Sound Like James Hetfield From METALLICA with an LTD Iron Cross & Boogie MK V 35!

[@LoganCovers91]

This is a better mix than their latest releases. A perfect blend of modern and classic Metallica.

[@wilssantos2]

It's pretty perfect! Kind of in between the old, 80s tone and his more modern, "snappier" tone. I actually like this better than his current tone! Haha

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Cheers mate! Yeah it's a good blend of old school and modern imho

[@Mrricardodomingues]

i think what affects this tone are The fractal units

[@nickfonk]

OK, as a producer, mix and mastering engineer, i have to say, your mixing skills are pretty amazing and the sound is as clear and powerful as the latests Testament's albums.If not better. Impressed.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Thanks!

[@user-yw5ct1px3x]

testament's production quality is amazing these days

[@nickfonk]

@@user-yw5ct1px3x that's true! Can't wait to hear the next album

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Sounded pretty good right? Let me know what you think!

Like yoy said, it's not a exact replica of a certain album, however after two or three seconds you know instantly that it is metallica tone. Thanks for share this video, I will try on my axe fx 😁

[@cfh13]

What drum plug in are you using? That is one thing I need to bite the bullet on and buy.

[@borhksalduero9259]

Accurate general crunch tone mate. Nicely done!!!

[@picksalot1]

Sounded good to me. It's great to have a place to hear iconic Amps, their tones, how to dial them in, and the recording signal path. Do you have a favorite DAW for recording guitars? Thanks 😎

[@ibexthadevil3533]

Love the tone ..overall production is clear and crisp...wish i had an album with that punch and clarity...awesome job

[@LeoRoblesLeopapitas]

With all due respect to the 'Tallica folks (and from the bottom of fan's heart), you should definitely engineer their tones for the new record, man! Love your videos.

[@christopherblair6636]

:)

[@oldfart6938]

Agree 🤘🏽🍻🫡😎

[@MetalBaller83]

OH MY GOD YES! Once again your riffs are what make this channel great! I love the Death Magnetic shirt too!

[@torbaro]

Your ideas are amazing. The sound is close to Hetfields and now I have the problem (again) to get this thing going with my Fractal AX-8. One more question: Why don't you do a complete album just with your riff ideas. I can listen to that the whole day long! Greetings from Mainz, Toto

[@shornstar]

Love the Mark 5. Good choice. Better tone than their current even

[@realabba5190]

If Death Magnetic was produced right:

[@kmbs4913]

OK, the tone was superb! But lets talk about the real gold in this video... Man! those killer riffs! I'm more than impressed🤘 You should make whole songs if you doesnt allready do!

[@DeathMetalGhost]

Great tone and riffs! I really liked your in-depth explanation at the end.

[@MrGh109]

Thanks dude I really appreciate your video - Ive spent so many years and so much time trying to nail that tone and you have helped me get a lot closer. Respect :)

[@buzzsaw63]

Whoa! Awesome riffage, thanks for the upload great work

[@filibertogiron]

Your production is amazing. You can make an album of reviews and name the tracks by the gear used or the name of the tone. There is definitely a guitarist niche audience for it.

[@Rogeramirez]

I own the mark V:25. I think the channel to get the metallica tone is the IIC+. The overall sound has a vintage component that we, younger generation, tend to move more into a modern crunchy sound (like the mark IV) but the original sound is old... satured but old, and you get that with the IIC+ mode.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

I never find the IIC+ mode to have enough juice or thickness but it also depends on the guitar and the played of course. Sometimes it can sound fine but definitely not always

[@Rogeramirez]

@@SonicDriveStudio That’s my point. The real metallica sound is not that juicy. It gets juicy in post, after lots of compression and eq. The live sound is less modern and more like the old IIC+

[@playthefightriffjohn843]

I have the 90, and I personally think the IIC+ mode is the worst on the amp. MKIV and Extreme modes sound much better to me. But I think the Crunch mode on channel 2(I think it’s on channel 1 on the smaller amps) is the true hidden gem on the Mark V for high gain. I use it for death metal and hardcore

[@Blueesteel_]

I just put in an order myself for a mark v 25! You did a great job with the tone brother

[@Marc-nc3vj]

You won't be disappointed.

