An introductory note from the author and admin:
This article is dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Zazula (“Johnny Z”), a music industry pioneer without whom Metallica and thrash metal would not have been the same. His legacy lives on in the music of the bands and scene that he helped bring to the forefront of rock when many others failed to see the potential of it.
Special thanks to album engineer - Chris Bubacz - for providing invaluable insight into how the album was made and helping to sort through 40 years of fact and fiction surrounding the album. Your contributions have helped calibrate this inside look into the making of the album and compile the most accurate studio snapshot ever assembled. This article would not be what it is without you!
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Without further ado, let’s jump in the fire!
Metallica has evolved into much more than just a rock and metal band - they’re an institution. Even the most casual music fan is likely familiar with the band and undoubtedly heard at least a few tracks by them on radio, seen them on MTV or in magazines, etc. It’s nearly impossible to escape their worldwide presence.
However, there was a time when Metallica wasn’t a household name. Instead of being adult superstars armed with million dollar bank accounts, legal teams, and acting as a group that operates more as a brand than as a band, they were once just a group of ragtag teenagers that wanted to play fast, play loud, and play heavy.
Let’s take a trip back to 1983 and dive deep into the album that started it all - Kill ‘Em All. We’ll look briefly at the circumstances surrounding the band at that time, put a critical eye on how the album was tracked and the challenges associated with it, and then dig obsessively into the specifics of the gear that we’ve been listening to for 40 years. We’ll pick apart fact from fiction and examine all of the internet myths and misconceptions.
This is Album Analysis: Kill’ Em All…
THE HISTORY
On July 6,1982, the Los Angeles-based metal band Metallica entered a small budget studio called Chateau East to record their first official release - a demo titled No Life ‘Til Leather - on a shoestring budget provided by Kenny Kane of Rocshire Records. After witnessing the band live and seeing the wild response of the dedicated and enthusiastic crowd, Metallica seemed to be an ideal fit for the up-and-coming label. The band, then featuring Dave Mustaine (lead guitar) and Ron McGovney (bass), recorded all of the originals in their repertoire (with the exception of “Whiplash”), eager to announce their first EP to the masses.
When the demo was complete, however, the label was not as excited as the band. The EP did not contain the songs that Kenny was expecting. During this formative year, Metallica oftentimes played cover songs during live shows. It was not uncommon for cover songs to comprise 50% or more of their set list! James Hetfield rarely told the crowd which songs were covers and which were originals. Given the relative obscurity of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) bands that Metallica drew influence from, crowds often mistakenly assumed that the cover songs were Metallica originals. The band, eager to make a name for themselves, were happy letting concertgoers be none the wiser. Label executive Kenny Kane was one of those people.
After learning the tracks he expected to be recorded were cover songs and deeming the Metallica original compositions to be too “heavy” for the label, Kenny decided the master tapes would be of little use to him and gave them to the band to do as they wish. Over the next few months, the band made countless copies of No Life ‘Til Leather and saturated the music scene with it, getting it into the hands of every booking agent, promoter, and music writer they could find. With a higher quality recording in hand than their previous home demo attempts (such as the 4 song Power Metal demo tracked 3 months earlier in McGovney’s garage), Metallica was on the brink of getting their music into the hands of someone that would change their destiny, and possibly the trajectory of thrash music as we know it.
Live Metal Up Your Ass
After relocating the band to San Francisco and replacing Ron McGovney with new bassist Cliff Burton, a strange thing occurred. Without radio airplay or virtue of the internet, a tape of Metallica managed to find its way into the hands of Johnny Zazula (Johnny Z) over 3000 miles away on the east coast in New Jersey.
This tape was a copy of Live Metal Up Your Ass, a show recorded at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco on November 29, 1982 (Zazula would subsequently acquire a copy of No Life ’Till Leather). Although the recording quality was poor, Johnny fell in love the power and intensity of the band, instantly recognizing their potential. After speaking with drummer Lars Ulrich, Johnny proposed that the band make a trip cross country from CA to NJ. Once there, he would provide them with living accommodations and get them on bills with established bands like Venom to tour the east coast and track an album. With a desire to grow and expand their fan base - and with no other offers coming their way - it was a deal that proved impossible to refuse.
