Metallica tone?

[WrenchDevil6]

A Mark III will nail the MOP / RTL tone.

Preach brother!!! Preach!!!

 

[Dmann]

A huge mistake I see a lot of guitarists make is "scooping" out the mids, cranking the low end and overdrive to the point of oscillating the tone beyond crappyness.

While it may sound good in the bedroom, solo, playing along with your CD's, you cannot do that in a live situation with the band. Metallica's done thier best to capture that live mix and record it. The key to really getting that tone is taking into account the whole mix and the whole band.

If you really listen closely to live recordings of metallica (they have tons of free downloads over at livemetallica.com) you will hear how unsaturated and full of Mid range thier tones really are. In addition to that, the picking style plays a huge role too. James has been noted throughout the years as being the meanest down picking metal man, and yes it does really add to the tone.

I have been a Metallica fan for 20 years, and for me Kill em All is my favorite album when it comes to tone. A HUGE part of that sound is due to Cliff Burtons amazing style in which not only are his bass lines written to completely compliment the guitar rhythm, it adds the depth that so many guitarists think is James rhythm.... thats why you hear such a difference from AJFA an onwards. Jason Newstead was good, but he's a scoop picking bass player which totally changed everything for Metallica as far as i'm concerned.

BTW I use an ADA MP-2 preamp and a 1978 Marshall master model 100w lead head, and playing my LTD M-1000 with dual EMG 81's I can get that Metallica tone with ease. Of course it helps alot too being a huge metallica fan and pretty much knowing every singe riff off every single recording......

Just remember this... there is a lot more too it than the amp they used.

 

[riffdrive]

Good points all Dmann. Another lesson I think a lot of younger players could learn is that, like you said, midrange is a good thing, and you don't have to play with the gain on 10 all the time. In fact, if you turn the gain down (and even turn the volume knob on your guitar down just a little bit), we'll be able to hear more of what you're playing, instead of just a wall of distortion. It's called articulation, and it's where heaviness and chug are born.

I used to be a huge Metallica fan. However, when the black album came out, and Lars had his little millionaire temper tantrum about Napster, I lost all respect for them. But that still doesn't change the fact that they used to be a kick-ass metal band, pioneers of the genre, and these kids who worship the black album and everything that came after that would be well served to listen to the stuff recorded in the 80s like Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning, and Puppets.

 

[amplifier]

A Mark III will nail the MOP / RTL tone.

Anything on their first two albums such as rtl as u mentioned is all Marshall other than Kirk using a stomp box which was a stupid move. Nothing other than a Marshall can nail a Marshall.

BTW I've been gone a while guys, I've been busy being miserable and drowning my sorrows whenever I've had extra cash. Don't worry I could never be an alcoholic... that would be so, wong, so unethical, so immoral but most importantly I can't afford it.

 

[Lord Arcon]

I used to be a huge Metallica fan. However, when the black album came out, and Lars had his little millionaire temper tantrum about Napster, I lost all respect for them. But that still doesn't change the fact that they used to be a kick-ass metal band, pioneers of the genre, and these kids who worship the black album and everything that came after that would be well served to listen to the stuff recorded in the 80s like Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning, and Puppets.

What has that got to do with with their music..?

 

[Patill]

Scooped mids??? I don't think so... The early stuff had nothing but cranked mids. Scooping mids is what metal kids do to get a bedroom tone they think sounds good. If you want 80's metal, it's a Marshall with the mids on 10 most of the time.
If you do cut the mids from the mix, you'll sound terrible on stage and won't be able to cut through the mix. Bass in the mix is what having a bass player is for.

whow, you must be deaf if you don´t hear, that the complete band sound is scooped.


We´re not talking about their live sound here. We´re talking about early metallicas studio sound.

 

[Purgasound]

sure kid, sure... that's not even worth responding to unless by early metallica you mean LOAD.
grow up.

 

[Purgasound]

why would anyone want to be like this guy anyway...

 

[Would'e?]

