The CCV can nail the tone Hetfield got on"Load".....

[Digital Jams]

 

[mason5182]

Regarding Load:

"Getting my rhythm guitar sound is always the most nerve wracking part of the recording process for me. Once that's done, it's pretty much clear sailing as far as I'm concerned."

The guitarist's main amplifier setup was composed of a Jose Arrendondo modified Marshall, a Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp and a Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ that he 'borrowed' from Kirk years ago. "That amp always comes through in the studio."

Also on hand were a veritable battery of amps, all of which were put to good use. "At one point I had 14 amps going at once...for a clean sound. I wanted to get a variety of clean sounds on this album instead of relying exclusively on the Roland JC-120, which has traditionally been the source of Metallica's clean sound. It was tough going though, because the Roland sounds so good that you want to keep going back to it. But we found some other cool aamps, particularly this little Matchless Spitfire that really kicks ass and an old tweed Fender Twin that's so sharp it'll take your nuts off!" Guitar World, July 1996

 

[mason5182]

Anyway, TM great clip again! Post some more when you have a chance

 

[mikehickey]

more people would probably like those albums if Lars and Kirk weren't hitting the mascara and feather boas, there are good tones and cool riffs on both, it just isn't old thrashy Metallica.

the CCV sounds great btw.

 

[steve_k]

Cans of worms OPENED!

Eddie's amp was not hot rodded, it was a simple EVH filtering change.

Oh shit. This will be a 7 page thread by Friday....

 

[Meathead]

Cans of worms OPENED!

Eddie's amp was not hot rodded, it was a simple EVH filtering change.

Oh shit. This will be a 7 page thread by Friday....

The VH I tone is way different than the tone he had on VH II. I'm guessing Eddie used an MXR Distortion+ to push the amp and make it more aggressive on VH 1. The aggression and hair on VH I can't just be a stock plexi, listen to how different it sounds from VH II (if it's supposed to be the same amp) .
For VH II I think it's just an Echoplex preamp (or two) hitting the amp harder in front, it sounds more natural for lack of a better word, it doesn't seem like a distortion pedal and it's common knowledge that he used a few of them, they can color and boost an amp quite a bit.
Either way, I don't believe it was ever just guitar + stock amp, he's boosting up front with something on all albums, or the amp was modded for more gain (some say)....but techs that have been inside the amp swear it wasn't modded. So the amp was stock and he was hitting it harder up front. THERE! But who fucking knows.

Everyone thinks that Rockstah has gotten Eddie's tone pretty well down on clips (me included)...and that ain't no stock Marshall.

 

[EXPcustom]

Only time Metallica used a Jose modded Marshall was on Kill 'em All. The amp was stolen while on tour. They used stock Marshall's for Ride the Lighting, and then switched to Mesa Mark IIC+ slaved into a JCM800 for Master of Puppets. ...AJFA has the same IIC+ and Marshall, and some Mesa Studio and Quad pre-amp. Black album was the same rig, with Kirk using an ADA MP-1 for some leads. Load/Reload was mostly Rectifiers and Wizard amps. During the Load tour they used Rectos into Wizard cabs. Roland JC120s for all the cleans.

Could be slightly off on this, going from memory here (which are 10+ years old, heh).

Wizards were not till Garage Inc and Metallica got new Joses during the Black album recording you can see them in the videos. They even had a Fish preamp.

 

[Digital Jams]

Cans of worms OPENED!

Eddie's amp was not hot rodded, it was a simple EVH filtering change.

Oh shit. This will be a 7 page thread by Friday....

