Death Magnetic Tone

[ozzman619]

I've recently been listening to Metallica's Death Magnetic album a lot lately and i have grown very fond of the tone/mixing done on the album. It has made to very curious as to how they might have come up with such a tone. On Metallica's website James, Kirk, and Rob are all listed as using a multiple of different amps so i have no clue with what they exactly recording the album with but it wouldn't surprise me if it was a combination of a few different amps.

If anyone has any ideas on how i could get this tone or a similar tone out of my band i love to hear your opinions and ideas.

[mniel8195]

a ton of amps and mics...doubt that you could duplicate it.

[BornToLooze]

A Diezel VH4 and a modded Mesa Triaxis for your dirty sound and a Roland JC-120 and modded Mesa Triaxis for your clean sound for James and Kirk just go a new custom Randall, plus a wah.

Oh and that's they're live rigs, I don't know what all they used on the album

[TRENCHLORD]

Originally Posted by BornToLooze

A Diezel VH4 and a modded Mesa Triaxis for your dirty sound and a Roland JC-120 and modded Mesa Triaxis for your clean sound for James and Kirk just go a new custom Randall, plus a wah.

Yeah that sounds simple enough . It's not easy being metallica.
Really with the right mic techniques you could get something simalar with allot of different amps and cabs. Not saying exactly though.

[wizbit81]

Orrrrrrr, use my VH4S, as it's stereo shape one side to be middy and the other to be bass and treble, and blend the two to taste. That'll do it

[7stringDemon]

You liked that album?



Just ....ing with you.

What they said is correct.

[cardinal]

Was that the ablum where they just threw up some room mics and hit the record button?

[setsuna7]

According to Jaymz, from what I read in Guitar World and also the dvd and MissionMetallica updates during the making of that album, IIRC, all rhythms are done by him. Left spectrum: the Mesa/Boogie mark iv they used on MoP,his MIJ Gibson V. Right spectrum: assortment of Kirk's guitars and amps. Kirk only did the solos. I could be wrong though, hope that helps.
Or just buy a Hardwire TL-2.

[Genome]

It was mix of different amps. It's a VH4 and a Krankenstein mainly.

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Dude, ask for e better tone like Load, or Puppets.

But joking aside, everyone's right in saying that it was a lot of different amps. I even heard somewhere they used old Ampegs for guitar.

[I Voyager]

I remember seeing Papa Het trying out a Diamond amp in one of the Mission Metallica videos. Don't know if it was actually used on the album, though.

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

Originally Posted by setsuna7

According to Jaymz, from what I read in Guitar World and also the dvd and MissionMetallica updates during the making of that album, IIRC, all rhythms are done by him. Left spectrum: the Mesa/Boogie mark iv they used on MoP,his MIJ Gibson V. Right spectrum: assortment of Kirk's guitars and amps. Kirk only did the solos. I could be wrong though, hope that helps.
Or just buy a Hardwire TL-2.

Its a Mark IIC+ slaved into a Marshall on MOP... just thought I'd correct that little tidbit. He didn't go full Mesa until AJFA, and only started mixing the triaxis and Mark IV in by the black album IIRC... but the seminal metallica sound is from the IIC+ head.

[KAMI]

the album sounds like a diezel vh4... sick tone, I love the newer metallica stuff!

[texshred777]

Originally Posted by setsuna7

According to Jaymz, from what I read in Guitar World and also the dvd and MissionMetallica updates during the making of that album, IIRC, all rhythms are done by him. Left spectrum: the Mesa/Boogie mark iv they used on MoP,his MIJ Gibson V. Right spectrum: assortment of Kirk's guitars and amps. Kirk only did the solos. I could be wrong though, hope that helps.
Or just buy a Hardwire TL-2.

If I'm not mistaken there was a video of Kirk failing pretty hard when trying to do some rhythm parts.

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Originally Posted by texshred777

If I'm not mistaken there was a video of Kirk failing pretty hard when trying to do some rhythm parts.

That's St. Anger.

[texshred777]

I am mistaken.

[ozzman619]

Well seems like ill have to look into maybe a triaxis and the VH4s some more, so far ive gone through a marshall tsl100, 5150 II, triple rectifier, framus cobra and an EVH5153 but i still havnt nailed the tone im looking for.

what about bass guitar wise? anyone know if they are doing anything special there?

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I think Trujillo just uses Ampeg SVT amps.

[BornToLooze]

I don't know about recently but I know for their older stuff putting the volume on zero is a good start

[bhakan]

I don't remember the Death Magnetic tone well, but when I think Metallica, I think mesa mark series amps.

[Philligan]

Originally Posted by texshred777

If I'm not mistaken there was a video of Kirk failing pretty hard when trying to do some rhythm parts.

I'm not huge into Metallica but I actually thought Death Magnetic was one of their better sounding albums. I remember an interview with James saying it was about getting back to his roots, and he started using his old V again. Not sure if that means old amps or not, but a IIC+ is definitely a good start. I saw some jam videos that definitely had Krankensteins in the background. And of course TriAxis/VH4.

EDIT: Mesa Mark V. IIC+ and IV lead channels in one amp (along with many other amazing Boogie channels haha)

[incinerated_guitar]

I thought cleans were with a mesa boogie roadster?

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Originally Posted by incinerated_guitar

I thought cleans were with a mesa boogie roadster?

Besides St. Anger and the first 2 albums, cleans were always from the Roland Jazz Chorus. The first 2 albums were most likely the Marshalls with the volume rolled back and St. Anger was the clean channel of several tube amps and his Roland.

EDIT: Now that I remember, I think Puppets also was devoid of the JC-120.

[blackrobedone]

I kid you not - Krank Krankenstein +. I don't know if they used it or not (I think James said he prefered the original Krankenstein), but I was able to get a very similar tone to Death Magnetic with that amp. Turn the presence down to 0.5-1 if you try it out though.

[K3V1N SHR3DZ]

whatever you end up using, be sure to run it all through a brickwall limiter and compress the dogshit out of everything. When the cymbals sound like hiss and the kicks suck the volume out of everything else, go just a little further to get that Death Magnetic tone.......

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Metallica / Death Magnetic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR4 0.00 dB -5.39 dB 7:08 01-That Was Just Your Life
DR4 0.00 dB -5.18 dB 7:52 02-The End Of The Line
DR3 0.00 dB -4.17 dB 6:25 03-Broken, Beat & Scarred
DR2 0.00 dB -3.81 dB 7:56 04-The Day That Never Comes
DR3 0.00 dB -3.99 dB 7:57 05-All Nightmare Long
DR3 0.00 dB -3.92 dB 6:39 06-Cyanide
DR4 0.00 dB -6.25 dB 7:46 07-The Unforgiven III
DR3 0.00 dB -3.82 dB 8:00 08-The Judas Kiss
DR4 0.00 dB -5.02 dB 9:57 09-Suicide & Redemption
DR3 0.00 dB -3.59 dB 5:01 10-My Apocalypse
DR4 -2.80 dB -8.59 dB 5:46 11-Remember Tomorrow
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 11
Maximum peak difference (0.00 dB - -2.80 dB): 2.80 dB

Official DR value (Song Mode): DR3
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