Riff Tone

The Unforgiven II

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Telecaster B-Bender (mid-90s reissue of 1952, ash body, maple neck, custom B-Bender system)

AmpMesa/Boogie Strategy 400 Stereo Power Amp (likely paired with Mesa/Boogie preamp, as per Reload era studio rig)

PickupsFender single-coil (Telecaster stock, likely bridge position for main riff)

Amp Settings

gain6.5

bass6

mid4.5

treble6.5

reverb2

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1997 (Reload sessions). James Hetfield played the main riff on a Fender Telecaster B-Bender. Amp is confirmed as Mesa/Boogie Strategy 400 Power Amp, likely with a Mesa/Boogie preamp (e.g., Triaxis or Rectifier preamp) as per Reload-era studio setups. No evidence of live/touring gear or alternate guitars for this section.

Tone Character(10)

warm and openslightly grittypercussive attackclear single-coil articulationdynamic and responsivenot heavily saturatedcrunchy but not high-gaintight low endpresent midsairy highs

Difficulty

The riff requires tight rhythm playing with dynamic control to achieve the clean-to-crunch transitions and percussive attack, but does not involve advanced techniques or high speed.

Sources

Metallica – Reload - Gear & Equipment Used on the Album | Equipboard James Hetfield's Guitar Gear, Amps & Pedalboard | Equipboard From the Archive: James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica Discuss Their 1997 Album, 'Re-Load' | Guitar World

This tone has been researched 7 times by the community

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