Johnny Z sent Metallica $1500 (the equivalent of over $4000 today) for travel expenses. The band packed up their gear, piled themselves into a U-Haul trailer, and made the rough, week long trip to the east coast. The journey would also become another turning point for the band. Tensions continued to mount with lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, his excessive drinking now approaching a breaking point for the band. During one infamous incident near Wyoming, Mustaine was drinking while driving, leading to an accident that nearly killed the entire band.
Knowing that Mustaine needed replaced sooner than later or they risked the long-term future of the band, one guitarist in particular stood out to fill the role: Kirk Hammett of the band Exodus, who had supported Metallica during the Old Waldorf show when Live Metal Up Your Ass was recorded.
After reaching NJ, Mustaine was quickly fired from the band and sent packing on a bus back to CA, where he would go on to form thrash metal titans Megadeth. Kirk Hammett, who had been learning the Metallica songs from a copy of No Life ’Til Leather that he had procured, packed his Marshall half stack into boxes padded with dish towels and loose clothing, boarded a plane for NJ, and the iconic Kill ’Em All lineup was complete.
RECORDING KILL ‘EM ALL
The recording of Kill ’Em All took place at Music America Studios in Rochester, NY starting on May 10,1983. Upon arriving, the road weary band took inventory and assessed their well worn gear with producer Paul Curcio and engineer Chris Bubacz. Metallica originally desired to hire producer/engineer Chris Tsangarides, mainly due to his track record of working with rock and metal bands they loved such as Judas Priest, Tygers of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy and more. However, with Tsangarides production fee topping $40,000 (the equivalent of around $113,000 current day) and the band working with a minimal budget (total cost of Kill ’Em All would cap at around $15,000), a more economical option had to be chosen.
With Bubacz taking the lead and looking over the gear of the band with a critical eye, the poor state of Metallica’s equipment became apparent. Repairs would need to be made before recording could start.
They had “no (new) guitar strings, speakers in the cabs were blown and needed reconed or replaced, and the drum heads were beat to hell…” - Chris Bubacz
Burton had at least one pickup on his Rickenbacker bass malfunctioning, and the speakers in his bass cab(s) were blown and distorting. It was a frustrating endeavor for the bassist, with his gear in complete disarray and no money to correct it. Hetfield and Hammett fared no better, as the wear and tear of the road wreaked havoc on their gear.
To get the band functioning to a point of making a competent recording, Bubacz and the band approached Johnny Z and secured a very small stipend to get all of the gear repaired and ready to record. Burton’s bass pickups were replaced, and the speakers in his cabs were reconed. New drum heads were affixed onto the drums. Hetfield and Hammett - whose guitars had virtual blackened strings atop some pickups that were malfunctioning or disconnected - had fresh setups on their guitars and a possible recone on some guitar cab speakers.
With the equipment tuned up and the band recuperated from the sleepless trek across America, tracking for Kill ’Em All was ready to start.
Ballrooms and Bowling Alleys
Music America Studios was - by all accounts - a rather modest budget studio. Considered subpar in comparison to the larger studios of the day (and to those Metallica would subsequently record in), the studio was built into the remains of a defunct and closed colonial-type club house and social club that had been gutted and renovated. The specific region where the studio was then residing was in what was previously the bowling alley of the club.
The general makeup of the studio was essentially a large live room with a small vocal booth. On the second floor was two large ballrooms that were still accessible with “high ceilings, wood paneled floors, and plaster walls” per Bubacz. It was here that the drums would be set up, with long cable runs going back to the control room. Lars, at one point, would contend that the ballroom was haunted, requiring someone else to be around in the room while he was recording after alleging his cymbals starting spinning on their own!