[@rd_rae]

Great tone John! A nitpicky sidenote though for the vid: the volume jump between spoken word and playing is huge

[@Fredbederver]

I some of those videos where James plays the national anthem at Baseball games, i noticed that he was playing a Mesa Stiletto. It would be awsome if you would try out that amp one day! You can borrow mine if you want :p

[@Sticky_Tea]

this is somewhere between load/reload and the newest albums it sounds awesome, well done 🤘🏼

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Cheers! Love Load and Reload!

[@Sticky_Tea]

@@SonicDriveStudio me too, great albums

[@planzed463]

You nailed it!! Sounded awesome, great vid! Thanks

[@gerrydaly5409]

Great tones as always- I think you forgot to mention that a few years ago you created the best AXE FX Metallica preset's known to mankind

[@Thewhistleracousticband]

Awesome.. As always ! Great job guys

[@mikesimer7451]

Dude...that' a perfect modern day Metallica Tone...but those riffs totally sound like they could be on a Volbeat record!

[@bivensheavymetalinc.3775]

That is one of my favorite James Hetfield guitars other than the Vulture. But still an amazing tone from the obscure EMG Het Set!!!!! Awesome!!

[@JulianDaniels]

Great sound! Love the Mark series.

[@groopuskul]

hello, indeed, this is a very good synthesis of metallica tone. Bravo

[@wilhelmtheconquerer6214]

Old school Metallica Marshall JCM 800 Celestion Creamback speakers ProCo Rat distortion Seymour Duncan Invader pick-ups Golden age Metallica: Mesa Boogie Mark II Celestion Vintage 30 speakers (probably) EMG 81/60 pick-ups Modern Metallica: Diezel VH4 Celestion Vintage 30 speakers (probably) EMG Het-Set James' clean tone has always been a Roland Jazz chorus. The clean parts on Enter Sandman and The Unforgiven II are played on a Fender 52 Telecaster reissue (With EMG single coils, according to Rick Beato), so that's probably the best guitar to go with if you don't want to buy like 10 different ones, depending on the song

[@Cherry_Sunburst]

Excellent video, thanks a lot!!! CHEERS.

[@-........]

the IR sounds great, OH cabs usually dont require a lot of post processing. i can't get over the look of the guitars though XD

[@matthewlewis281]

Can you do it again using a cab? I’m Leary with these IR’s as I haven’t heard a set that doesn’t make the said amp sound amazing

[@BurntCashDesigns]

😅

[@patriknessboLemoran]

Love the death magnetic shirt!

[@oliv9632]

The extreme mod just gives you a tone Beast and all the amp is unleashead... I keep on using it live or on rehearse sessions

[@jase1978]

Thank you so much for the video! I was getting so frustrated with my amp.

[@mattyounis5636]

Thanks great settings it makes a great motley crue sound too

[@ivaylotodorov3317]

....and by any chance you are the person who found Kirk's lost phone LOL ? btw love the riffs!!!

[@Themis781]

that was awesome dude...Awesome track man...

[@MR-wp5dz]

Sounds great! To my ears it sounds like Metallica in the middle of their career, around the Load/Reload (which I love) era.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Love that era!

[@mikew9788]

I love those albums too

[@elmolewis9123]

Great job on the tone and riffs.

[@StuartBridson]

That genuinely could have come from a Metallica record, the riffs and tones were absolutely spot on!

[@motown5150]

Sounds awesome! Quality stuff as always :) I swapped out the 1st preamp tube V1 for a 12AT7 and V4 for something else to get the character changed and it worked great. Do you use the standard tubes or have you done some tweaks? Thanks in advance 🤘

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Stock tubes

[@ChicagoRob2]

Fantastic tone and crunch

[@bogeaqYT]

I'm enjoying this series!

[@adamstrachn]

Way better tone and mix than what they've been releasing.

