Riff Tone

The Unforgiven

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX220 'Eet Fuk' Explorer

AmpRoland JC-120 Jazz Chorus

PickupsEMG 81 active humbucker (bridge position)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass5.5

mid4

treble7

reverb3

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1991, The Black Album sessions. Clean riff sections tracked with James Hetfield's ESP Explorer with EMG 81 pickups into a Roland JC-120 for the signature clean tone. No evidence of acoustic or Telecaster for the main clean riff; those are used for intros or other songs/parts.

Tone Character(10)

crystal cleanbright and articulatewarm, glassy cleantight, percussive attackslight chorus shimmerlush reverb tailno audible distortionhigh headroomdynamic responseclear note separation

Difficulty

The riff requires accurate clean picking and muting to maintain clarity, but does not involve advanced techniques or fast tempo, making it accessible to intermediate players.

Sources

Line 6 Unforgiven settings : r/Guitar - Reddit How do I get Kirk Hammett's The Unforgiven Live Clean Tone?Can anybody help me get the clean lead sound for The Unforgiven ...James Hetfield's Guitar Gear, Amps & Pedalboard | Equipboard

This tone has been researched 7 times by the community

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