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Riff Tone
The God That Failed
Metallica
Guitarmetal1990s
Original Gear
GuitarESP MX220 'Eet Fuk' (James Hetfield's main guitar for The Black Album)
AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (main rhythm amp for The Black Album studio recording)
Amp Settings
gain7.5
bass6
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Notes
Studio recording, 1991. Rhythm guitar for riff section. Guitar is tuned to Eb standard. No evidence of pedals in the rhythm chain; distortion from amp. Settings estimated based on era, genre, and known Black Album studio practices.
Tone Character(10)
tight and percussivethick and punchyscooped midshigh-gain saturationaggressive palm mutingarticulate note separationdry and focusedminimal ambiencemodern metal rhythmheavy low end
Difficulty
The riff requires tight, aggressive downpicking and palm muting at a moderate tempo, with precise rhythm and note separation under high-gain conditions. While not extremely fast, the endurance and accuracy needed for the Metallica rhythm style make it moderately challenging.
This tone has been researched 6 times by the community
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Create Free AccountGuitarmetal1990s
Original Gear
GuitarESP MX220 'Eet Fuk' (James Hetfield's main guitar for The Black Album)
AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (main rhythm amp for The Black Album studio recording)
Amp Settings
gain7.5
bass6
Create an account to see all tone details
Create Free AccountEffects & Signal Chain
This tone has been researched 6 times by the community
Notes
Studio recording, 1991. Rhythm guitar for riff section. Guitar is tuned to Eb standard. No evidence of pedals in the rhythm chain; distortion from amp. Settings estimated based on era, genre, and known Black Album studio practices.
Tone Character(10)
tight and percussivethick and punchyscooped midshigh-gain saturationaggressive palm mutingarticulate note separationdry and focusedminimal ambiencemodern metal rhythmheavy low end
Difficulty
The riff requires tight, aggressive downpicking and palm muting at a moderate tempo, with precise rhythm and note separation under high-gain conditions. While not extremely fast, the endurance and accuracy needed for the Metallica rhythm style make it moderately challenging.