Riff Tone

Astronomy

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX-250 (James Hetfield's main guitar, 1998 Garage Inc. sessions)

AmpWizard Modern Classic (confirmed for Garage Inc. sessions)

PickupsEMG 81 (bridge), EMG 60 (neck) active humbuckers

Amp Settings

gain7.5

bass6

mid4.5

treble7

reverb1

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1998. James Hetfield used the ESP MX-250 with EMG pickups and Wizard amps for Garage Inc. No evidence of live-specific gear or alternate guitars for the riff section.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationchunky low endarticulate attackclear note separationcompressed and focusedmodern metal claritystudio-polished heaviness

Difficulty

The riff requires intermediate-level palm muting and rhythmic precision to achieve the tight, percussive sound characteristic of Metallica's late 90s rhythm work.

Sources

How did James get his tone in Garage Inc disc 1? : r/Metallica Best amp tone for metallica? I just got an amp and a guitar ... - Reddit

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