The equipment in the studio was budget friendly and sub-optimal with a limited selection of mics available. The studio itself was operating on a Mara Machines MCI 16-track tape machine and console, and accordingly, track space was limited. This led to some tracks unfortunately needing cut while mixing, the most regrettable - according to Bubacz - being the 4 room mics dedicated for drums. This left only the close mics on the drums in the final mix, altering the feel and tone of the drum sound on album for the worse, in their opinion. What sounded “huge“ with the room mic sound was whittled down to a glorified “disco sound” by one account. However, with budget restrictions in place, sacrifices needed to be made.
Recording, production and mixing of the album would take place over the next couple of weeks until May 27, 1983. With the scene established and the studio set, it’s time to dig into the guitar gear on the album.
THE GUITAR RIG
The rig used by James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett (who collectively shared the rig owned by Hetfield) on the album is often the subject of speculation and rumor. This is largely driven by the fact that very little documentation exists into the specifics of what was used, as the recording process was a whirlwind, the band was relatively unknown at time, and a majority of the gear used would be stolen the following January. That being said, we’ve compiled the most educated assumptions possible based on old photos, video footage, numerous interviews, discussions with those involved in the making of the album, and more.
The “Magical, Mythical Marshall”
The amp used on Kill ‘Em All has been the topic of much discussion over the years. While we will never know with definitive proof exactly what the amp was (nor did Hetfield, even when he owned it!), enough evidence does exist to narrow it down to a presumed year, make, and model. We can make additional educated assumptions from there.
Once dubbed the “magical, mythical Marshall” by Hammett, the amp owned by Hetfield and used on the album appears to be a 1976 Marshall Super Lead (1959, 100W) model.
Making this determination was a multiple step process, starting by identifying specifically which amp presumably was the Marshall owned by Hetfield. This was an arduous process, digging through countless photographs, articles, watching footage from the earliest days of the band and more. In the end, one particular amp stood out that Hetfield seemed to have at all times, including during every live show in the lead up to recording Kill ’Em All. In addition to being at each live show, the amp can clearly be seen in use (e.g., plugged into, pilot light active, etc). This contrasts to other head units at the shows that may be present, but not turned on or in use, or absent at subsequent shows. He is also seen regularly using this exact same amp in the band rehearsal space. For these reasons and more, we have identified this one particular amp as the definitive “mythical Marshall” owned by Hetfield and used on the album.
How do we identify the year of production? Marshall went through a period of change in the Super Lead amplifiers, and no year was more hectic than 1976. This has long been viewed as a “transitional year” for Marshall, when a series of anomalies started to show up in production. Let’s dig into some that help us identify the amp.
On early production Marshall amps, it was common to find metal toggle switches for the power and standby features on the front. These phased out in favor of the “black bat“ style switches seen commonly in the early 1970s amps. A final production change happened as the black bat switches were phased out by the end of 1976 and replaced with the large rocker switches that carried over into the later JMP and JCM 800 style aesthetics. During the transition from black bat switches to rocker switches, Marshall used up the remaining metal toggle inventory during mid-1976.
Marshall also went through a series of changes in pilot indicator lights. Older Marshalls used round pilot indicator lights before switching to the more commonly seen red square blocks. By the end of 1976, coinciding with the release of the newer master volume models, the pilot indicator lights were incorporated into the new rocker on/off switches.
The logos on Marshall amps also made a transition in 1976, going from the historic and smaller 6 inch logo to a slightly larger 9 inch logo.
In essence, Marshall was using up all of the spare parts they had from left over the years as they were phasing out the old style, introducing a new series, and consolidating all cosmetics for a new, modern look. How does this apply to Hetfield’s amp?
The specific array of features on Hetfield's Marshall - metal toggle switches, round pilot light, and more in combination with the transition 9 inch logo are only found on amps produced in mid-1976 and the telltale signs of a transitional model. Any earlier or later would have featured a different set of options. Could an anomaly exist from another year of production? It’s possible. Never say never when speaking about frugal amplifier companies in the 1970s and 1980s, but it would be unlikely and exceptionally rare. Here, Occum’s Razor applies with the simplest explanation being the best one - the culmination of all known factors point to the amp being a mid-1976 model.
