Fade to Black (Rhythm)
Fade to Black · Metallica · HeadRush MX5 · albertski
Metallica 'Fade to Black' (Ride the Lightning, 1984): tight, down-picked JCM800 rhythm crunch for the heavy section and the outro backing — the companion to the Fade to Black (Lead) rig
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Dial it in
| # | Block | Settings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GATE Rocktron Hush The Pedal | Threshold 45% · Decay 35% · Release 150 ms |
| 2 | GREEN JRC-OD Ibanez TS808 | Drive 10% · Tone 65% · Level 80% |
| 3 | 82 LEAD 800 100W Marshall JCM800 (Normal) | Cab Link On · Preamp Volume 80% · Master Volume 50% · Bass 55% · Middle 45% · Treble 70% · Presence 65% |
| 4 | 4X12 CLASSIC 30W Marshall 1960AV (Celestion V30) | Mic Type DYN 57 · Break Up 30% · On-Axis On · Out Gain 0 dB · Amp Gain 0 dB |
| 5 | ELEVEN REVERB Avid Reverb One (Eleven Rack) | Decay 25% · Pre Delay 15 ms · Mix 10% · Tails On |
- Routing
- Linear
- Tempo
- Current
- Expression pedal
- Classic
Signal chain
Blocks
1. GATE
2. GREEN JRC-OD
3. 82 LEAD 800 100W
4. 4X12 CLASSIC 30W
5. ELEVEN REVERB
Hardware assign
- FS 1 GREEN JRC-OD On/Off (tightening boost — on for the heavy section)
- FS 2 ELEVEN REVERB On/Off (dry for down-picked verses, on for sustained chords)
- FS 3 GATE On/Off
Notes
Companion to Fade to Black (Lead) — same JCM800 and cab so the two rigs sit in the same room; the differences are all in the gain staging. Tone-style match, not a verified rig clone: Ride the Lightning-era rhythm is widely documented as Marshall JCM800 2203 heads with a Tube Screamer in front, but the studio settings were never published, so every knob value is an estimate. Amp control names for 82 LEAD 800 100W are UNVERIFIED (they follow the real JCM800 2203 panel); the device's amp panel is model-specific, so confirm on the unit. Versus the lead rig: Drive drops to 10% and Level rises to 80% so the Tube Screamer is purely a tightening boost, Middle drops to 45% and Treble/Presence climb for down-picking attack, delay is omitted entirely, and reverb falls to 10% mix — rhythm wants to stay dry and percussive where the lead wants sustain. The GATE is set harder than the lead rig (Release 150 ms) to clamp between palm mutes; back Threshold off toward 35% if it clips the tails of ringing chords. Nothing in this rig syncs, so Tempo is Current rather than a Fixed BPM. Stereo comes from the reverb alone; it collapses to mono at Rig Width 0% or on the L/Mono jack only. Input gate is set gently at -75 dB so it does not fight the GATE block. For the clean arpeggiated intro, this rig is wrong — that needs a separate clean rig, which is not built yet.
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