That "Metallica" sound

Si.

Si.

Si.

Soldato
Joined
22 Oct 2002
Posts
2,675
Location
Melbourne, Aus
I've been messing about with my new Cort and Vox AD15 amp but I just can't get that "Metallica" sounds from it..

The closest I can get is to drop the middle, crank up the bass and trebble with a little bit of reverve, but it's just not right.. Anyone else manged something close, and if so what settings did you use?
 
I know what you mean, I've got a similar guitar to what they use - an ESP EC-1000 with EMG 81's and a marshall amp. In the end i just found a tone i liked to play in rather than try and emulate their tone.
 
Do you use any peddles or just the amp?

I love the Vox amp, but just can't find that "crunchy" sound I like.
 
You're not going to get anything close to their 'sound' to be honest, dropping the mids is the way forward for that compressed crunchy tone though. Getting an OD pedal may get you closer, I don't think the Vox is really a high gain amp really.

Tone is in the fingers anyway :D
 
yeah a little 15W cube amp isn't gonna replicate racks of Marshall and Boogie amps :)

You're doing the correct thing thou, scoop those mids out - bass, treble and volume!

Bridge pickup, fully on treble - keep your playing tight to keep it all crunchy
 
Pretty much most of the Metallica riffs have a slight palm mute going on anyway, this is getting into the realm of tone is in the fingers but really digging in and palming slightly will make your tone chunkier.
 
A lot of money is spent on kit, world class engineers and in high end studios to create those sounds. You'll have trouble on a £100 modelling amp.
 
Rather than trying to emulate metallics sound, try to imagine it and describe it in words and that should go a way towards helping you find the sound you want. However, you will not be able to find what you want unless you spend some serious money on your kit. A cheap amp wont produce those ear punishing lows from the palm muting.
 
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Guess I need to spend some time messing to find what I like and work from there..

Can anyone reccomend a good OD peddle?
 
I always liked the boss metal zone (m1 i think - its black with orange letters) as its quite versatile. Boss make an OD-3 that's pretty good too.
 
If you want to sound like Metallica then you're going to have to go down the Mesa Boogie route.

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Oh and a ESP costing a few grand helps. :)

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*Drools*
 
Not a huge fan of the ESP Signature editions.. but the Messa Amps :eek: (Bit pricey though)
 
The obvious offset of Metallica's standard kit is that solo sounds are always "round". Not talking about the Kirk's automatic wah solo sound, but their standard concert "duel" sounds - heavy compression and shoving middle tones to max always leads to slightly muddy, roud, almost slightly flangey tone. Adding some "body" darkness - either by expanding pre-amp with equalizer or by simply choosing something with properly done maple top to the same amp and same pickup set would get you closer to very, very, solid wall sound and pinched harmonics of massive, clear tone and incredibly easy to sustain (less canceling). Cutting mids and exposing more higher ranges would get you closer to Megadeth's very bright and clear but solid distorted sound.
 
A lot of the metallica sound actually comes from mic placement as opposed to eq settings. James spent a lot of time exploring different mic positions in order to obtain his metallica sound
 
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