No. 0151986·thrash-metal·3 blocks
Master of Puppets
The definitive thrash metal rhythm guitar tone. James Hetfield's sound on Master of Puppets is built on an ESP Explorer with EMG pickups through a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ — a combination that produces a tight, aggressive, scooped-mid tone with razor-sharp pick attack and crushing low end. The Mark IIC+ is the holy grail of metal amps: its lead channel provides high-gain saturation with incredible note definition even at extreme gain levels. Hetfield's relentless downpicking technique is the engine that drives this tone.
Master of PuppetsSignal path · input → output · 4 blocksLive values · Pedalboard
Guitar
ESP Explorer (custom)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (Lead Channel)
Mesa/Boogie 4x12 Rectifier Cabinet
Shure SM57
Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (Lead Channel)
preamp
Volume
7
Treble
7
Bass
3
Middle
3
Lead Drive
7
Lead Master
6
Presence
5
Engineer's note
File 015
The definitive thrash metal rhythm guitar tone. James Hetfield's sound on Master of Puppets is built on an ESP Explorer with EMG pickups through a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ — a combination that produces a tight, aggressive, scooped-mid tone with razor-sharp pick attack and crushing low end. The Mark IIC+ is the holy grail of metal amps: its lead channel provides high-gain saturation with incredible note definition even at extreme gain levels. Hetfield's relentless downpicking technique is the engine that drives this tone.
— James Hetfield
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →Metallica Rhythm Tone Settings: Hetfield's Sound by Era
James Hetfield's rhythm tone broken down by album era: settings, gain structure, and how to dial it in on real amps and modelers.
Why Mesa Ships Rectifier Cabs With V30s (And When to Replace Them)
The Celestion V30 and the Mesa Dual Rectifier were made for each other, up to a point. Here's the frequency reason the pairing works, exactly where it breaks down for ultra-high-gain playing, and what to put in the cab instead.
How to Set Your Peavey 5150 for Bedroom Volume Without Losing the Tone
The 5150 sounds different at low volume, and there are specific reasons why. Here is the Resonance and Presence adjustment, gain structure, and effects loop trick that gets the tone back at neighbor-safe levels.
