Creeping Death
Creeping Death is the fastest downpicking on Ride the Lightning, and it was played on a borrowed amp. Hetfield's modified Marshall was stolen weeks before the Copenhagen sessions, so he tracked on a stock Marshall master-volume head lent by a Danish band, pushed by an Ibanez Tube Screamer. In Guitar World he names his guitar for this song: 'By then I had the Gibson Explorer.' The tone is a midrange Marshall with the low end kept tight enough to survive the gallop.
Ride the Lightning
What we checked
Computed by a program, on this recipe, every time this page is built. How this works
Preset files — 0 of 3 complete
- Helix 1 block missing from the file
Which ones
Not in the file: 10 Band Graphic EQ. The recipe calls for this block, but we have no verified model ID for it on this platform, so the preset is written without it. Add it by hand using the settings above.
- Quad Cortex 6 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Replaced with a stand-in: Gate, Studio Comp, Green Scream, Brit 2203, 4x12 G12-65, Room Reverb. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
- Katana 1 block missing from the file; 4 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Not in the file: Reverb. The recipe calls for this block, but we have no verified model ID for it on this platform, so the preset is written without it. Add it by hand using the settings above.
Replaced with a stand-in: Lead, Booster, Noise Gate, Reverb. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
What we didn't check
- Nobody played this through a real amp. There is no human listening test behind any number on this page.
- The settings are reasoned from the sources below, not measured off the record.
- No audio has been rendered for this recipe yet, so you cannot hear it before you load it.
- 3 platforms on this page (TONEX, Kemper, Fractal) get a model pointer, not a preset file — nothing was built or checked for them.
