Ride the Lightning
A mid-tempo thrash riff that gathers speed, broken by a slower, harmonised solo section.
What is the Ride the Lightning guitar tone?
The Ride the Lightning guitar tone is a mid-tempo thrash riff that gathers speed, broken by a slower, harmonised solo section, heard on Metallica's 1980s thrash metal recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Metallica reportedly tracked it with James Hetfield's Electra Flying V copy into a Marshall JMP 2203, which Guitar.com says he bought to replace the modded Marshall stolen in Boston and drove harder with an old Ibanez Tube Screamer, although Kirk Hammett remembers producer Flemming Rasmussen asking Copenhagen's music stores to bring every Marshall they had, and the band using one local player's head, dubbed the Best Sounding Marshall in Denmark, for the majority of the album; Hammett owned three guitars at the time, a black-and-white Gibson Flying V, a red Fernandes and a black Fernandes Strat called Edna, and says a Tube Screamer has driven his solos on every album since this one, alongside his Dunlop Cry Baby wah; Hetfield and Lars Ulrich tracked rhythm guitar and drums live before the leads and bass went on, the song carries a Dave Mustaine co-writing credit for a riff that was simplified, Cliff Burton helped Hammett work out the harmonies in the solo, and the album was recorded at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen and finished on 14 March 1984. Tones in this style live or die on tight low end and a scooped midrange, with the picking hand doing as much of the work as the amp.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Ride the Lightning amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 8
- Bass 6
- Middle 3
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Ibanez Tube Screamer as a boost → Dunlop Cry Baby wah (Hammett's rig) → Marshall distortion
- The control that matters most
- The solo boost. Hammett says a Tube Screamer has driven his solos on every album since this one, and Hetfield used one to push his rhythm Marshall, so keep one Marshall-style crunch for the whole song and kick in a Tube Screamer-style boost, drive low and level up, for the leads rather than switching to a hotter lead channel. The solo section slows down and is harmonised, so clear notes matter more there than extra gain.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Metallica use on Ride the Lightning?
James Hetfield's Electra Flying V copy into a Marshall JMP 2203, which Guitar.com says he bought to replace the modded Marshall stolen in Boston and drove harder with an old Ibanez Tube Screamer, although Kirk Hammett remembers producer Flemming Rasmussen asking Copenhagen's music stores to bring every Marshall they had, and the band using one local player's head, dubbed the Best Sounding Marshall in Denmark, for the majority of the album; Hammett owned three guitars at the time, a black-and-white Gibson Flying V, a red Fernandes and a black Fernandes Strat called Edna, and says a Tube Screamer has driven his solos on every album since this one, alongside his Dunlop Cry Baby wah; Hetfield and Lars Ulrich tracked rhythm guitar and drums live before the leads and bass went on, the song carries a Dave Mustaine co-writing credit for a riff that was simplified, Cliff Burton helped Hammett work out the harmonies in the solo, and the album was recorded at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen and finished on 14 March 1984.
Sources: Guitar World: Kirk Hammett talks Ride the Lightning, Guitar.com: Metallica gear facts, Louder: the story behind Ride the Lightning, Wikipedia: Ride the Lightning
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Ride the Lightning tone on your own amp?
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AI researches the original tone of Ride the Lightning
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Ride the Lightning tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Ride the Lightning?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same mid-tempo thrash riff that gathers speed, broken by a slower, harmonised solo section from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Ride the Lightning tone?
The solo boost. Hammett says a Tube Screamer has driven his solos on every album since this one, and Hetfield used one to push his rhythm Marshall, so keep one Marshall-style crunch for the whole song and kick in a Tube Screamer-style boost, drive low and level up, for the leads rather than switching to a hotter lead channel. The solo section slows down and is harmonised, so clear notes matter more there than extra gain.
Can you get the Ride the Lightning tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with James Hetfield's Electra Flying V copy into a Marshall JMP 2203, which Guitar.com says he bought to replace the modded Marshall stolen in Boston and drove harder with an old Ibanez Tube Screamer, although Kirk Hammett remembers producer Flemming Rasmussen asking Copenhagen's music stores to bring every Marshall they had, and the band using one local player's head, dubbed the Best Sounding Marshall in Denmark, for the majority of the album; Hammett owned three guitars at the time, a black-and-white Gibson Flying V, a red Fernandes and a black Fernandes Strat called Edna, and says a Tube Screamer has driven his solos on every album since this one, alongside his Dunlop Cry Baby wah; Hetfield and Lars Ulrich tracked rhythm guitar and drums live before the leads and bass went on, the song carries a Dave Mustaine co-writing credit for a riff that was simplified, Cliff Burton helped Hammett work out the harmonies in the solo, and the album was recorded at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen and finished on 14 March 1984, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Ride the Lightning a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Metallica's 1980s thrash metal catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
