Guitar Gear Forum

They're still using Axe-Fx? Doesn't sound like modelers, does it?

If they’re using Snax still, they sounded great live. In arena the guitar sounds cut very well. I didn’t have a issue with their tone or performance at all.

It sounds excellent because Metallica is excellent. There's no gear that can make Hetfield sound bad. But yes, modeling.
Compare it to Binge & Purge from 25+ years ago. Much fatter and aggressive guitar tones.

But Metallica will always sound good because they're Metallica.

GuitarBilly wrote:It sounds excellent because Metallica is excellent. There's no gear that can make Hetfield sound bad. But yes, modeling.
Compare it to Binge & Purge from 25+ years ago. Much fatter and aggressive guitar tones.

But Metallica will always sound good because they're Metallica.

The bolded part is key. Easy to forget when talking about maps and 100010010101s

Also @ Kirk's shirt

It does sound good. I wonder if they are running the Snax into tube power amps? Would probably help greatly.

GuitarBilly wrote:Also @ Kirk's shirt

It’s awesome. At the 2nd Detroit show he wore one that looked like the OG PlayStation logo from 1996 but said Pray2Satan.

It was this one here:

https://locotex.com/kirk-metallica-pray ... gLVmfD_BwE

those edited drums just crack me up

Mike Oxhuge wrote:It does sound good. I wonder if they are running the Snax into tube power amps? Would probably help greatly.

they have Matrix power amps powering cabs onstage but the FOH and this recording is all DI. I don't think it's a particularly good tone. Scratchy and not as heavy as it should be for the biggest metal band in the world.
But it works because James' playing is amazing. He could play through Crates and make it work, his pick attack and precision are just ridiculous. So he powers up the gear

There's too much ambience missing in Kirk's clean and lead sounds, and for some weird reason too much of it in the higher gain rhythm ones.
Lots of kazoo sounds in the leads :-/

And those high gain rhythm guitars are too thick in the low-end with missing aggressive highs / high mids. And I'm sure the gain is too low as well. It's not huge, it's like the last 5-10%. It sounds very clear and separated, but it's missing energy. The mix just isn't exciting at all.

RaceU4her wrote:those edited drums just crack me up

Same here. I wonder how much of their live show is to canned drums, at least the kick. What we are seeing in the videos are very obviously edited, but from a timing perspective, you have to wonder if Lars and his inconsistency would not throw off the rest of the band if there wasn't a solid drum pattern going on in the mains and in-ears. I mean James is a (formerly, I think) beer-powered metronome and he is commanding the band with that right hand of doom, but with those out-of-time drum hits would be hard to play around.

Heath wrote:

RaceU4her wrote:those edited drums just crack me up

Same here. I wonder how much of their live show is to canned drums, at least the kick. What we are seeing in the videos are very obviously edited, but from a timing perspective, you have to wonder if Lars and his inconsistency would not throw off the rest of the band if there wasn't a solid drum pattern going on in the mains and in-ears. I mean James is a (formerly, I think) beer-powered metronome and he is commanding the band with that right hand of doom, but with those out-of-time drum hits would be hard to play around.

They've been playing together for 40 years so I am sure they have learned to work around Lars drumming (which, IMHO, is not as bad as people say it is). But I am sure they're using at least triggers with samples for the drum sound. Metallica was one of the first metal bands to use samples back in the day.

Heath wrote:

RaceU4her wrote:those edited drums just crack me up

Same here. I wonder how much of their live show is to canned drums, at least the kick. What we are seeing in the videos are very obviously edited, but from a timing perspective, you have to wonder if Lars and his inconsistency would not throw off the rest of the band if there wasn't a solid drum pattern going on in the mains and in-ears. I mean James is a (formerly, I think) beer-powered metronome and he is commanding the band with that right hand of doom, but with those out-of-time drum hits would be hard to play around.

i like the part at 5:50 where kirk drops his pick and is looking for it for a few seconds but mysteriously it sounds like his part is still being played??

RaceU4her wrote:

Heath wrote:

RaceU4her wrote:those edited drums just crack me up

Same here. I wonder how much of their live show is to canned drums, at least the kick. What we are seeing in the videos are very obviously edited, but from a timing perspective, you have to wonder if Lars and his inconsistency would not throw off the rest of the band if there wasn't a solid drum pattern going on in the mains and in-ears. I mean James is a (formerly, I think) beer-powered metronome and he is commanding the band with that right hand of doom, but with those out-of-time drum hits would be hard to play around.

i like the part at 5:50 where kirk drops his pick and is looking for it for a few seconds but mysteriously it sounds like his part is still being played??

Ooops

RaceU4her wrote:
i like the part at 5:50 where kirk drops his pick and is looking for it for a few seconds but mysteriously it sounds like his part is still being played??

well he was just playing the same part as Hetfield and I am pretty sure Het's guitar dominates the mix for the rhythm parts since he's by far the better rhythm player. So it wouldn't make that much of a difference if Kirk stopped for a second. A solo or harmony would've been more noticeable. But Metallica makes no secret that their rhythm parts is all Hetfield.