Riff Tone

Creeping Death (Live at Tushino Airfield, Moscow, Russia, 09/28/91)

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX-220 (black finish, likely with customizations for Hetfield, used live in 1991)

AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC++ head (main), with possible Jose-modded Marshall Super Lead blended in

PickupsEMG 81 (bridge, active humbucker)

Amp Settings

gain8

bass6

mid4

treble7

reverb0

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Live at Tushino Airfield, Moscow, 1991. Rhythm section (riff) played by James Hetfield. Amp is the Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC++ (primary), possibly blended with a Jose-modded Marshall Super Lead per Black Album era live rig. Guitar is ESP MX-220 with EMG 81 bridge pickup. No evidence of additional pedals for rhythm tone; effects loop used for rack EQ and compression. Settings estimated based on era, genre, and amp model. No evidence of time-based or modulation effects in the riff section.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationchunky low endcrisp high endarticulate note separationminimal ambiencefocused, dry soundpowerful attack

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, tight downpicking and palm muting at high speed, demanding both technical precision and physical endurance typical of Hetfield's rhythm style.

Sources

The Gear Used on Metallica's Black Album | Guitar.com James Hetfield's guitar tone on Metallica's Sad But True: secrets behind the sound | Guitar World Album Analysis: Load

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