I want an 80's Metallica sound...

guitarkid4143

guitarkid4143

New member
...but don't know what pups they used. Especially kirk. I've seen him play a strat with a floyd, but I love the Master of Puppets sound, but isn't that Jame's Heavy bucker sound? I was thinking of building a Jackson Kelly later on. Thx, all opinions r welcome.
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

astrozombie said:
I always hear this suggestion... when the invader is nowhere near tight enough!
Click to expand...

Well, James did actually use Invaders so....

I don't know what you're hearing but the Invader I had was that early Metallica rythm tone all over. To be honest, it was all it was good for, but it was exceptional for it.
If you're using it to play Blink 182 stuff, then I'm not surprised you're not getting Ride The Lightning tones from it! ;)
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

just buy any guitar, along with any amp and a distortion pedal
then crank the distortion up anywhere past 7
that should get you very very close
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

dude.

how can you even ask this.

Gibson + cranked Marshall. I read here somewhere that Hetfield had a custom wound SD Holdsworth pickup, possibly with allen polepieces or something? In any case, a decently hot output pup in a balanced axe with a cranked higher gain marshall (JCM800?) will get you at least their early sound.

If you want a more mid era (MOP, AJFA) sound, then you'll probably need a recto, scooped mids.
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

That was the first album with Boogies (MKIII) Marshall is not really gonna cut it for that tone at all- unless you can tweak the crap out of a DSL or a JVM and run it through some C75s to darken the tone.

If the Invader is not to your personal preference an EMG 85 in the bridge will work well. Explorer type guitar is pretty key too- big slab of mahogany with no maple cap (ebony baord is better).
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

Vintage Les Paul with vintage pu'ps and an old Marshall dimed out and with the mids scooped. That's all it was man. Very very basic. I think MoP was when they actually started using Mesas and EMGs. If you are going for a MoP tone which is pretty badass IMO you should get an EMG 81 for the bridge and a Mesa Dual Rec. I'd steer away from dirt boxes if you want a Metallica tone. James IS Metallica and he is a preamp distortion kinda guy (my kinda guy) so you'd need to hit your front end hard.

To get a Metallica tone its really more about the amp you're using than the pickups IMO. They use high gain heads and a lot of outboard EQ's for their tone.
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

EMG 81 + Boogie(NOT a Recto- This was several years before they existed) for Master of Puppets.

For James' earlier Metallica rhythm sounds, it was a "magical mythical" modded Marshall, a Boss Super Overdrive, and Duncan Invader. Kirk used the same pedal/amp setup.
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

Hard to believe James used pedals. And yea I know James used a Mark IIC+ and maybe a Mark III I don't remember but to be practical I gave a Dual Recto name drop.
 
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Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

I can't find the video at the moment, but a while back I saw an interview with Kirk where he said when he discovered Boogies he could "Throw away his parametric EQ and Tubescreamer that he used to get super heavy sounds out of Marshalls"

Assuming James and Kirk used the same rig to record, that would imply that they were both using at least a few pedals, at least one of them being a dirt box
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

How close are you hoping to get? What goes into the mics and out to the record in a recording process are 2 totally different things

If you're hoping to emulate the records that's going to be a challenge and it won't sound the same if you're hoping to record that sound. Keep in mind that all Rhythm sounds for Metallica are James, not Kirk.

He started off using a very special Marshall and a ProCo Rat. When that Marshall got stolen he used a JCM900 with a Tube Screamer to push it, this is what can be heard on Ride The Lightning. Once they started using Boogies, they slaved the hi-gain preamp of a boogie into the power section and cabs of a Marshall for Puppets. Justice is pure Mark IV. There are so many amps and so much studio mojo for the Black Album I'm not going to bother listing it, besides it's no longer 80s Metallica.
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

Oh yea forgot to mention, If you are trying to emulate their tone from records forget about it. It is pretty much a hopeless endeavor. So many layered tracks with different tones mixed in plus tons of mastering.. They dont even replicate their own records. For live tone grab a Mesa and an EQ and start tinkering.
 
Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

Which album? Kill Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, Garage Days, and And Justice For All all sound very different. Like some have said, the studio stuff will be very hard to emulate, but if your going to even get close to their recorded sound then what you use will be very different depending on what album you're talking about.

RTL was the last album that James said he used a pedal between him and the amp. I believe he used a Tube Screamer into a Marshall. After that, he says it was/is all strait guitar into amp for him. I think they all used passives until Garage Days Revisited. They for sure actives on And Justice for All, and I'm almost certain they didn't use actives on MoP.
 
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Re: I want an 80's Metallica sound...

Yeah I think you're right. MoP might not have been with EMGs now that I think about it. I keep forgetting Kirk still looks like and sounds like he's 12. Some of the pictures of him with EMGs might have been when he was older but still looked pretty young. Even still it was his Strat.. I thought he used his ESPs by time MoP was out but then again MoP was their breakout album. KEA and RTL were badass albums but when MoP was released Metallica got a lot of recognition and probably opened up those ESP endorsements and led to EMGs being used. Thats just me thinking though. Don't know if its true.
 
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