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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Metal1986easy to fake

01Metallica

Master of Puppets

Tight, scooped, chunky high-gain rhythm tone that defined American thrash. Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ with the famous V-EQ pulled into a scooped midrange shape, paired with a precision-tight palm-muted right hand. The tone is impossibly clean for how heavy it sounds — the noise gate is wide open and the chugs articulate perfectly. The bridge humbucker is hot, the strings are 10-46, and the picks are thick.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 2 pedals between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    ESP/Gibson Explorer with EMG-81 bridge humbucker

  2. 01
    Boost into the Mesa to tighten the low end
    Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer

    Drive: 7 o'clock (minimum), Tone: 1 o'clock, Level: 3 o'clock

  3. 02
    Tight gate for the palm-muted chugs
    Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

    Threshold: 11 o'clock, Decay: short

  4. Out
    Amp

    Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ (lead channel, V-EQ scooped)

03Field note

The secret sauce

The Tube Screamer at minimum gain into a cranked Mark IIC+ tightens up the low end without adding gain. Try it without the Screamer — the chugs get woofy and the rhythm parts lose definition.