Honestly...Is The MOP Tone Really That Amazing?

angelspade

angelspade

Well-known member
So I recently acquired a new car that has a great sounding Bang Olufsen sound system with all the bells and whistles. While I was tuning the eq and balance options, I decided to go back to some highly recognizable reference recordings as I did so. I broke out Master Of Puppets and gave it a spin. It's been some time since I really listened with intention to that record. So this may be sacrilege around here but, here goes: Are the guitar tones on MOP really that amazing?

I mean many of the tone chasers of the world seem to feel pretty strongly that this is the Holy Grail of metal guitar tone. There are countless videos posted with attempts at recapturing this sacred sound, and I believe that Mesa Mark II C+ prices reflect this enthusiasm. But honestly, between us...is it really that good? I'm not talking about the songwriting (amazing), not the performances (Hetfield amazing), not the overall vibe and spirit of that record (amazing), or it's significance in determining the direction of heavy music (undeniable)...JUST the tone.

There was definitely a time when I probably felt that it was near perfect, but in listening to it this morning in my car, I guess I was feeling (quite sadly) a little underwhelmed by the guitar tone given the long standing critical reputation amongst us gear heads. I think I was always just so blown away by the overall brilliance of the songs that it swayed me into agreement. Perhaps my tastes or ear has changed over the years of exposure to so many records, and so many different amps?

What do you guys think?
 
I think it’s a great tone and aggressive. The album is not produced to have that big full wall of sound that exists today (not that it’s better or worse). So I guess my question would be are you judging the overall sound of the album on your new sound system or actually just the guitars?
 
stratjacket said:
I think it’s a great tone and aggressive. The album is not produced to have that big full wall of sound that exists today (not that it’s better or worse). So I guess my question would be are you judging the overall sound of the album on your new sound system or actually just the guitars?
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Honestly, it's hard to say...But I was listening to the rhythm guitar as much as possible and also the a parts where the guitars are isolated (such as MOP intro riffs).
 
It's a great tone for the time period. Was game changing when it came out.

Is it my favorite? No. Even of that time period, it isn't my favorite.

It's pretty played out at this point, a decent mark series amp, synergy, etc, will get you close enough for punk rock, and since everyone has the tone, it's no longer as desirable.
 
I’m going extra here . Once the main riff of battery (the gallop ) comes in its double in the left snd just perfect . But whether the triple and quad comes in the tone is knowhere as good . Drives me nuts and the entire album does that too me
 
Master of Puppets is my favorite song and one of my favorite albums of all time. To me, it is not the tones but the overall sound of the album, feel, etc. MOP was the first heavy song I'd ever heard with a breakdown like that in the middle with beautiful cleans, harmonizing solos, etc. Just a punishing song.

The gallop in Battery, heaviness of The Thing That Should Not Be, Orion, end with Damage, etc. The album is just killer. You gotta remember this was 86". I was a sophomore in high school when this came out and I can tell you that people hadn't heard an album like that.
 
DanTravis62 said:
It's a great tone for the time period. Was game changing when it came out.

Is it my favorite? No. Even of that time period, it isn't my favorite.

It's pretty played out at this point, a decent mark series amp, synergy, etc, will get you close enough for punk rock, and since everyone has the tone, it's no longer as desirable.
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I could listen to that album every damn day, lol. I will say that I was starting guitar around that time so the riffs on MOP were moving me in a direction.
 
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