[@bulutergor]

Great thick sound!

[@jakebenigni]

Mark V 35 is such and awesome amp. tone was great but you can also easily nail black album tones as well.

[@robzomb5273]

Really nice sound, John! I would like to rebuild this in a Fractal Audio FM3 Device. Which Amp-model would fit there?

[@chrismsantos]

AMAZING GIG .....ver very cool ...THX!!!

[@mikemonanteras8003]

Sounded pretty spot on to me!!

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Thanks!

[@AD1978leo]

Good stuff man, sounds awesome! I have the same guitar and I doubt I'll sell mine either. As far as best metallica? I think best songs were the classics but the best tone is now days.

[@christopherblair6636]

perfect video thanks

[@Swampster70]

Nice tones! The little Mark V's definitely respond better to EMG's at 18V than 9V. From looking at the newer Ken Lawrence guitar James got "Carl", he's using 18V but for y'all with the internal battery, you'll need to to use the ditch the internal battery and use the EMG external battery box. Thank me later ;) For me the little Mark V's sound better on Mark IV mode than the IIC or Extreme. Personally I hate the extreme as it's way louder than anything else on the amp and just doesn't seem to fit in. The Mark IV sounds, to me, like an angry Mark IIC++ or a Mark III. The actual Mark IV's have more "width" than the Mark IV mode on the amp but that's not a deal breaker for me because I like the angrier Mark IIC+'s The Mesa Mark series are so easy to dial in. Easiest way to dial one in is thing of how the signal gets from the input jack to the EQ - the controls literally have more effect the closer to the input jack. Gain and treble have the most control but remember, if you turn a knob to zero you have killed that frequency for the rest of the signal path.

As Always... Amazing!!!

[@h3lio5]

May the algorithm bestow this video with recommendations.

[@borhksalduero9259]

Killer tone mate!!! Well achieved!!!

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Cheers bro!

[@borhksalduero9259]

@@SonicDriveStudio by the way… is that the original nut that came with the guitar or have you set a bone nut for more tasty tone???

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Original nut

[@jconner3891]

Still wanting a iron cross.

[@TheFlexXMLG]

That tone is killer!

[@matthewenglund3502]

If you havent already updated axe fx to firmware 16.05 check it out and the new presets for banks A B C. Some real improvements and the Mark IV preset is great!

[@JohnDoe-dv3ci]

sounds great man

[@dans.8198]

Awesome! How is the Mark V 35’s integrated CabClone D.I. compared to the X-Load LB2 ?

[@mgs1170]

Carpe Diem, bro! Nice work.

[@MrMusicopath]

sounds great

[@quentinutter5173]

More of these videos need to be made lol.

[@patriknessboLemoran]

Honestly i actual dial in the bass controll at 2-3. Otherwise i think the tone gets too thin

[@steven_marque_official_channel]

Magnetic tee rules 🤘

[@benjamiiinberger]

Great Video ! Curious to see how you nail the Rammstein sound ;)

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Going to do a video about that at some point, for sure!

[@CarbonTom666]

This sounded spot on man, great playing as well. Any tips on coming close to this with a DSL100? Apples to oranges, I know, but with the deep/tone shift I wonder if its possible to come close.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Maybe with some sort of boost / eq up front and an EQ in the loop. To make the distortion more tight and shape the overall tone with the EQ.

[@patriknessboLemoran]

I have a mesa boogie throttlebox EQ for sale

[@CraigCrider]

Nailed it!

[@Elektrifekt]

Great tone!

[@johnnyjones7796]

Sounds killer John!

[@frankjager1647]

You're a madman Jon.

[@Rockandrollaz-d8l]

What did you use for drums? A VST? ….they hit H A R D and sound soooo good !

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Steven Slate Drums

[@Rockandrollaz-d8l]

@@SonicDriveStudio TY!!! 😎🙏

[@Nate-qb8ws]

Sounds great! How would you describe Extreme mode vs. Mark IV mode if you had to compare the two?

