A Lesson In Tone: Master Of Puppets

Call me nostalgic but MOP is a historical moment in metal that was brilliantly recorded and produced.
When that album dropped it sounded like a raw sledgehammer to the head.
We never heard a guitar tone so tight, barbaric and percussive.
I had no clue how they were getting that tone until my buddy got a Mark III and I heard a scooped Mark in person.
That being said my favorite Metallica album production is the $5.98 EP, fucking perfection.
 
Beyond Black said:
Call me nostalgic but MOP is a historical moment in metal that was brilliantly recorded and produced.
When that album dropped it sounded like a raw sledgehammer to the head.
We never heard a guitar tone so tight, barbaric and percussive.
I had no clue how they were getting that tone until my buddy got a Mark III and I heard a scooped Mark in person.
That being said my favorite Metallica album production is the $5.98 EP, fucking perfection.
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Not quite the guitars (for me) but the drums and bass were great on the first Garage days. I know Lars wanted stripped down for AJAF. I really wish he had kept the approach they did on that EP than go as far as he did.
 
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skoora said:
Not quite the guitars (for me) but the drums and bass were great on the first Garage days. I know Lars wanted stripped down for AJAF. I really wish he had kept the approach they did on that EP than go as far as he did.
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Absolutely agree. Jason's tone sounds fantastic, so solid and chewy. Even the bass mix on the bonus songs 'The Prince' and 'Breadfan' is better than the final full album mix.
It is what it is, but such a lost opportunity for even greater. The mix on the EP shines in contrast to Justice as an example of just get a great sound, let the songs and playing and vibe do the work and stop fkng around with the mix.
 
WizardAmpIphoneClip said:
Its all about that Aphex eq guys
Get a Puppet Master eq and thank me later💪
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totally this. if you google my screen name and the HCAF, i used to tout those g12-65's like they were the next coming of christ. i had a bit of an obsession with those for a while. i bought a jcm 800 1960a loaded with them once that was owned by the obscure band Villian, and then a few other cabs i wound up with had them. those things are killer for sure, but still think the shaping of that aphex is the real magic key. i can get a convincing METALLICA tone with my 5150 combo and that puppet master pedal in the loop. its frequency manipulation. thats the key to most of our favorite tones. i wish i'd faced that fact sooner, i'd have saved a lot of time and money.
 
VESmedic said:
Yea im gonna have to agree, I just do not believe at all that MOP was a 75 watt celestion, atleast not much. We have to remember that when they made this record, Rasmussen and the Metallica crew had no idea the historical significance it one day would have, and that it would be a sound that people would be chasing for the next 40 years. I can’t imagine Rasmussen at the time was SUPER worried about which jcm 800 cabinet was being used, you gotta put yourself in that situation. It just doesn’t seem plausible to me personally . Plus, after hearing the 2c+/65 watt celestion combo, there’s not much that could convince me otherwise: the inherent tone of that record is in that speaker, it was clear as day to me when I hit the first chord.

Now AJFA, THAT to me sounds like a 75 watt celestion, big time for sure.
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Keep in mind though, that the earliest 75 had the vents on the magnet and are very similar to the brighter version 65, the T3120 Marshall labels. The vented versions had really good mids to go along with the extended highs/lows of the 75. They weren't exact but surprisingly close.
They first went in Marshall cabs in 83/84. Lasted up till 85/86 or so; when the cloth they used sometimes faded to brown.
 
this is why i get so pissed at huge bands like Metallica, who i understand may not write the greatest music anymore, but still have the means to put real time in real studios with the best engineers, who i expect to put out amazing sounding albums.. put out something like death magnetic?? its like actually offensive to me lol
 
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