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Riff Tone

The Unforgiven II

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX-250 (James Hetfield's main guitar for Load/Reload era)
AmpRoland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
PickupsEMG 81 (bridge), EMG 60 (neck) active humbuckers

Amp Settings

gain0
bass5.5
mid4.5
treble7
reverb2
presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1996-1997 (Reload album). Clean sections of 'The Unforgiven II' are widely reported to use the Roland JC-120 for its signature clean and chorus sound. James Hetfield used the ESP MX-250 with EMG pickups for this era. No evidence for live-specific gear for the studio clean tone.

Tone Character(10)
warm and smoothlush chorus shimmercrystal clear cleansrounded attackslight reverb ambiencemid-scooped but not thinfull-bodiedno audible distortionstudio-polished claritysubtle compression from active pickups

Difficulty

The clean riff requires precise arpeggiated picking and smooth chord transitions, but is not technically advanced. The chorus effect highlights any mistakes, requiring clean technique.

Sources

How to Sound Like Metallica - And Justice For AllMetallica Amp Settings | Easy Guide

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The Unforgiven II settings for your amp

Exact settings ToneAdapt players use on these amps.

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