Metallica tone possible on an SL-1?

[xenophobe]

I think he used a Strat loaded with a set of EMG's (hum sin sin) to record most of the clean stuff (using the single coils) during the older albums, like, Justice and Black.

I always considered those their newer albums... heh

[LEOKV2]

Well, me too, but given the fact that now they have like what, 8 or 9 cd's, the black album could be considered "older" stuff too, I guess.

Plus, soundwise the Kill 'em All tone ain't that much of a point of comparison to the rest, IMO.

[bombtek]

You know, unless you use an amplifier....I don't think that you will get even CLOSE to the Metallica sound on any guitar. SL1, SL2, Warrior, RR, DK.....A guitar alone just plain ain't loud enough. You really gotta amplify the vibrations of the strings on a guitar via pickups and an amp. Now the good news is that an SL1 DOES have both strings and pickups, so you're already 2/3 of the way there

[bombtek]

Oh ...by the way.....I was being a wise-ass in above post

[Dreamland_Rebel]

yes you can.

emg 81 will help.

just turn your amps bass and treble all the way up, and the mid all the way down.

its that simple.

[LEOKV2]

Not really, actually, when I heard the "advice" for getting the Metallica tone and many other thrash standard tones, It felt ugly. The guitar is a mid-oriented instrument, if you take the mids out of the spectrum, then all you're getting are lows and highs, same as your bass player (lows) and drummer (cymbals), there's little audible guitar left. That's why most metal bands, here in my country too, can't be heard (guitarwise) if you're say, 15 meters (30 feet) away from the stage, that's because the tone is so thin that all you get is drums and vocals.

Currently my tone, which is the same old death metal tone I've had for quite a long time now, is simple; bass at 2 o'clock, mids at 9:30 o'clock and highs at 1 o'clock. The guitar sounds SO MUCH fuller, crisper and present with those mids dialed in, and they're not so much, so it doesn't mean my guitar sounds "vintage" or "middy" or "80's heavy metal", at all, I sound like Arch Enemy, Nile, etc.

I read somewhere, I think it was at the Andy Sneap forum that there was this big misconception of the "scooping" around the time; probably Metallica was one of the few that "actually" scooped the mids for the recording process, specially on the And Justice album. What is usually done and that's where the mistake came, was that when mixing and mastering down a project, sound engineers usually curve down the mids and boost lows and highs to add body and sculpt the overall flow of music so that is pleasant to the ears, there's a whole science to music hearing I never had in mind when I was just playing guitar. And Andy Sneap is "THE MAN" for recording extreme or semi-extreme and also "standard" heavy metal this days, from Exodus and Testament (the last albums), Nevermore, Arch Enemy, Kreator, etc.

[LEOKV2]

You Can Get Metallica Tone On Any Guitar With A Little Help...

Kill Album - Marshall/duncans

Ride Album - Mesa Markii And Markiii James Had A Passive Emg With Huge Poll Pieces And Weird Pots (explorer Wht "so What" On Back) My Buddy Owns The Guitar Now.

Master Album - Mesa Mark Iv Same Guitar As Above

And Justice Mesa 1st Edition Dual Rectifier And Active Emg 81

Same For The Rest...james Switched To Mesa Triaxis And Dual Rectifiers And Later Switched To 81/60 Emg's

Now Who Know What The Hell He's Using...i've Seen Pix With Krank, Deizel, Bogner, Mesa, Line 6 And So On....

I thought that the And Justice was done using the same Simul-Class Mark IIC used before, I read that on a Guitar World "special edition" something about Metallica, you know, the one where they have the interview with James and Iommi, etc etc. If I'm wrong, please correct me, I kinda remember James said that it was the first time he used the Mark IIC since Kirk had it around and he tried it out. I also remember reading he used a Marshall and a Tube-Screamer for the whole Ride The Lightning album, and that it was a mess to get the right sound, or something.

[toejam]

:ROTF: :ROTF: AND THAT SETTING ALSO WORKS FOR EVERY METAL BAND OUT THERE INCLUDING MINE!!

I hope your bass player cranks up the midrange, otherwise you're gonna be saying, "Why the hell can't we hear Jason Newstead playing?!?" :ROTF: And I can imagine the guitars probably don't cut through very well in a live setting without mids either.

[Sanctuary]

+1

[toejam]

Ride Album - Mesa Markii And Markiii James Had A Passive Emg With Huge Poll Pieces And Weird Pots (explorer Wht "so What" On Back) My Buddy Owns The Guitar Now.

Passive EMG with huge pole pieces? That would be a Duncan Invader... he did use those at one point.

[jrnic]

One thing I've found. If you don't want to change pickups, try changing the 500K vol pot with a 1 Meg vol pot. Brings out more of the pickup and, in my opinion, makes the pickup sound closer to an EMG. Best part is, if you don't like the sound, it takes 2 minutes to change it back.

[MetalGrasshopper]

Actually you can't get a Metallica tone with the SL-1. No matter how hard you try, you will only get the SL-1 sound, which unfortunately is nothing like the Metallica sound. If you want the Metallica sound you can only get it with Mesa amps and some ESPs, preferably set neck old style explorers.

You can get any sound from any guitar...its more dependent on your amp choice than anything else. Not to mention, once you put in EMGs, your guitar is gonna sound really similar (not 100%) to other EMG guitars anyway.

[LEOKV2]

Yeah, so he did use the tube screamer for the Ride The Lightning thank you !

[Soap]

Alder body + neckthrough maple neck + EMG81. Rosewood or ebony fingerboard. That's basically what Kirk's tone is about. Jackson SL1 would be ok.

Yep, and the ESP 602 is the better deal.
Many buy the 602 cause its a neck thru whereas the KH-2 is a bolt on and way much more. The 602 has the OFR, 81 EMG's, neck thru, skull fret markers, rosewood fretboard, maple or alder body.
If I was a kirk fanboy and wanted a signature series model, the 602 would win hands down. Can't beat the quality and features it has at that price ($900.00 retail) its a killer and much better deal compared to the KH-2.

[edma2]

I was researching KH-2's at one point, and although you get good specs (neck thru, etc...), there is still a huge gap in quality between the ESP and LTD Kirk Hammett models.

You're comparing a Japanese custom shop KH-2 vs. LTD Korea KH-602. But yeah, judging by its features only, its quite a guitar.

Now, I'll admit I haven't seen either guitar in person, but c'mon, ESP custom shop vs. Korea assembly line?