What effect pedals do Metallica use?

Answer 1

Metallica's James Hetfield: "Distortion always starts with the amp. Pedals just sit on top of the sound. They don't feel like a full part of it, just some fuzz on top. You can fiddle with parametric EQs and all that (blank) for days, but it still won't have the smooth distortion of an amp. The last time I used a distortion [overdrive] pedal was on Ride the Lightning, and it was hell. It was an Ibanez Tube Screamer like Kirk uses. It really helps his solos cut through, but it puts a (blank) coating on smooth rhythm tones, and it was hard to make it not sound like a pedal. You can recognize Marshall distortion in an instant; that's why I shied away from that and went with MESA/Boogies. I basically use the Boogie's distortion with a non-programmable studio-quality Aphex parametric EQ to fine-tune certain frequencies, dipping out some of the midrange. All my speakers are Celestion Vintage 30s."

Metallica's Kirk Hammett: "My philosophy has always been a clean amp with a stomp box. I hate the sound of piling distortion on top of distortion. [It sounds like he's criticizing using a mix of preamp and power amp distortion.] I was using a MESA/Boogie preamp, but I've gone back to the ADA MP-1 [the first preamp to combine MIDI and a preamp vacuum tube] with an ADA programmable EQ through a MESA/Boogie Strategy 400 power amp. For leads, I use a low gain setting on the ADA MP-1, but switch on an Ibanez Tube Screamer. Using the Tube Screamer in conjunction with a tube amp really brings out the tube qualities of the amp. And there's just something about that simple, raw, gritty fuzz box sound. One of the best lead sounds I ever got was when I played an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff through a Montgomery Ward amp with 3" speaker, for a Jeff Beck tone."

Answer 2

dist ofc! and Kirk uses a wha-wha pedal in a lot of solos. and in the intro for Damage inc Cliff has a delay and volume pedal to i think. and i think they have a little chorus pedal in some parts of Welcome home. and in the solo in all nightmare long they have a lot of wierd pedals.

Answer 3

Guitar Effects Pedals range in size, shape and processes, however, the most common used pedals in metal tend to be distortion and overdrive pedals. To compliment these crunchy sounds, the next layer of pedals would then be reverb, delay and chorus.

Line 6 multieffect pedals are cheap and have just about everything in there, as do behringer pedals that are even cheaper still. Boss Pedals are the most reliable, but will cost you a small fortune to get all the different ones you need.

Answer 4

I don't know about Malcolm or Cliff but Angus uses none. Angus is a complete technophobe. Their guitar technician advised him to use pedals but instead just leaves his S.G on the Rhythm pick up on about a 4 volume when they play the rhythm sections to their songs but when it's time for the solos he flicks the switch to the treble pick up on full volume. Hope this helps :)

[Source] : The extras of the river plate DVD

Answer 5

While Slipknot does have a DJ and a Sampler, Mick and James do use pedals. If you want to find out about their setup simply just go to YouTube and type in "James Root" or "Mick Thomson"