Researched rigHuman-verified93% confidence

One guitar tone

Metallica · James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett

...And Justice for All (1988)

fast ADA-like clean into dry C++ rhythm and escalating multi-solo architecture

On the record

The rig Metallica used

Researched from interviews, production write-ups and gear histories — not guessed.

Guitar

Hetfield ESP Explorer/EMG rhythm system; Hammett neck-through ESP KH-2/skulls guitar

Amplifier

Hammett ADA MP-1 plus Aphex EQ for the clean lead, blended with Boogies for leads; Hetfield Mark IIC++ and B&B loop EQ for rhythm

Cabinet

Marshall 4x12 family; exact speaker allocation unresolved

Microphone

Justice-era close/room method; exact song balance unresolved

Signal flow

The order the original sound was built in. The exact settings get dialled for your own amp or modeller when you generate the tone.

Hetfield ESP Explorer/EMG rhythm system and Hammett neck-through ESP skull guitar
1
Justice rhythm and lead sources
guitar
Scene-controlled gate (recreation)
2
Open clean sustain and hard machine-gun stops
gate
ADA MP-1 clean almost exclusively; no exact current model exists
3
Opening and verse clean lead
amp
Aphex/parametric contour for ADA-clean surrogate
4
Fast rack-clean contour
eq
Clean 2x12 cabinet surrogate
5
ADA-clean speaker stage
cab
Restrained clean chorus (recreation)
6
Clean verse width
mod
Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC++ rhythm and lead system
7
Heavy chorus/build/machine-gun and leads
amp
B&B loop EQ
8
Justice rhythm shaping
eq
Marshall 4x12 family
9
Heavy speaker stage
cab
Hammett lead wah
10
Final solo expression
wah
Recorded dual lead / live harmony surrogate
11
Dual lead and outro
pitch
Lead delay (recreation)
12
Middle/final/dual-lead support
delay
Low-mix plate (recreation)
13
Clean and final-lead space
reverb

Pick your amp or modeller and we’ll build One for it — with a preset file you can load, not a list of knob positions.

Hammett on recording One: https://www.espguitars.com/articles/2010273-guitar-world-kirk-hammett-on-the-recording-of-one
Sound On Sound Classic Tracks: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-metallica-one
Rasmussen Justice methods: https://tapeop.com/interviews/172/flemming-rasmussen-riding-the-sweet-silence
Line 6 official Helix 3.80 model catalog: https://line6.com/helix-models/
Fractal Audio FM9 current downloads and manuals: https://www.fractalaudio.com/fm9-downloads/
Fractal Audio Blocks Guide: https://www.fractalaudio.com/downloads/manuals/fas-guides/Fractal-Audio-Blocks-Guide.pdf