Distorted Tone

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Live at the Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA – Mar. 10th, 1985)

Metallica

Bassmetal1980s

Original Gear

BassAria Pro II SB-1000

AmpMesa Boogie D-180 (two heads, one clean, one for effects/distortion)

PickupsSingle MB-1 double coil (active electronics, but Cliff used passive mode live)

Amp Settings

gain7

bass5.5

mid6.5

treble7

presence6.5

compression4

Effects & Signal Chain

compressionBoss Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer

wahMorley Morley Power Wah Boost

fuzzElectro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix Big Muff (likely Russian or NYC version)

Notes

Live, Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA, March 10, 1985. Cliff used the Aria SB-1000 for this era/tour, with Mesa D-180 heads into Mesa 4x12 and 1x15 cabs.

Tone Character(9)

fuzzy upper-midswah-filtered sweepaggressive, saturated distortiongrowling sustaincutting attackrich harmonic contentslightly scooped low-midsprominent high-end sizzlethick, compressed body

Difficulty

The part requires accurate fingerstyle technique, expressive wah pedal use, and control over a saturated fuzz tone to maintain note definition and articulation.

Sources

Gear Rundown: Cliff Burton of Metallica Metallica – For Whom the Bell Tolls (Live) - Gear & Equipment Used on the Single | Equipboard Metallica – Ride The Lightning (Remastered) - Gear & Equipment Used on the Album | Equipboard For Whom The Bell Tolls Effects | TalkBass.com

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