Riff Tone

Nothing Else Matters

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX220 (James Hetfield's main guitar for the Black Album sessions)

AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (studio recording amp for heavy rhythm on Black Album)

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

Amp Settings

gain6

bass6.5

mid3.5

treble7

reverb1.5

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1991 Black Album sessions. James Hetfield tracked heavy rhythm with ESP MX220 and Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+. No confirmed pedal use for distortion; all gain from amp. Settings estimated from era, genre, and forum consensus.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussivescooped midshigh-gain saturationarticulate palm-muted chugscrisp attackchunky power chordsmodern metal clarityaggressive pick attackcontrolled low endstudio-polished heaviness

Difficulty

The riff requires tight palm muting and precise timing, but is not technically complex. The main challenge is maintaining clarity and aggression at a slow tempo.

Sources

Metallica - Nothing Else Matters amp settings.... - forum topic Somebody tell me the settings i need for this to sound like metallica Amp settings : r/Metallica - Reddit Can you get a METALLICA/ Heavy Metal sound w/ this combo?

This tone has been researched 2 times by the community

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