Interestingly, Hetfield isn’t the only notable musician to have an iconic 1976 transitional Marshall. Adam Jones of Tool also favors one, though his transitional model is a Super Bass converted to Super Lead specs. A number of various combinations can be found throughout 1976. Below is another example with some of the features also found on Hetfield’s amp:
With the amp identified and narrowed down to the year and model, let’s discuss the potential mods and the mystery that surrounds it.
Is the “Mythical Marshall” a Jose Mod?
This is likely one of the most hotly contested topics surrounding the infamous amp used on Kill ’Em All. Conventional internet wisdom routinely cites the amp as being modded by Jose Arredondo, known for his connection to Eddie Van Halen and being popular for amplifier modifications in the LA area. After all, Metallica was barely 30 minutes from Jose’s shop in Van Nuys (CA) and Jose had started to grow in notoriety around the time. Hetfield and Hammett have remained steadfast in their belief that the amp was modified, but was it actually modded, and if so, was it modified by Jose? Let‘s explore the possibility.
The Jose Connection
Jose mods varied a lot from amp to amp. Each one may have been individualized to a small degree based on the needs of the user, but at their core they all stemmed from the same basic foundation - a “3 in 1” mod, as dubbed by amp guru and unofficial “Jose Historian” Dave Friedman that has chronicled and examined over 50 legitimate Jose modded amps through the years.
The foundation of the mod is relatively simple - add a master volume to the amp with an extra gain stage controllable via a pot/knob. In doing this, Jose typically installed the extra knob in the bottom right input jack, and the input for the modded sound was directly to the left (bottom left input). In order to activate the mod, the bottom right knob was pulled out, as it was on a push/pull pot.
This isn’t a universal rule. There are Jose mods that are configured differently or in customized fashion (such as John Sykes), such as “stealth mods“ with the extra knob on the back. But, the majority of mods seemed to follow the arrangement and configuration noted above. How does this correlate to Hetfield’s amp?
In every photograph, video from every show, and every instance where the “mythical Marshall” has been seen or in use, two things in particular are notable: there is no additional knob on the front panel and Hetfield is - always - plugged into the top left input on the amp. What makes these observations relevant?
The absence of the gain stage knob is striking, as it’s a key feature of Jose mods. This becomes even more relevant when paired with the input Hetfield used on the amp.
On a 1970s Marshall Super Lead, the top left input is the brighter and “gainer“ input. The stock 4700-5000pf bright caps led to the amps distorting quick with volume (as early as 1.5 to 2 on the volume knob) when plugged into this jack. While some players would “jump“ the channels by using a patch cable to link the bright and normal inputs (though not as many in the 1970s as the current day internet would have you believe), if you wanted to play gained up rock or metal, you simply plugged directly into the top left input and turned up the volume.
Hetfield was always plugged into this input (as one would do with a stock Super Lead) as opposed to the input below it where the typical Jose mod would reside. Coupled together, this casts doubt on the legitimacy of the amp being a Jose mod. Even if we assume that it was a specially configured “stealth mod” by request, by plugging into the top left input, Hetfield would have been plugging into what was typically the stock input on a Jose modded Marshall. In essence, he would have been running it as a stock Marshall, perhaps with an added master volume (though not seen in photos) and not even using the actual mod.
Hetfield used the amp in the same functional state that it was purchased. He did not have any modifications performed on the amp afterward. Given that James was a gullible musician that was conned into buying a Japanese knock-off Flying V believing it to be a Gibson (as mentioned in the subsequent section on guitars), it’s highly likely that he believed whatever story the seller was peddling to sell the amp.
It is also important to note that Hetfield and Hammett have never directly cited that the amp was modded specifically by Jose Arredondo. They frequently noted it was “modded,” sometimes repeating the sellers claim it was “modded by the same guy that modded Eddie Van Halen’s amp,” which any disreputable seller would claim in 1980 looking to sell a Marshall in LA.
