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In 1991, Metallica released an album that would change the musical landscape for metal musicians. The self-titled album, best known to the masses as The Black Album, was the band's 5th offering and it launched Metallica to international superstardom.
While still a Metal album at heart, the Black Album saw the band making a departure from their Bay Area Thrash Metal roots into new commercial territory.
To date, the album has sold over 30 million copies and remains one of the most popular Heavy Metal albums of all time.
The Black Album marked a huge shift for Metallica. Prior to this album, released in 1991, the band had released 4 albums that mixed Thrash and Speed Metal, later adding in some progressive elements.
The Black Album, however, was a much more mainstream affair. Produced by Bob Rock, fresh off the back of him working on Motley Crue's Dr Feelgood album, it saw Metallica focus on hooks and songs rather than heavy, fast riffs.
Upon the release of the Black Album, the band saw themselves exploding into the mainstream consciousness. Prior to this, Metal had always been considered more of an underground genre, but the impact of the Black Album was instrumental in widening the genre's appeal.
The album's release was met with critical acclaim and debuted at number 1 in 10 countries. It spent 4 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 Chart.
Kirk Hammett has become known as a big time guitar collector and over the years has accumulated a large collection of interesting guitars. It should come as no surprise that during any given recording session, Metallica would have access to an almost unlimited arsenal of guitars to choose from.
Although it is noted that many different guitars were used on the Black Album for various textures and layers, Kirk has stated that his core guitar parts were recorded with just 2 main guitars.
In preparation, to narrow down his guitar choices Kirk recorded the same solo 15 times, with 15 different guitars, and selected the 2 best sounding ones.
Kirk has mentioned in interviews that he used an ESP S-type guitar loaded with a pair of EMGs during the recording sessions of the Black Album. There is not much information available about this guitar.
During the filming of the music video for the song "One" from the band's previous album, Kirk had used a triple single coil-loaded ESP copy of a Fender Stratocaster. It could be assumed that the guitar in question is either this guitar with a pickup swap, or a similar guitar.
Other possibilities could be the ESP MM-270 "Zorlac" that Kirk acquired in 1987, or the ESP MM-290 (The "Caution Hot" guitar) which he started using around the time of the Black Album.
This particular guitar also does not have much information available, although Kirk has specified in multiple interviews that he used a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe from 1989, which had been fitted with EMG pickups.
The Les Paul Deluxe would have come stock with mini-humbuckers, so at some stage we can assume that the body would have been routed out to accommodate the full sized EMG pickups.
The only other Les Paul that is known to have been used on the album is Kirk's 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom, which was used for the octave slides in the guitar solo of "The God that Failed". This was due to the 1969 Les Paul Customs having very short, thin frets, giving them an almost fretless feel - ideal for slide.
Over the course of the Black Album sessions, many different amps were used and blended together, however there are 3 main amps that Kirk used for the majority of his parts on the album.
The basis of the Black Album tone was Hetfield and Hammett's use of the Mesa Boogie IIC++. This was a modified version of the existing IIC+ circuit that was done for Metallica.
The "++ mod" added extra gain to the lead channel of the amp. This modification was never available publicly but it is speculated that Mesa Boogie performed it on around 20 amps belonging to various other musicians shortly after.
Alongside his trusty Mesa, Kirk was also using other amps for various specific tasks, one of which was the Bradshaw CAE Preamp, which he was running via a VHA 2150-MJF power amp.
The CAE was used for the low end and the mid-range of Kirk's tone, as he felt they had a very clean sound that was great for tracking parts.
During the album sessions there were various mentions of Kirk using a Marshall amp in conjunction with his Bradshaw CAE. While the Bradshaw handled the lows and mids, the Marshall was used for the high end part of Kirk's tone.
There is very little information available as to what Marshall Kirk would have used, however, it is known that a Jose modded Marshall was present in the studio and used on this album.
Although the Black Album is known for it's crushingly heavy sound, most of the guitar parts are relatively stripped back with very little in the way of additional effects added.
