Riff Tone

Dirty Window

Metallica

Guitarmetal2000s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX-220 (James Hetfield's main guitar for St. Anger era)

AmpMesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier (St. Anger studio sessions)

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

Amp Settings

gain8.5

bass6

mid4

treble7

reverb0

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 2003. Gear confirmed for St. Anger album sessions, not live. No evidence of additional pedals or effects used for the main riff section. Tuning is Drop Db (C#).

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationdry and rawchunky low endrazor-sharp pick attackcompressed modern metal soundminimal ambienceslightly fizzy top end

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, aggressive alternate picking and tight palm muting at a high tempo, but does not involve advanced lead techniques or complex chord voicings.

Sources

What is the tuning for some kind of monster? : r/Metallica - Reddit does anyone know what the tuning for the guitars was for ... - Reddit Anyone know how I could get the St. Anger tone? : r/Metallica - Reddit

This tone has been researched 2 times by the community

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