No. 0681986·thrash-metal·4 blocks
Battery
Battery opens with roughly a dozen layered nylon-string acoustic guitars — all played by James Hetfield — building a medieval-consort crescendo before the thrash riff detonates. The electric tone is pure Master of Puppets: a Jackson Custom Shop King V 'Kill Bon Jovi' loaded with Seymour Duncan Invaders into a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ used as a preamp, slaved to a modified 100-watt Marshall power section and a 4x12. Tracked to analogue tape at Sweet Silence Studios by Flemming Rasmussen, standard E, all downpicks.
Master of PuppetsSignal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Jackson Custom Shop King V 'Kill Bon Jovi'
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Volume Pedal
Noise Gate
Deluxe Comp
Cali IV Lead
4x12 Uber T75
Tilt
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Pedal
100%
Noise Gate
← Studio noise gate (FRFR essential)
Threshold
-52dB
Decay
0.3s
Level
0
Deluxe Comp
← Light studio compression
Threshold
-32dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
0.0s
Release
0.2s
Mix
0.4
Level
0dB
Cali IV Lead
← Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ preamp → modified Marshall power amp
Drive
0.7
Bass
0.5
Mid
0.3
Treble
0.8
Presence
0.7
ChVol
0.7
Master
1
Bias
0.6
BiasX
0.5
Sag
0.5
Hum
0.5
Ripple
0.5
4x12 Uber T75
← Marshall 4x12 (Celestion-loaded)
LowCut80Hz
HighCut10000Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Tilt
← Tilt EQ (global brightness)
Tilt
0.5
CenterFreq
1000Hz
Level
0
Engineer's note
File 068
Battery opens with roughly a dozen layered nylon-string acoustic guitars — all played by James Hetfield — building a medieval-consort crescendo before the thrash riff detonates. The electric tone is pure Master of Puppets: a Jackson Custom Shop King V 'Kill Bon Jovi' loaded with Seymour Duncan Invaders into a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ used as a preamp, slaved to a modified 100-watt Marshall power section and a 4x12. Tracked to analogue tape at Sweet Silence Studios by Flemming Rasmussen, standard E, all downpicks.
— 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.
What the Celestion G12T-75 Actually Does (And Why Marshall Chose It Over the Greenback)
The Marshall 1960A cabinet ships with G12T-75 speakers, not the Greenbacks everyone associates with vintage Marshall tone. The reason is engineering, not cost-cutting. Understanding it changes how you set up a high-gain rig.
