Riff Tone

Welcome Home (Sanitarium) [November 1985, Work In Progress Rough Mix]

Metallica

Guitarmetal1980s

Original Gear

GuitarESP MX220 (early '80s 'Explorer'-style, likely with EMG 81 bridge and EMG 60 neck pickups, but possibly stock passive pickups for 1985 rough mix)

AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (for clean tone, as used on Master of Puppets sessions, possibly slaved into Marshall JMP 2203 head)

PickupsLikely stock passive humbuckers (ESP LH-200 or similar) or EMG 81/60 set (EMGs were adopted around Puppets era, but not confirmed for Nov 1985 rough mix)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass6

mid4

treble7

reverb1

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, November 1985 'Work In Progress Rough Mix' of 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)'. Clean tone for riff/verse section. Triple-tracked rhythm parts with slightly varied settings. No evidence of live rig or later gear. Settings and effects inferred from era, genre, and available sources.

Tone Character(10)

clean and hauntinglush and glassyslightly scooped midsbright but not harsharticulate and dynamicsubtle room ambienceminimal breakupstudio depth from triple-trackingwarm neck pickup clarityno audible modulation

Difficulty

The clean riff requires accurate arpeggiated picking, careful string muting, and dynamic control to maintain clarity and evenness, making it moderately challenging for intermediate players.

Sources

Metallica Welcome Home (Sanitarium) Clean Tone Recreation ...metallica used marshall... - forum topic | Ultimate Guitar James Hetfield Guitars & Gear | Complete List of Guitars, Amps, Effects & More| Ground Guitar

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account