Metallica
Anyone notice that a few of James’s guitars have the original specs on them?
These shots were from Back to the Beginning, July 5th
Discussion
Those guitars were probably part of Metallicas gear they keep in Europe. They have several rigs all over the place.
A lot of bands keep gear overseas because it's cheaper and makes more sense to keep it over there than to ship it back and forth. For those who may not know or realize it gear is heavy. These guys have their guitars in what's called vaults and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they didn't weigh around 500 pounds each. I say this because the 2 guitar version Gator cases makes weighs around 50 pounds and is no where near as big as what the pros use. I know Metallica no longer use tube amps but a 100 watt head can weigh in. the 60-80 pound range. And that's not including a road case, rack or the speaker cab.
Now that I think about it I would totally geek out over a video that weighs a bands equipment and goes into detail about what is evolved in hauling the gear show to show. I would hope it would compare a rig with physical amp and cabs to a digital rig so we could see the real differences.
Chad did a video like that on the WorldWired tour
Link? I’d be interested to see!
The fact technology has gotten better, and how fuckin heavy valve amps are (along with being a general pain in the ass) is why everyone swapped to solid state amps or MultiFX units.
This. Probably also explains why Kirk was using Guitars that have not been seen on the US tour dates.
I am an idiot, original specs? What’s that mean?
James modified his Electra. When I say original specs, I mean the original guitar. He changed the truss rod cover on the guitar to say “Hetfield” but in this shot, the guitar has the original “Electra” truss rod cover. Also it didn’t have the stickers or anything James had put on it
They used their blue promo gear for this show. You can see some of the flight-cases in behind the scenes photos.
Ronnie Wood posted some on instagram where you can see one of the cases.
The promo gear is a “stripped down” version of their live setup. It’s used for promo shows on tv/radio and one off gigs like with Ozzy.
It’s more efficient to have this setup at the ready because otherwise they have to strip the gear from the big show, get it from storage, risk it not making in time or altering settings between setups.
The purple Snakebyte with the flame maple top was gorgeous.
That’s his baritone. He uses it for st anger stuff live
A number of people have made comments about his guitars at that show. I didn't notice, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they did something unique for that show.
I noticed on the back of James Electra that night, his papa het wood carvings were gone. Like, how do you remove THAT lol
It's a different guitar
Maybe the Snakebyte, but James doesn’t have a second touring Electra. He has other Electras that he keeps in the studio
James doesn’t have a second touring Electra
He does now
This is what I thought too, but he apparetly does. That Electra is "more stock" than his other replica. It had "#2" (implying there is a #1) on the neck plate and it clearly doesn't have the scratches, drawings, and covers of the other one.
What's more likely? A person with a lot of money being able to find a second Electra wedge, or them removing years of wear, tear, scars and artwork for one show?
Fair argument. The Electras are scarce these days and from what I read in Hetfield’s Messengers was that it was a difficult process for James to get just one Electra to bring on tour that wasn’t his OGV. There is a photo in that book that has three different Electras side by side, one of them being the blank for the future touring guitar.
Plus I read somewhere that at least one of them might be a custom made replica. But don't quote me on it.
A rig and B rig, i guess some band have even C rig or D rig depending on where in the world they are gonna tour next.
The only guitar you'll see in every show is Greeny
As many have said, they have multiple rigs. But also apart from that, multiple guitars that are gonna be identical, especially ones that were in production like the Snakebyte. Yes James loves to customise his gear adding stickers and doodles but you can be sure he has a handful of "off the shelf" signature models.
Regarding the V, according to the Messengers book, James sourced a two old Electra V's to take on the road. The OGV lives in the studio so this is one of the newer ones
Im not sure I’ve seen that Olympic white snakebyte before either. He usually plays the Snow White one with a couple stickers on it. I really dig it.
I think it’s just a normal white. White paint on guitar aged really quickly and turns to an ivory or cream color over time. James has many white Snakebytes, this one might be older tho
I think this may be the OG. The aged paint is a giveaway. If the finish on the back of the neck was sanded off then it’s the OG for sure
No it’s not sanded off. OG is #4. James talks about it in messengers. And it stays in the studio I believe
Very interesting
Metallica has a system of duplicate rigs (pairs of amps, guitars, pedals, etc) so they can ship one across the world ahead of time while they play a show with the other. They are affectionately knows as the blue rig and the black rig.
Their main rig is in North America for the m72 tour, so they shipped the alternate rig to the Uk for the Sabbath show.
The guitars James used here are not his main Electra V (with all the cosmetic wear) and (current) white Snakebyte (with the papa het emblem) but duplicate guitars.
This is really interesting. Been a lifelong fan and never knew this. How’d you find this stuff out?
I know Metal Up Your Podcast talked about this on an episode. You can listen to that wherever you get your podcast.
Thanks mate
A ton of bands do it. I talked with Page Hamilton and he has a Europe Rig and a US Rig. Deftones do the same thing. They have a rig in the states and another in Europe. It's much easier and cheaper to store overseas than it is to ship it for every tour or festival.
I happened to be on the Denver -> London flight with (at least) James, Rob & Kirk. Rob had a guitar case with him, it made me wonder why, and now I’m even more curious. What was this special guitar? 🤔
If I had to guess it was an older bass that he probably played when he was touring with Ozzy
Wait, they don't fly private?
Sorry, at first I thought you said Kirk, which it would have been Greeny - 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar, previously owned by Peter Green and then Gary Moore. He takes it with him everywhere and doesn't let it out of his sight. But since I now realize you said Rob, what kind of case was it?? Gibson? Curious if maybe he was just carrying it for Kirk.
I didn’t see a name on it. It was a backpack-style case, soft if I remember correctly.
This. They’ve been doing this since the 90s and touring heavy. It’s like a leap frog. Two separate but equal of EVERYTHING. Once a show is done, it’s torn down and shipped to the following town that’s next.
They literally wrote the book to do stadium shows multiple times a week.
There might be some exceptions when it comes to certain gear (I.e. Greeny) that’s always travels though.
A good example is how Taylor Swift was able to do her world wide tour. Just used the Metallica playbook. It’s probably a logistical madhouse but there are 100s of professionals behind the scenes we never see.
More like tens of thousands. I live in Nashville and am friends with quite a few peeps in the touring logistics industry. The manpower behind even medium-sized yours is massive, nevermind the gigantours like Eras, M72, etc. Multiple sets, gear, crews, it’s truly mind boggling.
I really wish Lars would have used his Purple kit. Seems like a missed opportunity.
Blue is the main and black the alt rig?