Hetfield - 'Hardwired' - VH4 studio screenshot

Philhouse

Well-known member


Screen grab from the making of 'Hardwired' clip on the Met site.

Must say it put a nice smile on my dial to see the VH4, (and the Crunch Berries) right there in the control room pumping out James' tones, rather than a modelling rig. Surprised to see the Jackson V getting some love again.
Anyone ID the amp head on top ? I can't pick it straight away.
 
Top is the same ole' Wizard Modern Classic (first edition) he's had since late '96 or so that started being prominently featured on Reload and Garage Inc and so forth.
 
RKnight":3c6vxwrt said:
I wonder how the Wizard stacks up to a vh4 tone wise? A little more vintagey, maybe?

They're nothing alike - nothing. Not to mention that Wizard is a really old and original single input model. It's low gain by today's standards.
 
Rezamatix":3w4g5mrp said:
I'm happy to say I have all three of those amps.
:)

Yes you do and it's so awesome brother!! Have you done any recording recently with the VH4?! I haven't seen anything since the mix with the Uberschall TJ
 
kes7u":1x1338eh said:
Everyone NEEDS at least 1 glow in the dark guitar!!

AGREED!! It actually belongs to a friend of mine who gigs around town. But I did all the work to get it in shape lol
 
Well, after finally scoring myself an MCII and playing it mixed with a VH4, (and actually finally hearing a Wizard in person), it was a revelation to me to hear how much the Wizard tone is on the HWSD album [IMHO], and I'm sure and big part of many Hetfield recordings since Load days. I hooked them up and got a nice blended tone, then started playing some of the HWSD riffs when it really hit me. Just using a regular '58 RI Les Paul, no high output pickups.
Seems like the Crunch, tightness and clarity part of his tone feels to me mainly to be the Wizard, the bottom and deep low end feels more like the VH4 doing that portion. I'm sure the IIC+ is in the mix too. The MCII and the IIC+ don't actually feel worlds apart to me, maybe its just the way I set my amps by habit and my ears.
 
Funny thing is that Hetfield uses an Axe-Fx rig live. His tech had the job of replicating its VH4 tone on the Axe to be spot on. I saw a video explaining the whole thing not long ago.
 
Altamir":2pdgr277 said:
Funny thing is that Hetfield uses an Axe-Fx rig live. His tech had the job of replicating its VH4 tone on the Axe to be spot on. I saw a video explaining the whole thing not long ago.

It doesn't sound the same live. I'll take the real deal anytime.
 
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