Riff Tone

Enter Sandman

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX-220 (black finish)

AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC++

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

Amp Settings

gain8

bass5.5

mid4.5

treble7

reverb0

presence4.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1991 Black Album sessions. Rhythm riff section. Guitar and amp confirmed for studio use on this track; not live rig. Pickup choice and amp model are well-documented for the Black Album era.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussiveaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationchunky low endarticulate attackmodern metal claritycompressed and focusedminimal ambienceclear note separationno scooped mids

Difficulty

The riff requires tight, aggressive palm muting and precise alternate picking at a medium-fast tempo. Maintaining clarity and articulation with high gain and muting unwanted strings adds to the challenge.

Sources

How to get a Metallica "Enter Sandman" tone? : r/Guitar - Reddit James Hetfield's guitar tone on Metallica's Sad But True: secrets behind the sound | Guitar World [QUESTION] Enter Sandman and Master of Puppets Amp settings

This tone has been researched 362 times by the community

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account