![]() Hammett’s signature amp can be traced back to a Fortin Meathead. Randall had done this before – setting up licensing deals with boutique builders such as Egnater and selling the results as Randall amps – and explains why certain-era Randall amps are more sought-after than others. This amp was actually designed by Mike Fortin and was simply licensed by Randall Amplifiers for use by Hammett. While it’s true that Hammett played a superb-sounding amp that said ‘Randall’ on it, it was not actually designed by Don Randall. Image: Tim Mosenfelder / Corbis via Getty Images ![]() Kirk Hammett’s ‘Randall’ amps Kirk Hammett. According to Hetfield, Hammett also had one in the works but Arredondo passed away before it could be completed. For the recording of Ride…, Hetfield used an old Ibanez Tube Screamer to drive the JMP 2203 a little harder, trying to replicate what Arredondo’s mod had done for him.ĭuring the recording of the Black Album, Bob Rock and Hetfield both got new Arredondo-modded Marshalls. This amp would be modded by Ken Fischer of Trainwreck Amps, to allow him to bypass the preamp, but not until long after its purchase. Prior to the recording of the band’s next album, 1984’s Ride the Lightning, Hetfield bought a replacement: a brand-new Marshall JMP 2203 head. ![]() “I’m sure I wasn’t really thinking of killing myself,” he said later, “but it was my favorite Marshall amp, man!” The loss was devastating, both creatively and financially, and inspired Hetfield to write the classic track Fade to Black. Hetfield’s modded Marshall was famously stolen – along with much of Metallica’s other gear – from the band’s van while outside a venue in Boston in 1984. Arredondo was famous for modding amps owned by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and George Lynch, gain-stacking them and often adding an extra preamp tube.
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