The VH I tone is way different than the tone he had on VH II. I'm guessing Eddie used an MXR Distortion+ to push the amp and make it more aggressive on VH 1. The aggression and hair on VH I can't just be a stock plexi, listen to how different it sounds from VH II (if it's supposed to be the same amp) .
For VH II I think it's just an Echoplex preamp (or two) hitting the amp harder in front, it sounds more natural for lack of a better word, it doesn't seem like a distortion pedal and it's common knowledge that he used a few of them, they can color and boost an amp quite a bit.
Either way, I don't believe it was ever just guitar + stock amp, he's boosting up front with something on all albums, or the amp was modded for more gain (some say)....but techs that have been inside the amp swear it wasn't modded. So the amp was stock and he was hitting it harder up front. THERE! But who fucking knows.

Everyone thinks that Rockstah has gotten Eddie's tone pretty well down on clips (me included)...and that ain't no stock Marshall.

I say boosted with something, echoplex, MXR, something but I played a real Jose EVH mod and there were no extra gain stages, diodes, nothing and it was a dead ringer. Just slide your hand across all the knobs and play. Lolzgreg was with me and he heard the same thing.

No way is the black album Jose marshalls btw LOTS of Mesa going on.

 

[steve_k]

Load/Reload was all Boogie with James. This is when the Triaxis entered the rack, along with the Mark IV. The JC120 was around for cleans.

Garage was recorded with Wizards, Mesa's and the JC120.

 

[EXPcustom]

Cans of worms OPENED!

Eddie's amp was not hot rodded, it was a simple EVH filtering change.

Oh shit. This will be a 7 page thread by Friday....

The VH I tone is way different than the tone he had on VH II. I'm guessing Eddie used an MXR Distortion+ to push the amp and make it more aggressive on VH 1. The aggression and hair on VH I can't just be a stock plexi, listen to how different it sounds from VH II (if it's supposed to be the same amp) .
For VH II I think it's just an Echoplex preamp (or two) hitting the amp harder in front, it sounds more natural for lack of a better word, it doesn't seem like a distortion pedal and it's common knowledge that he used a few of them, they can color and boost an amp quite a bit.
Either way, I don't believe it was ever just guitar + stock amp, he's boosting up front with something on all albums, or the amp was modded for more gain (some say)....but techs that have been inside the amp swear it wasn't modded. So the amp was stock and he was hitting it harder up front. THERE! But who fucking knows.

Everyone thinks that Rockstah has gotten Eddie's tone pretty well down on clips (me included)...and that ain't no stock Marshall.

I say boosted with something, echoplex, MXR, something but I played a real Jose EVH mod and there were no extra gain stages, diodes, nothing and it was a dead ringer. Just slide your hand across all the knobs and play. Lolzgreg was with me and he heard the same thing.

No way is the black album Jose marshalls btw LOTS of Mesa going on.

Not only did they mention specifically using Jose Marshalls but you see them all over the place in the "A Year and a Half in the life of Metallica" along with a bunch of Mesas, VHT and Bogner.

Look:

 

[mason5182]

They had a mark IV while recording the black album. You can see a great shot of it being carried in the year and a half videos. Also on the classic albums DVD, James listens to the Enter Sandman demo amd remarks (paraphrasing), "wow, i wonder what amp that was? must have been the mark IV."

Load was essentially done using an in between setup consisting of James' former live racks and the live rack he basically still uses today. At that time the new rack put together by Sean was the 4 Triaxis, jc120H and 2 strategy 400s. But in the studio is was mainly parts of his former live rack, the key being his C+.

The Jose Marshall was the other main head. Various other amps were simply used for different texures and contrast.

The Wizard Modern Classic was delivered to James at the Plant in Sausilito and he liked it right away. It does make an appearance on garage inc along with his live rack. This setup is also supposedly (meaning not sure if he used the wizard but for sure the live rack) what he used during the garage barrage promo gigs.

After that its been the same live racks with only a few changes in the last 8 years. Adding the diezel, switchig to 290 power amps, line6 for cleans, etc.

While they love Boogies, Marshalls (including modded ones) have also been on pretty much everything they have done in the studio.

