Re: James hetfield & duncans
I've been able to nail the MOP tone with a JB through an old Marshall Valvestate VS100. I played a jackson RR1 through that amp once, which was JB loaded, and it nailed it. I just put a JB in my Ibanez. It comes VERY close, but not as much as the Jackson. Kill Em All can be done too. Ride the Lightning- I never liked that tone, it always seemed muffled. I haven't tried an Invader, but I hear that's what Hetfield used.
The Metallica EMG tone you hear on AJFA and the Black album is a result of studio work and layering of the guitars. I saw Metallica live, and have their live albums- their EMG/ Mesa Dual Rectifier tone is very thin, unlike their albums. The closest I can copy the AJFA and Black album tone is with a Boss Metal Zone.
In my opinion and Duncan pickups through a Marshall will get you closer to a Metallica tone than EMG's and a Mesa amp.