Riff Tone

Until It Sleeps (Remastered)

Metallica

Guitarmetal1990s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX-220 (Hetfield) / ESP KH-2 (Hammett)

AmpMesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier + Marshall (modded, likely JCM800 or JMP, blended in studio)

PickupsEMG 81 (bridge, active humbucker)

Amp Settings

gain7.5

bass6

mid4.5

treble6.5

reverb1

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1995-1996 (Load sessions, remastered version). Multiple amps blended for the heavy rhythm tone. No evidence of live/touring rig or alternate guitars for this specific riff section.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussiveaggressive palm mutingmodern saturated metal tonechunky low endscooped but present midsarticulate attackcompressed and focusedclear note separationcontrolled feedbackslightly processed studio sheen

Difficulty

The riff requires tight, aggressive palm muting, precise picking, and rhythmic accuracy to lock in with the drums, making it moderately challenging for intermediate players.

Sources

Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett reveal the guitar secrets behind 16 of the band's best songs | Guitar World Until it Sleeps Effects? : r/Metallica

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