Riff Tone

The Four Horsemen

Metallica

Guitarmetal1980s

Original Gear

Guitar1980 Gibson Flying V (white, used by James Hetfield)

AmpMarshall JMP 2203 (modded, 100W head, used in studio for Kill 'Em All)

PickupsStock Gibson humbuckers (likely Dirty Fingers or T-Top, passive)

Amp Settings

gain8

bass7

mid2.5

treble8.5

reverb0

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1983. Rhythm guitar for riff section. No evidence of live/touring gear or alternate guitars/amps for this part. No evidence of effects loop or rack gear. Kirk Hammett also used the same amp for leads, but this is the rhythm/riff tone.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutingrazor-sharp treblechunky low enddry, in-your-face soundminimal ambienceclassic thrash rhythmhigh-gain saturationfast attack

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, consistent alternate picking and tight palm muting at high speed, with precise rhythm changes and aggressive attack, making it challenging for most players.

Sources

Metallica Amp Settings - forum topic - Ultimate Guitar The story of Metallica's meteoric rise – by the people who were there Any idea what pedals were used on Kill Em All? : r/Metallica

This tone has been researched 11 times by the community

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account