MetalHard Rock1970s
Tony Iommi
SG into a modified Marshall — Iommi invented heavy metal riffing with down-tuned, ominous power chords and a dark, woolly distorted tone. The godfather of heavy guitar.
£500 rig from ~£497
Metal Guitar Tone
Metal took hard rock's aggression further — higher gain, lower tunings, faster alternate picking, tighter palm muting. From Sabbath's doom riffs to Metallica's thrash precision to Meshuggah's polyrhythms, metal has pushed every technical limit of the electric guitar. 20 metal guitarists in the ToneStakr library — explore their gear, rigs, and tone at every budget from £200 to £2,500.
20 guitarists · Rig guides from £200 to £2,500
The best Metal guitarists include Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Kirk Hammett, Dimebag Darrell and Zakk Wylde. Metal guitar is characterised by alternate picking at high speed, palm muting for tight rhythmic definition, sweep picking for arpeggios, and legato hammer-ons and pull-offs for fast melodic runs.
Technique
Alternate picking at high speed, palm muting for tight rhythmic definition, sweep picking for arpeggios, and legato hammer-ons and pull-offs for fast melodic runs.
Defining Gear
High-output humbucker guitar (Jackson, ESP, Schecter) into a high-gain amplifier (Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier or similar). Tight, compressed distortion with scooped or aggressive mids.
Essential Listening
♪ Master of Puppets — Metallica
The canonical metal rhythm tone — downpicked palm mutes into Mesa/Boogie, absolute precision.
Tone Library
Metal Guitarists
MetalHard Rock1980s
Randy Rhoads
Custom polka-dot Flying V and Les Paul through Marshall and MXR — Rhoads fused classical precision with metal ferocity, every solo both technically precise and emotionally intense.
£500 rig from ~£497
MetalThrash Metal1980s
Kirk Hammett
ESP guitars through Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier — Kirk's rhythm tone is thick, palm-muted Metallica crunch; his leads add expressive wah and melodic phrasing in the blues tradition.
£500 rig from ~£592
MetalGroove Metal1990s
Dimebag Darrell
Custom Dean ML through Randall solid-state amps — Dime's harmonically rich ultra-gain sound with wild whammy dive-bombs and razor-sharp pinch harmonics is a style entirely his own.
£500 rig from ~£478
MetalHard Rock1980s
Zakk Wylde
Les Paul with EMG 81/85 pickups through a Marshall JCM800 — Zakk's pinch harmonic-heavy, thick distorted tone became the blueprint for modern hard rock lead guitar.
£500 rig from ~£507
MetalThrash Metal1980s
James Hetfield
ESP and Gibson Explorer through Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier — Hetfield's down-picked rhythm playing is the most influential in thrash metal. Tight, mechanical precision with monstrous impact.
£500 rig from ~£497
Thrash MetalMetal1980s
Dave Mustaine
Dean and Jackson guitars through an older Marshall — Mustaine's Megadeth riffing is technically complex thrash that blends aggression with sophisticated arrangements and classical influences.
£500 rig from ~£478
MetalShred1980s
Marty Friedman
Jackson guitars through high-gain amps — Friedman's Megadeth soloing incorporated exotic Eastern scales and unconventional string-bending techniques into a highly personal metal vocabulary.
£500 rig from ~£478
MetalShred1980s
Yngwie Malmsteen
Vintage Stratocaster with scalloped fretboard through a Marshall — Malmsteen fused Paganini-level technique with hard rock fury, inventing the neoclassical shred template every metal player since has followed.
£500 rig from ~£477
ProgressiveMetal1990s
John Petrucci
Ernie Ball Music Man JP signature through Mesa Boogie — Petrucci's Dream Theater leads balance extreme technical precision with lyrical melody, covering sweeping arpeggios to emotionally charged solos.
£500 rig from ~£478
MetalShred1980s
Jason Becker
Jackson guitars through a Marshall — Becker's brief career produced some of the most emotionally transcendent shred recordings ever made, fusing classical counterpoint with blazing technique.
£500 rig from ~£478
ExperimentalMetal1990s
Buckethead
Custom Les Paul through a Mesa Boogie — Buckethead's anonymity belies astonishing technical range, from hyper-precise alternate picking to eerie clean arpeggios and robot-like melodic phrasing.
£500 rig from ~£478
MetalHard Rock1990s
Paul Gilbert
Ibanez guitars through Mesa Boogie — Gilbert's explosive alternate picking technique and melodic sensibility make him one of the most technically precise lead guitarists in rock.
£500 rig from ~£507
AlternativeRock1990s
Tom Morello
Custom Strat-style guitar through a Marshall JCM800 with a kill switch — Morello's tone is as much technique as gear. Kill switch, toggle and whammy pedal are compositional instruments.
£500 rig from ~£478
ProgressiveMetal1990s
Adam Jones
Gibson Les Paul through Marshall and Mesa Boogie — Jones's dark, creeping Tool riff tone uses drop D tuning and precise palm muting for hypnotic, cinematic heaviness.
£500 rig from ~£527
GrungeAlternative1990s
Kim Thayil
Gibson and B.C. Rich guitars through a Chandler-modified Marshall — Thayil's Soundgarden riffing uses open, droning tunings and dissonant intervals to create a cavernous, oppressive heaviness.
£500 rig from ~£503
GrungeMetal1990s
Jerry Cantrell
G&L Rampage through a Bogner amp — Cantrell's dark, down-tuned Alice in Chains riffs combine metal heaviness with dark blues harmonies and dense detuned chord voicings.
£500 rig from ~£527
ProgressiveMetal2010s
Tosin Abasi
Custom 8-string Abasi Concepts guitar through a Mesa Boogie — Abasi's Animals as Leaders playing combines aggressive djent-style riffing with percussive thumb tapping and intricate polyrhythmic arrangements.
£500 rig from ~£478
ProgressiveMetal2010s
Misha Mansoor
Custom 7-string guitars through an Axe-Fx modeller — Mansoor's Periphery djent tone is built on ultra-tight low-end, massive rhythm chugs and precise extended-range production.
£500 rig from ~£557
MetalHeavy Metal1980s
Dave Murray
Fender Stratocaster with EMG pickups through a Marshall — Murray's Iron Maiden leads are melodic, harmonised and technically precise, rooted in the NWOBHM tradition but with a bluesy Hendrix influence.
£500 rig from ~£448
Budget Tiers
Metal Rigs by Budget
FAQ
Metal Guitar — Common Questions
Among the most celebrated Metal guitarists are Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Kirk Hammett, Dimebag Darrell, Zakk Wylde. Each brings a distinct approach — explore their full tone and gear guides below.
Alternate picking at high speed, palm muting for tight rhythmic definition, sweep picking for arpeggios, and legato hammer-ons and pull-offs for fast melodic runs.
High-output humbucker guitar (Jackson, ESP, Schecter) into a high-gain amplifier (Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier or similar). Tight, compressed distortion with scooped or aggressive mids.
Master of Puppets by Metallica is a definitive reference: The canonical metal rhythm tone — downpicked palm mutes into Mesa/Boogie, absolute precision.
A functional Metal rig starts from around £200 for the essentials. The £500 tier covers a real tube amp and the right guitar — enough for authentic metal tone. Explore the rigs below to see exactly what each budget gets you.
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