Riff Tone

The Prince

Metallica

Guitarmetal1980s

Original Gear

Guitar1984 Gibson Explorer (likely James Hetfield's white Explorer copy, possibly Electra 2236 or custom build)

AmpMarshall JCM800 2203 (100W head, used in studio for Kill 'Em All era)

PickupsStock Gibson humbuckers (likely Dirty Fingers or similar high-output humbucker, pre-EMG era)

Amp Settings

gain7.5

bass5

mid2.5

treble7.5

reverb0

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1983-1984. Gear confirmed for Kill 'Em All sessions. No evidence of live or post-EMG gear for this song/section.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationrazor-sharp pick attackdry and immediateminimal ambiencecrisp high endchunky low endclassic thrash rhythm sound

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, precise alternate picking and palm muting at high speed, with tight rhythm and aggressive attack typical of early Metallica thrash.

Sources

What to change my settings to to get kill em all tone : r/Metallica [QUESTION] Metallica tone : r/Guitar

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