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Author Topic: Pickup for Hetfield tone.  (Read 4435 times)

crispsandwich

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Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« on: June 11, 2012, 12:45:17 PM »
I have acquired a cheap basswood Ibanez. The stock pickups are awful. I want pickups that will give me that huge, clear, tight Hetfield sound for riffs, yet still be reasonably nice for clean tones on the neck pickup.

Any suggestions? The Black Hawk set looks interesting :)

Telerocker

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2012, 04:53:17 PM »
Nailbomb/Cold Sweat-combo.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

ericsabbath

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2012, 05:43:31 PM »
miracle man bridge, nailbomb neck
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TheyCallMeVolume

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2012, 04:16:18 AM »
I would feel like a NB would be too modern for a Hetfield sound. I would go along the lines of a Rebel Yell, Miracle Man, etc.

juansolo

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2012, 07:01:42 AM »
Pickups for Hetfield are simple: EMG 81/60. MM in comparison is much fuller (I much prefer it), CS neck does a great clean that complements the MM nicely. But it's not the same, if you want Het, the EMGs are what he has always used in just about everything.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2012, 07:03:21 AM by juansolo »
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Madsakre

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2012, 07:26:39 AM »
After i got the emg het-set i dont need to look elsewhere. I have found the pickups of my life!
Your music will never be as hard as this!

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Cattlepress

Loomer

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2012, 08:56:58 AM »
What amp are you using? I'm pretty sure a good deal of his tone lies in the amp setup as well.

blue

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2012, 12:36:03 PM »
if you could buy a "Hetfield signature right hand", i think that would help quite a bit too :)
cry HAVOC!! and let slip the pigs of war!!!

Loomer

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2012, 01:25:05 PM »
if you could buy a "Hetfield signature right hand", i think that would help quite a bit too :)

Hey, Slayer are selling grill aprons now, so don't rule that out just yet.

TheyCallMeVolume

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2012, 02:27:58 PM »
if you could buy a "Hetfield signature right hand", i think that would help quite a bit too :)

Hey, Slayer are selling grill aprons now, so don't rule that out just yet.

That's pathetic. But I want one!

northlane.josh

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2012, 03:29:20 PM »
Black hawks will get you there.
They have this huge active esque grind to them that you hear in hetfield's tone.
Seeing that he's almost always used EMG's its a sure way to get there.
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Alex

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2012, 09:06:15 PM »
A lot of pickups will get you there; Hetfield played mostly midrangey mahogany guitars throughout his career, so you really need to look for one that will make your basswood Ibanez with its super-thin bolt-on neck sound more like his typical Explorer/LesPauls.
Putting a EMG Het set into the RG might sound good, but it will not sound like a mahogany explorer with the same pickups.
I think you'll fare better with something fuller sounding, such as a Nailbomb or Miracle Man.

One more thing
For me THE Hetfield sound is the Master of Puppets sound and that was an Explorer (I think) with a Seymour Duncan Invader (not an EMG, this is for sure) into a Mesa Boogie preamp (IIc?) slaved into a Marshall power amp. In other words, it was neither Rectifiert nor EMGs back then.

I would not go with "you need {BRANDNAME} gear to sound like him" but really by ears, as to what sounds closer, even if it looks different on paper.
Current BKPs: Miracle Man, Nailbomb, Juggernaut, VHII
Past BKPS: Holy Diver, Trilogy Suite, Sinner, Black Dog

ericsabbath

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #12 on: June 13, 2012, 04:51:04 AM »
A lot of pickups will get you there; Hetfield played mostly midrangey mahogany guitars throughout his career, so you really need to look for one that will make your basswood Ibanez with its super-thin bolt-on neck sound more like his typical Explorer/LesPauls.
Putting a EMG Het set into the RG might sound good, but it will not sound like a mahogany explorer with the same pickups.
I think you'll fare better with something fuller sounding, such as a Nailbomb or Miracle Man.

One more thing
For me THE Hetfield sound is the Master of Puppets sound and that was an Explorer (I think) with a Seymour Duncan Invader (not an EMG, this is for sure) into a Mesa Boogie preamp (IIc?) slaved into a Marshall power amp. In other words, it was neither Rectifiert nor EMGs back then.

I would not go with "you need {BRANDNAME} gear to sound like him" but really by ears, as to what sounds closer, even if it looks different on paper.

yeah, hard to get that type of tone from a basswood ibanez
Kirk Hammet live les paul tones are hella lot bigger sounding than his superstrats
I wouldn't rule out a ceramic warpig, depending on the amps and pedals

I don't think even the exact same rig would get the master of puppets tone, though
that tone comes a lot from how they recorded and hardly how it must have sounded in person
but a dialed mark III or caliber 50+ through v30s get in the ballpark for sure

in his latest years videos, his tones are pretty much how a diezel sounds without much tweaking
probably mixed with a recto or triaxis, though

Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

TheyCallMeVolume

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #13 on: June 13, 2012, 04:17:41 PM »
I'm not sure about in studio, but I know for a fact his live tones are a blend of Diezel, Triaxis, Recto, and Roland JC-120 for cleans. Also, I think on some songs he used his 59 burst with PAF's. That was recent though, I think Death Magnetic.

EffigyForgotten

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Re: Pickup for Hetfield tone.
« Reply #14 on: June 14, 2012, 05:17:19 AM »
Personally I think Metallicas tone after the black album just went to shite. If you like the fizzy, undefined, awful tone of current metallica which in no way whatsoever would I describe as tight, the new het-set is the way to go.  If your looking for a tight thrash tone though my holy diver is an AMAZING thrash pickup.