This was also a time when technicians looking to make a quick buck would do minimal changes to an amp, such as disconnecting the bright cap or adding poorly implemented master volumes, and charge excessive fees citing it was same mods used by players like EVH, particularly considering EVH had just cited Jose for the first time in the April 1980 edition of Guitar Player Magazine. Even given an awareness of Jose, a local and then unknown musician like Hetfield would have found it a Herculean challenge to get in queue for a mod.
“You had to know somebody that knew somebody that knew him to get in contact with Jose. My mod was difficult to get.” - Bryan Jay of metal band Keel
Hetfield believed that the amp was modded as he was told that when he purchased it secondhand. However, there is no indication that assumption is true. Hetfield himself doesn’t recall exactly when and how he acquired the amp, and Hammett has always stated things akin to “I think he (James) had it modded…” Realistically speaking, in 1980-1983, Hetfield could barely afford lunch or guitar strings and had one amp to use for rehearsals and shows. He did not have the time for his only amp to sit in queue for months for a mod, nor the money to spare.
By all accounts, the amp shows no signs of modification in over 3 years worth of photos. The stock bright input was always used, where a typical Jose modification would be absent, even with a “stealth” mod. Hetfield did not personally have the amp modded, and relied on the story told by the seller to draw his conclusion. At no juncture does James claim the amp was specifically modded by Jose, nor did he seem to have recognition of Jose when they approached Arredondo to have amps modded prior to recording Metallica (Black Album). Getting in touch with the “secretive” Jose for a mod was a nearly impossible task for an unknown musician like Hetfield. A detailed listening of the album also shows a tone that could easily be replicated with a stock Super Lead or one with a master volume added at most.
In review of the totality of the circumstances, we currently rate the Jose amp myth as FALSE. The amp appears stock by all accounts, with perhaps minimal changes performed, if any at all. Any technical change looks to be minor and non-invasive.
The Tubes
During this era of Marshall, amps intended for US distribution had transitioned from EL34s to 6550 power tubes, primarily due to tube failures in EL34s of amps that were shipped internationally. Accordingly, 6550s would have been the stock tube shipped in the Marshall owned by Hetfield. While it is possible that a conversion to EL34s could have happened, this seems unlikely for players such as Hetfield that was simply happy to have a Marshall like his guitar heroes. The probability that James would actively seek to spend money - that he didn’t have - to have an amp changed - whose sound he already loved - seems relatively low.
Given these circumstances, the most likely scenario is the Marshall was still utilizing Made in the USA, 1970s 6550 power tubes. The likely candidates during this era are Tung Sol 6550 and Sylvania 6550. You may also see numerous relabels of them available, marked as GE, RCA, and more.
For preamp tubes, Marshall had transitioned to using RFT near exclusively by the mid-to-late 1970s due to rattle issues with the Tesla ECC83s that were stock. If replacement tubes were purchased, RFTs were a popular choice in the day, including what came in the Marshall blister packs of tubes. For these reasons, we rate the RFT ECC83 as the likely preamp tube that was used in the Marshall head unit.
Now that we’ve established the amp was likely a stock (or close to stock) 1976 Marshall Super Lead and delved into tubes, let’s review the possibility for guitar cabs.
The Guitar Cab
When tracking Kill ’Em All, Hetfield and Hammett kept things simple by using one single half stack for the entire album. This saved time and reduced the need for setting up multiple rigs, and in turn, saved money. They also decided that it was in the best interest of the album to use the best sounding rig they had at the time, which happened to be Hetfield’s setup.
Interestingly, Hetfield acquired his Marshall 4X12 cab from a then lesser known - but now legendary - guitarist: George Lynch. Lynch had just joined Dokken, joining after leaving the band Xciter. Hetfield saw the cab in a classifieds listing in Hollywood and purchased it directly from George, just months before Dokken recorded the tracks that would form their now infamous debut album, Breaking the Chains.
In reviewing all of the photographs of common cabs during the era, it is nearly impossible to determine exactly which cab was definitively the cab James purchased and used. This section will be purely educated conjecture.
