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Riff Tone
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Live at the Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA – Mar. 10th, 1985)
Metallica
Guitarmetal1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1984 Gibson Explorer (white, stock pickups, as used by James Hetfield live in 1985)
AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (main amp for Hetfield live in 1985, as documented for this era)
Amp Settings
gain7.5
bass6
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Notes
Live performance, March 10th, 1985, Hollywood Palladium. This is the classic early Metallica live rig. No evidence of pedal use for the riff section; distortion from amp. No evidence of rack effects or processors in 1985 live rig for rhythm/riff section.
Tone Character(10)
tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationchunky and articulatecrisp pick attackdry, immediate responsefocused low endrazor-sharp high endno ambience or reverb
Difficulty
The riff requires tight, aggressive palm muting and precise alternate picking at a medium tempo, but does not involve advanced lead techniques or complex chord voicings.
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Create Free AccountGuitarmetal1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1984 Gibson Explorer (white, stock pickups, as used by James Hetfield live in 1985)
AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (main amp for Hetfield live in 1985, as documented for this era)
Amp Settings
gain7.5
bass6
Create an account to see all tone details
Create Free AccountEffects & Signal Chain
Notes
Live performance, March 10th, 1985, Hollywood Palladium. This is the classic early Metallica live rig. No evidence of pedal use for the riff section; distortion from amp. No evidence of rack effects or processors in 1985 live rig for rhythm/riff section.
Tone Character(10)
tight and percussivescooped midsaggressive palm mutinghigh-gain saturationchunky and articulatecrisp pick attackdry, immediate responsefocused low endrazor-sharp high endno ambience or reverb
Difficulty
The riff requires tight, aggressive palm muting and precise alternate picking at a medium tempo, but does not involve advanced lead techniques or complex chord voicings.