I agree with DMann. Metallica reached their tone zenith on Kill 'Em All; Gibsons into Marshalls (with plenty of tasty mids). Tone-wise it's all been downhill from there. KEA also has the best overall production of all the Metallica records. You can actually hear the bass. Mesa + Flemming Rasmussen + ego ruined the band's sound, though the songwriting would hold up well enough until about six years ago.

 

[riffdrive]

why would anyone want to be like this guy anyway...

Now that's just funny as hell right there. Probably the most un-metal picture ever. How much you wanna bet Hetfield was holding his old lady's purse while she spent all his money?

 

[Patill]

sure kid, sure... that's not even worth responding to unless by early metallica you mean LOAD.
grow up.

sorry, but what does this post have to do with the topic? Did you ever use an EQ? I don´t think so, otherwise you would know, that scooping the mids makes just exactly the sound like Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets or AJFA.

This is everything else but cranked mids. What makes you think that????


Edit: Type this in google: "Metallica scooped mids" -> and read every single find!

Edit 2: Then type this: "Metallica cranked mids" -> the only thing you´ll find is our post! strange.....

 

[riffdrive]

sorry, but what does this post have to do with the topic? Did you ever use an EQ? I don´t think so, otherwise you would know, that scooping the mids makes just exactly the sound like Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets or AJFA.

This is everything else but cranked mids. What makes you think that????


Edit: Type this in google: "Metallica scooped mids" -> and read every single find!

Edit 2: Then type this: "Metallica cranked mids" -> the only thing you´ll find is our post! strange.....

Actually, the guitar sounds on RTL and Puppets really are heavy on the mids. AJFA was the first album where the mids were really scooped, at least to my ears. But then, what do I know - I've only been playing for 25 years. Surely Google knows more about tone than I do.

 

[mercilessdeath86]

The old albums all have the mids cranked. The later albums all have them scooped.

 

[Patill]

Master of Puppets? Mids cranked? What are you listening at?

@riffdrive: I´m not interested in how many years you´ve been playing, but I rather believe some hundreds of thousands of people than some small group that thinks (obviously) wrong.
Also, it´s not google, that knows more than you, it´s the people you ind there. And it´s many...

AND I believe in my Mesa Mark II C+, which sounds like the Metallica guitars if you scoop the mids on the graphic eq. Just take any equalizer and try it. Use winamp, the Windows eq, take any song and scoop the mids. You will hear the result, it´s just the same soundshape. What else proof do you need?

@,ercilessdeath86: it´s just the other way around.

I really ask myself how you can possibly not hear that...and I mean it, I´m really asking myself.

 

[riffdrive]

This debate is pointless. Since any of us here who dare to disagree with you and the throngs of 14 year olds who have been playing for 6 months are "obviously wrong", I'll leave this thread to you.

Cheers mate!

 

[Patill]

This debate is pointless. Since any of us here who dare to disagree with you and the throngs of 14 year olds who have been playing for 6 months are "obviously wrong", I'll leave this thread to you.

Cheers mate!

No, you are wrong. Get an EQ and try it yourself instead of wasting time disagreeing with me.
The mids are scooped, not cranked. Cranked mids would sound like shit, also try this on your EQ. Google doesn´t lie. No related homepages between "metallica" and "craked mids" but this thread. How do you explain this? The proof is right there, just let it be!

 

[Purgasound]

The proof is a more inexperienced players have more posts on the internet. LOL. Everyone knows they started out using JMP's. If you think cranked mids sound bad, I think two decades of good heavy metal and thrash would disagree.

Come on dude, you're on your own on this one, and you're getting too excited.

 

[HOT TUBES 70]

when it comes to your guitar sound in the "mains" , mids are your friend , no question !

 

[steelhorse]

I dig James' tone for sure but there's a lot more involved than just cranked or scooped mids happening. He's so under rated a player. Even Kirk sometimes can't keep up.

 

[Patill]

I also said it´s the master mix, not the amp that is scooped. Don´t you ever read my posts ???

You can hear it by the voice and the bass drum, that EVERYTHING is scooped, not only the guitar sound.

When they play live you can hear the real sound, where nothing is scooped. But the albums in between Kill ´em all and LOAD are ALL scooped until Load