The cone sizes that are visible on most photographs from Hetfield‘s cab(s) in the early days appear larger than that used on on the G12M-25 and G12H-30 speakers of the era. Coupled with being a George Lynch favorite (which he would be less prone to sell) and the seeming durability of the speakers to hold up to the abuse and volume by Metallica, we’re ruling these two speakers out as possibilities.
The G12M-70 was not prominent until after the cab was purchased, and the speakers like G12H-100 can be somewhat comfortably ruled out by virtue of timing.
For these reasons and more, we identify the most likely candidates for speakers in Hetfield‘s cab and those used on the album as being either Celestion G12-80s or Celestion G12-65s.
With the entire guitar rig discussed, it’s time to talk about guitars!
The Guitars
Of all of the gear used on Kill ‘Em All, the guitars are easiest to identify. Low budgets and many needs left Hetfield and Hammett each wielding a single guitar for the sessions (although Hammett did briefly borrow a guitar with a whammy bar for a few spots in solos).
In his desire to own a Flying V much like his hero, Michael Schenker, Hetfield purchased a “Gibson” Flying V secondhand around 1980. After becoming more aware of guitar and gear specs, he started to notice oddities, such as the guitar having a bolt-on neck as opposed to a set neck traditionally found on a Gibson, and of course the dead giveaway - a “Made in Japan” label. He eventually learned that his “Gibson” was in fact a 1977-1979 Electra 2236 “Flying Wedge” (Flying V copy), Made in Japan. This guitar was originally cherry red, but painted white by Hetfield to mimic Michael Schenker who used a white Flying V.
Hammett was also enamored with guitarists like Michael Schenker and longed to own a Flying V and Marshall half stack. After saving money from working various jobs (such as washing dishes at a country club), Hammett purchased a 1974-1979 Gibson Flying V. Kirk has cited numerous production years within this range as a possibility. Unlike Hetfield, Kirk purchased a genuine Gibson.
With guitars accounted for, let’s dig into the engines that drive them - pickups.
The Guitar Pickups
This is another area of intense speculation and rumor online, primarily driven by the fact that Hetfield frequently changed pickups in his guitar(s) until he settled on using EMGs later in the 1980s. Because of this, photographs exist of the guitar in various incarnations with numerous different pickups. That said, we’ll narrow down the likeliest candidates.
In the first few years of Metallica, Hetfield frequently swapped pickups, trying to find the ideal “crunch” sound. This would prove elusive until the mid-1980s, but it didn’t stop James from trying!
One of the most frequently cited pieces of gear alleged online to have been used by Hetfield during Kill ’Em All is a Seymour Duncan Invader pickup. The basis of this appears to stem from a poster found in a 1990s issue of Guitar World, where the pickup is shown and cited on an old photograph of Metallica’s Flying V guitars.
The original Duncan Invader, released around 1981, featured massive allen pole pieces with a wide center. This contrasts with the close ups seen on the Invader from the poster. Additionally, the poster features an Invader with a silk screened “Seymour Duncan” logo. This logo was not used until many years after the Kill ’Em All era, confirming this poster photo was not a snapshot of when the album was tracked. Follow-up shows and the subsequent tour for Ride the Lightning also show no sign of the Invader-esque pickup.
While the Electra V did have a Duncan Invader installed at some point over the years along with many others, we currently rate the myth of it being used on Kill ’Em All as FALSE.
There are many pickup variations seen during the early time period. These included various pickups from Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Bill Lawrence (BL) and many more.
In recent years, Hetfield has seemingly recalled a DiMarzio Super Distortion being the pickup that was ultimately outfitted into the Electra V. This seems to sync with photos of the V as seen during the Ride the Lightning tour, as well as early photographs from 1985. With the frequency of the pickup swaps and lack of evidence to the contrary, we currently cite the DiMarzio Super Distortion as the likeliest candidate used in the Electra V on the album.