 

[petejt]

Only time Metallica used a Jose modded Marshall was on Kill 'em All. The amp was stolen while on tour. They used stock Marshall's for Ride the Lighting, and then switched to Mesa Mark IIC+ slaved into a JCM800 for Master of Puppets. ...AJFA has the same IIC+ and Marshall, and some Mesa Studio and Quad pre-amp. Black album was the same rig, with Kirk using an ADA MP-1 for some leads. Load/Reload was mostly Rectifiers and Wizard amps. During the Load tour they used Rectos into Wizard cabs. Roland JC120s for all the cleans.

Could be slightly off on this, going from memory here (which are 10+ years old, heh).

You're pretty close though


I can't remember the cabs though. I think they were always Marshall 300watt 4x12 cabs up until 1990, in fact probably the whole time. Vintage30s were the main speakers in the cabs they used. But I think around the late 1980s-early 1990s they tried Electro Voice speakers and the Black Shadows too.


Kill 'em All
James: Pro Co RAT distortion pedal into the Jose modded Marshall Super Lead Plexi
Kirk: Boss DS-1 into James' Jose modded Marshal Plexi


Ride the Lightning
James: Ibanez (not sure which) Tube Screamer overdrive pedal into stock Marshall JMP, either late 70s or maybe early 80s model (basically the JCM 800 in the JMP chassis)
Kirk: (I think) the Boss DS-1 again, into a similar Marshall JMP head

Master of Puppets
James: Mesa/Boogie MarkIIC+ slaved into the Marshall JMP for more power, with external parametric equalisers in the effects loop and about a gazillion layered guitar tracks & mixing desk EQ. And old Ampeg amp was used for the clean tones.
Kirk: Mesa/Boogie MarkIIC+ also slaved into a Marshall JMP. I think he had two IIC+'s.

...And Justice For All
James: Mesa/Boogie MarkIIC+ slaved into Marshall JMP, AND a Mesa/Boogie Quad preamp into Mesa/Boogie Strategy 400 poweramp, as well as a Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp into a Strategy 400 poweramp. He probably did the main rhythm track for each song with the IIC+, then the thickner layers and harmonies etc. with the Quad & Studio preamps. Again the parametric EQs were used for extra mid-sculpage. Yes I said sculpage. Clean tones were the Roland Jazz Chorus 120
Kirk: Ibanez Tube Screamer into A/DA MP-1 preamp into Mesa/Boogie Strategy 400 poweramp. Also had A/DA equalisers.

Metallica (Black Album)
James: Mesa/Boogie MarkIIC+ slaved into Marshall head (again the JMP?), AND a Mesa/Boogie MarkIV for thickening, AND a straight-up Jose-modded Marshall Plexi (I think he got a second one done years after his first got stolen) into a Marshall cab- I think this amp was used in bits on some songs but not on others, I'm not sure. Some songs do have more of a slight Marshally flavour, I'd have to dissect them more to see. Also the Studio preamp was used into a Strategy 400 poweramp, probably for harmonies. The whole damn lot was run through four Marshall 4x12 cabinets stuck in the corner of the studio, close-mic'ed with eight microphones and ambient mic'ed with one microphone, then closed in with a big wall of foam and thick blankets to "keep the tightness". The microphones were faded in various amounts so they'd partially phase-cancel each other, as a way of emphasising certain frequencies and diminishing others, a very clever and advanced way to equalise, but of course also takes some mucking around. Clean tones were the Roland Jazz Chorus 120 but I think he layered the sound with an A/DA preamp that was processed with an Eventide courtesy of Bob Rock. There's more to that clean tone than just a straight-up Jazz Chorus, at times.
Kirk: A bi-amped signal. The lows and mids were amplified with a Bradshaw three channel preamp into VHT big-arse poweramp, and the highs through a pair of old Marshall Super Lead Plexi heads, one black, one purple- all through an array of Marshall cabinets spread throughout the studio. Microphones everywhere to capture the ambience, and everything turned right up. He also threw in a Mesa/Boogie MarkIV boosted with an Ibanez TS-9, maybe extra bits. There are photos of it from the tours.