This is especially true of Kirk's guitar parts. The majority of the album's rhythm tracks were performed by James Hetfield, with Kirk providing textural parts and the guitar solos.
The Tubescreamer has been a mainstay on Kirk's pedalboard since the Kill 'Em All days. He used it for lead guitar parts and solos to tighten up the sound and add a mid-range push.
It is not known for sure if Kirk used a Tubescreamer in the studio during the Black Album sessions, however there is a strong possibility that it was used on at least some of the album's leads.
FORMULA B 4558 OD
Featuring the same Texas Instruments RC4558P chip found in some of the earliest examples of the TS808, the 4558 OD sounds absolutely incredible. The Formula B 4558 OD features a couple of improvements over the original Tubescreamer. Firstly, it's capable of delivering more volume and cleans up better when the Gain control is set to 0, making it a great clean boost. Additionally, a toggle switch allows you to add in more bass to what is traditionally a mid-range focused sound.
While Kirk is best known as a Dunlop Crybaby artist, there was a period from ...And Justice for All, until the mid '90s where Kirk switched to using Vox wah pedals on stage and in the studio.
The Vox Wah used on the Black Album was a vintage model which was supposedly owned by Jimi Hendrix at some point during his career. It is unknown if this pedal belonged to Kirk, or if it was part of producer Bob Rock's collection, which was made up of various pieces of artist-owned gear including Mick Ronson's Crybaby from the early Ziggy Stardust era.
Although a lot of the pieces of gear used in the recording sessions of this album are now only available on the second hand market for higher prices, you can still tap into the overall vibe of this tone with a few more affordable pieces of gear.
Over the years, Kirk has released multiple signature guitar ranges, all sitting in various price points.
At the more affordable end of the scale you can check out his ESP LTD KH202 guitar, which is based on the ESP MM-290 he was using around this era of his career. These can often be found around the £600 mark.
If you want to splash out a little more, the LTD KH602 comes in just shy of £1,300 and comes with some premium upgrades including active EMGs and a thru-neck design.
Kirk also has some Epiphone Les Paul signature models on the market, including a replica of his Peter Green/Gary Moore-owned 1959 Les Paul "Greeny". There is also an Epiphone Flying V signature model based around Kirk's famous 1979 Gibson Flying V used in the band's early days. These both retail around the £1,100 mark. Neither of these guitars were used on the Black Album, but they can still bring some Kirk vibe to your playing.
Failing that, any twin humbucker guitar with a Floyd Rose locking tremolo will help you here, especially if it's loaded with EMG pickups.
The two main pedals you would need to get a Kirk Hammett style tone would be a wah pedal and a Tubescreamer variant.
For the Wah pedal, a Dunlop GCB-95 would be a great starting point. These are very affordable and robust pedals that, despite their price, are used by touring pros all over the world.
To tighten up your amp's tone and fatten up your lead sound, a Tubescreamer-type pedal is a good purchase. You can't go too far wrong with the classic Ibanez TS9, but any other pedal based on the classic circuit will get you there.
With the vast range of high-gain tones used on the Black Album, you will need a versatile amp. A good American-voiced valve amp would be the ideal thing to start with. One of the best, relatively affordable valve heads on the market is the Peavey 6505MH mini head. While this won't sound exactly like Kirk's Mesa rig, it will give you plenty of gain and the ability to sculpt the tone with EQ to get closer.
You can also look at solid state or modelling amps such as the Boss Katana, which offers a broad range of tones and built in effects, or the Laney Lionheart Foundry, which has plenty of gain on tap to satisfy your Thrash Metal cravings.
Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake isn’t just a landmark Metal album — it’s also a masterclass in modern Metal guitar tone.
Released in 2004, the record’s tight, articulate riffing and aggressive sound helped the band on their path to becoming one of the most influential modern Metal bands.
Led Zeppelin IV was the closing chapter in the band's initial four-album offering over the first three years that kick-started their career. This album contains some of the band's best known songs, including "Stairway to Heaven", and is one of the bestselling albums of all time, having shifted over 37 million copies to date.