Hammett was also an avid user of various pickups, but changed with much less frequency than Hetfield. As a devotee of guitar magazines, Hammett quickly learned that pickups could dramatically alter your guitar tone. Accordingly, Kirk notes that he purchased a set of DiMarzio Super 2 pickups for his Flying V to achieve a heavier, more aggressive sound.
Given the rectangular nature of the Super 2 pickups and the traditional look on the pickups used by Hammett, there is one dark horse candidate that could be possible: the DiMarzio K-10. This pickup was introduced in 1978 by Hondo Guitars. Hondo was a joint venture created by Samick and International Music Corporation (IMC) in Texas.
In 1978, Hondo struck a deal with DiMarzio and became the first import manufacturer to offer Made in USA DiMarzio pickups. While the marketing materials referred to the K-10 as a “Super 2” and the spec was nearly identical, the pickups were in fact K-10s. Given the aesthetic profile, we cite this as a dark horse possibility for Hammett.
With the guitars now squared away, let’s dive into the effects pedals used.
The Effects Pedals
Hetfield had very limited gear in the early days, and this extended to the pedals that he owned. One long-standing myth online is that Hetfield used an old ProCo RAT pedal as a boost for his rhythm sound on Kill ’Em All.
While the ProCo RAT can be temperamental and border on fuzz more so than overdrive with high gain settings, James did in fact confirm in the late 1990s when directly asked that a ProCo RAT pedal was used on Kill ’Em All.
In regards to the myth that a ProCo RAT pedal was used as a rhythm boost on Kill ’Em All, we currently rate this as TRUE based on direct confirmation from Hetfield.
Hammett is also known for using a boost during his lead work and is most famously linked to the Ibanez Tube Screamer. However, Hammett has stated on numerous occasions that his Tube Screamer was stolen before the recording of Kill ’Em All, being replaced with a BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive for the tracking of his leads on the album. The older SD-1 pedals featured black labels, were Made in Japan, and sometimes featured different chips and parts than current production models.
The other pedal Kirk is famous for is the wah. Kirk used a Crybaby wah during the tracking of the album, but this is often misattributed to being a Dunlop wah. Dunlop didn’t acquire rights to the Crybaby and release a production model until 1982. The most likely wah used by Hammett during the era, who had acquired his wah prior to Dunlop production, was the JEN Super Crybaby Wah.
The Italian made JEN wah was a thicker sounding wah with a very pronounced midrange character. The sweep was very narrow, but centered on providing the user with a large midrange push that never got excessively bright or bass heavy.
With the entire guitar rigs outlined, we’ll conclude with some production notes!
Production Notes
The guitar tracking of Kill ‘Em All was a relatively simple affair compared to the later studio efforts that involved multiple setups and elaborate arrangements.
For the tracking of all guitar parts (both rhythm and lead), the sole cab that was used was miked with 2 Shure SM57 mics close on the grill and 1-2 Neumann U87 mics several feet back from the cab.
The rhythm guitar tracks were doubled on each side by James (i.e., 2 tracks of rhythm on the left and 2 tracks of rhythm on the right). Each of these tracks were formed from a compilation of the mics available.
The solos on the album were put together by punching in multiple times throughout a song. With minimal tracks available, spare tracks for multiple takes were a luxury the band could not afford. Given that Kirk was still new to the band and getting comfortable with some of the material, there were times that a punch-in occurred every 4-8 bars to complete a solo.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Kill ‘Em All may not be the most advanced writing of Metallica, the album with the slickest production, or the one cited by most fans as their favorite. It was hurriedly recorded by a hungry young band on a shoestring budget cutting corners and assembled by a production team not adept at tracking music obscenely loud and heavy. What it is - however - is the raw sound of a new genre being born that would usher thrash from being an underground movement to a cultural phenomenon in less than a decade.
If there are aspects of Kill ’Em All not covered here that you’re curious about, please leave a comment or send a message. We can edit the article to include additional information if there is a demand for it.
Also, please check out our other articles for a detailed analysis on other Metallica gear, album breakdowns, and more. Thanks for reading!