Load & ReLoad
James: Two Mesa/Boogie TriAxis preamps into a Mesa/Boogie Strategy 400 poweramp, one set for a Recto sound, the other his IIC+ sound. Also the ol' MarkIIC+ through the Marshall occasionally, at least it says so somewhere. The tent of doom used again, but lots of reverb added. He may have thrown in a Triple Rectifier as well- it definitely comes through in bits. I think the combination of all that can do similar to a CCV...
Kirk: Lots of old Marshalls (particularly with the synth stuff he did on the Roland VG-8), a lot of the Mesa/Boogie MarkIV, some quirky little amps like a Little Lanelei (sp?), and a straight-up Dual Rectifier for rhythms.

Garage Inc.
James: The TriAxis setup again, but with a Wizard Modern Classic. It sounds so damn good on this record. Those howling scowling ringing chords that you hear in Turn the Page have gotta be the Wizard. I think a Triple Recto was thrown in too.
Kirk: His Dual Rectifier, Marshall JMP, a Ken Fisher Trainwreck, even a Line6 Flextone...probably extra stuff too. I don't know remember the rest, sorry.


I won't go into their setups post-1998 just yet. But I do know for a fact that James did not start using the Diezel VH4 until 2002.

 

[thegame]

Wizard MC is definitely all over Reload. Right from James mouth in Guitar World mag in a late'97 issue. Also verified by Rick St. Pierre of Wizard amps. Also verified by anyone who has tried a MC through a Mesa V30 cab ! That setup sounds exactly like the recording.

 

[AndyK]

Interesting digression into what James and Kirk actually used on those classic albums! Lots of players slam Kirk but I think he kicks ass, he just needs to back off of the wah!

It was recently rumored that EVH ran a Vox, into his Marshall to get that insane sustain and boost, for the first album. There was a photo of this setup from an early bar gig or something.

The quest for tone goes on!

 

[Digital Jams]

For a site that will pay $3700 for a Jose Marshall type amp lots have ears that need work

 

[Meathead]

Interesting digression into what James and Kirk actually used on those classic albums! Lots of players slam Kirk but I think he kicks ass, he just needs to back off of the wah!

It was recently rumored that EVH ran a Vox, into his Marshall to get that insane sustain and boost, for the first album. There was a photo of this setup from an early bar gig or something.

The quest for tone goes on!

I read that his amp went down one gig and he had to get his Vox to use as a backup, he carried it around with him just in case after that.
But who knows. I'm sure he tried everything, he may have tried using the Vox with the Marshall in some way.
He's a fiddler and I don't believe a word he says regarding what he used.

 

[AndyK]

Interesting digression into what James and Kirk actually used on those classic albums! Lots of players slam Kirk but I think he kicks ass, he just needs to back off of the wah!

It was recently rumored that EVH ran a Vox, into his Marshall to get that insane sustain and boost, for the first album. There was a photo of this setup from an early bar gig or something.

The quest for tone goes on!

I read that his amp went down one gig and he had to get his Vox to use as a backup, he carried it around with him just in case after that.
But who knows. I'm sure he tried everything, he may have tried using the Vox with the Marshall in some way.
He's a fiddler and I don't believe a word he says regarding what he used.

Yeah, his whole "just turn everything to 10" story is nice, it just doesn't explain his early tone! I think the best way to try and analyze his early tone is to listen to the demo album (done for Gene Simmons). Less processing, sounds more like a guitar, into an amp, with some kind of boost.

 

[Digital Jams]

Sorry but stock with filtering and input hit with something, that's it.

Saw it, played it.

 

[Meathead]

Sorry but stock with filtering and input hit with something, that's it.

Saw it, played it.

"input hit with something" ...that's a big something, don't ya think?

 

[AndyK]

Sorry but stock with filtering and input hit with something, that's it.

Saw it, played it.

"It" being Ed's actual Marshall?? Do tell!