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Xtreme has more balls

[@Guitarsthatkill]

Mic technique in recording is the biggest difference i hear. Played right, dialled right. and definitely cuts the mustard.

[@AmishMutantPower]

Awesome!!!!! Standard tuning?

[@mattshaw3225]

I just got my LTD iron cross! Also have his Vulture. BTW, what does your left arm Metallica Tattoo say? I have an entire left arm full sleeve of metallica

[@FilNightSky]

Hi, how big is the gap between the 35 and the 90 watts? When should I buy the 90 watts ? I mostly play and record at home, but for this price U don't want to buy twice ☹️😆.😊 Maybe you can help me out.🙂🤘🏼🎸. Thank you. Can not decide between the Badlander and the Mark V.

[@scarreefty]

Killa video dude!! what’s drums coming from?

[@djentleman5129]

Jon should write the next Metallica Album All big stars have someone who writes their fuckin music HAHAHA :D

[@headleader1]

Good Sound

[@braxtongary6721]

The algorithm gods have done it again!!!

[@RyanMaziarz]

Are those the exact graphic EQ slider positions you actually used in the recording? I can't believe you're getting that tone with the 80 and 6k set so low. I have to nearly max them out on my Mark V 25 or else it sounds like there's almost no bass and high end sizzle to the tone.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Yes, the settings I showed it the video are from the recording

[@ignaciobustamante6477]

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!

[@Alex-NY]

killer riff

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Cheers!

[@sergeykichuk2586]

I’ve dialed the same setting on the same amp and used the same guitar but couldn’t achieve your tone! I didn’t used any extra gear! What else did you used that affects sound except amp?

[@fndrn8]

and for my hands im gonna surgically transplant James hands on to my arms. lol

[@jonathansantanderphillips1644]

HI, What type string do you used in this guiars? and what numer? 9-42 or 10-46 or other?

[@jcwear89]

Sounded really good! Very Metallica

[@deepghetto8968]

Back to 6 strings and your riffs are flying again. The riffs don't lie...

[@SonicDriveStudio]

You're going to hate my next 9-string video haha

[@RchrdNaylor]

It's absolutely crazy to me that you have to have the mids ALL the way off, then scoop them out completely in the G-EQ afterwards and you still get a very mid-rangey tone from this amp. What does it sound like with the mid controls up half way? Is it completely un-usable?

[@darrenkatielawson9912]

They use Krank and Marshall in the studio now...

[@derekdamager7928]

I can’t get the Xtreme mode to sound as crispy as yours… do you find that the volume knob changes the tone as you increase loudness? I usually run Xtreme fairly low on the volume knob as it’s louder by nature.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

I don't think so tbh. It's all about balancing out the main controls with the guitar and the graphic EQ

[@clivepeacock]

Which Metallica album was that on? Sounds amazing!

[@SonicDriveStudio]

It's more a general interpretation of their rhythm sound. Not based on one particular album.

[@clivepeacock]

@@SonicDriveStudio sorry man I meant it sounded so good it belongs on one of their albums. If only Kirk found this on his phone 🤣

[@patriknessboLemoran]

What if you ran the VH4 pedal in the FX loop?

[@victorplajas3333]

What backing track is that??… sounds awesome

[@SonicDriveStudio]

It's an original track that I made for this video

[@ericvalverderosado2046]

James invented Modern Metal tone before Modern Metal existed hahaha, LOL…but maybe Djent took it to a different approach lowering the gain and focusing on getting clarity to hear every note of big chords? Seen other video with an ENGL cab, damn, they seem to sound great with every Metal amp…

[@seanwakeling2405]

What’s amp sound like at bedroom volumes? Would I need an attenuator?

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Sounds great at low levels. You can also check out the 25w version

[@moisesisrael4674]

Heey men did u think this one ltd sound better then gibson sg????

[@xsonicassassinx]

honestly if you had a klon you'd be pretty close to the hardwired tone.

[@patriknessboLemoran]

Blending the mark V with a recto? :D

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Should try that one day!

[@gastonjabaly]

what drums are those?