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

Don’t have a Rock jam MG10? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01ProCo RAT 2 (or clone)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. The MG10's gain alone will be thin and fizzy at high settings; a RAT adds the harmonic saturation and chunk that defined this tone. Run amp clean channel with gain at 2-3 if using this pedal.

Distortion 7 · Filter 4 · Volume 7

Why these settings

Your Strat's single coils are brighter and lower output than Hetfield's humbucker Flying V, so bass is pushed to 8 and treble dropped to 6 to compensate for the thinner low-end and ice-pick highs. Mid scooped to 3 matches the original's thrash character. The MG10 is a small practice amp with limited gain saturation — maxing gain gets you in the ballpark but won't match the thick compression of a cranked modded Marshall. A RAT pedal is the realistic path to this tone on your rig.

PRO TIPRoll your Strat's tone knob to 7 to tame the single-coil ice-pick on palm mutes — Hetfield's humbuckers naturally rolled off that frequency. Dig in hard with the pick right over the bridge pickup for maximum attack and chunk.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Rock jam MG10. 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.