Metallica has been around for a long time. Its been long enough for Kirk Hammett to turn 50, which just seems weird for any rock legend you’ve grown up with to be that old. I suppose it happens to all of us.
What Kirk Hammett Uses
Gear | Name | Browse |
|---|---|---|
 | ESP LTD Kirk Hammett Signature KH-602 | |
 | Dunlop KH95 Kirk Hammett Signature Cry Baby Wah Pedal | |
 | Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer |
But even while Hammett ages, his guitar work for Metallica is timeless, and has earned him a spot in the upper-echelons of rock guitar stardom. Particularly in terms of lead guitar, he’s hands down one of the best in the business and his sound is fairly unique and easy to identify. This is our look into the optimal Kirk Hammett amp settings. Checkout our settings guide for a more broad selection of amp tweaking based on style.
How can we capture the Metallic guitar tone in our own gear?
Kirk’s Amplifiers
While his rig is complex and expensive, replicating his settings on your own amplifier is pretty straight forward. And don’t give up just because you don’t have a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier. Depending on your own gear, you might need to do some tweaking but these settings will at least get you close to Hammett’s tone.
For whatever distortion you’re using, whether it’s from a pedal or your amplifier, make sure the gain is high, around 9 or 10, to make sure there’s plenty of saturation. As far as the rest of the settings go, try something like this:
The amp settings I used to get a passable Kirk Hammett tone.
I’ve pushed the treble high to account for his bright solos, cut the mids back pretty low and moved the bass to about 70 percent. You might need to make some adjustments with the treble and mid knobs, depending on how your amp handles the higher tones. Here are the numbers:
Bass: 7 / Treble: 10 / Mids: 3 / Gain: 10
You can add some reverb if you want, but I’ve found that these dials work pretty well with or without it. When trying to replicate Hammett’s settings, the following general rules are what you want to keep in mind if you decide to make your own tweaks:
- High bass
- Low mids
- High treble
If this is how you have the EQ set on your amp, you won’t be terribly far off. Hammett plays a conventional, heavy rock tone that’s recognizable primarily because of his playing technique and style. Thus the settings themselves aren’t difficult to replicate.
What kind of distortion?
Hammett uses an Ibanez Tube Screamer, as well as the distortion from his Mesa Boogie (and sometimes Randall) amplifiers. His distortion is more often produced by those amps, but since he uses the Tube Screamer, that’s a good pedal to go with if you want to replicate his sound.
The mighty Ibanez Tube Screamer. Flickr Image via Roadside Guitars
I used my Boss MD-2 Mega Distortion and turned the “BOTTOM” knob up to get something similar:
Level: 5 / Bottom: 9 / Tone: 6 / Dist: 9 / Gain Boost: 9
Whatever pedal you use, just remember to keep the gain high and dial plenty of low-end in to the EQ with the bass knob.
Questions or thoughts about our Kirk Hammett amp settings?
Want to chime in? You can reach out to me directly or get in touch via the comments section below. We try to respond to all three mediums.
More Guitar Amp Resources
Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Amp Settings
Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Amps & Roundups
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Hola,una pregunta,tengo un crate gx-15 y quisiera tener un tono parecido o cerca de Kirk Hammett,a mi me gustaría tener el tono del ride the lightning de Kirk,lo que se de mi amplificador (crate gx-15),esque he escuchado que los bajos del ampli son muy graves,aunque no se si sea cierto a cuanto sonido pero me podrías ayudar a como conseguirlo como el gain,medios,bajos,treble también tiene loop,me ayudarías porfavor?
Here’s a translation, just for reference for other people reading this:
Hello, a question, I have a Crate GX-15 amp and I would like to have a tone similar or close to Kirk Hammett’s. I would like to have the tone from Kirk’s “Ride the Lightning.” What I know about my amplifier (Crate GX-15) is that I’ve heard the basses of the amp are very deep, although I’m not sure how true this is in terms of sound. Could you help me with how to achieve it in terms of gain, mids, lows, and treble? It also has a loop. Could you please help me?
My answer: I assume you’re going for that more searing lead tone? To my ear it just sounds brighter. What settings have you tried on the Crate?
Yo eh probado para el ride the lightning de Kirk,5 o 6 de ganancia para cuando toque los solos no tenga mucha ganancia,los medios en cuatro ya que en el álbum no están muy presentes los medios,bajos en 4 y agudos en 8,no es el mismo tono pero se parece un poco pero la duda que tengo con mi ampli (crate gx-15) son los bajos.Me podría ayudar en como poner los bajos y como suenan los bajos del ampli,esque investigo acerca de mi ampli pero no me sale nada.Gracias
I have tried for Kirk’s “Ride the Lightning,” using around 5 or 6 gain so that there isn’t too much distortion when playing the solos. I set the mids at four since they’re not very prominent on the album, bass at 4, and treble at 8. It’s not exactly the same tone, but it’s somewhat similar. However, I have a question about my amp (Crate GX-15) regarding the bass. Could you help me with how to adjust the bass and how the amp’s bass sounds? I’ve been researching my amp, but I can’t find any information. Thank you.
Dang, it’s hard to say without hearing the sound you’ve gotten so far.
I think you’re going to have a lot of trouble getting a reliable sound out of that amp. It’s really small and cheap, designated as a practice amp.
If possible, I’d upgrade the amp and start from scratch. Might be your only option.
hi, what do i do with the precense
I’d leave at 12 o’clock. It’ll just pull the high frequencies a little higher in the mix, but whether you want that or not will depend on your amp and gain flavor.
How does kirk Hammett have enough room to add more gain to his already insane gain with his tube screamer?
I doubt he uses both at once. My guess is that he’s using the onboard distortion from his amps most of the time.
I think you are right. That would be crazy if he used both at once
He uses the tube screamer as a boost. Gain on low and level on hugh. This pushes the amp input to compress and adds some midrange while tightening the bass response.