Riff Tone
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Live at the Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA – Mar. 10th, 1985)
Metallica
Guitarmetal1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1984 Gibson Explorer (white, stock pickups, as used by James Hetfield live in 1985)
AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (main amp for Hetfield live in 1985, as documented for this era)
PickupsStock Gibson Dirty Fingers humbuckers
Amp Settings
gain7.5
bass6
mid3.5
treble7.5
reverb0
presence6.5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Live performance, March 10th, 1985, Hollywood Palladium. This is the classic early Metallica live rig. No evidence of pedal use for the riff section; distortion from amp. No evidence of rack effects or processors in 1985 live rig for rhythm/riff section.
Tone Character(10)
tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationchunky and articulatecrisp pick attackdry, immediate responsefocused low endrazor-sharp high endno ambience or reverb
Difficulty
The riff requires tight, aggressive palm muting and precise alternate picking at a medium tempo, but does not involve advanced lead techniques or complex chord voicings.
Sources
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Create Free AccountGuitarmetal1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1984 Gibson Explorer (white, stock pickups, as used by James Hetfield live in 1985)
AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (main amp for Hetfield live in 1985, as documented for this era)
PickupsStock Gibson Dirty Fingers humbuckers
Amp Settings
gain7.5
bass6
mid3.5
treble7.5
reverb0
presence6.5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Live performance, March 10th, 1985, Hollywood Palladium. This is the classic early Metallica live rig. No evidence of pedal use for the riff section; distortion from amp. No evidence of rack effects or processors in 1985 live rig for rhythm/riff section.
Tone Character(10)
tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationchunky and articulatecrisp pick attackdry, immediate responsefocused low endrazor-sharp high endno ambience or reverb
Difficulty
The riff requires tight, aggressive palm muting and precise alternate picking at a medium tempo, but does not involve advanced lead techniques or complex chord voicings.
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