Kirk Hammett

• Wah pedal in the "on" position at heel or toe acts as a tone filter — learn to park it
• EMG 81 bridge pickup: tighter, more compressed attack than passive pickups at high gain
• Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Modern mode: gain at 7, master at 4 — tight and punishing
• Wah-laden pentatonic patterns: pick and wah simultaneously for the classic Kirk phrasing
• Open-string pull-offs create the snaking chromatic runs through solos
• Riff technique: downstroke-heavy palm muting with the wrist close to the bridge
• Tremolo bar dips for dramatic accents at phrase endings — fast dip, immediate return
• Delay: 300ms at low mix on solos gives depth without muddying fast runs
• Study "Fade to Black" solo and "One" for the range from melodic to aggressive

Kirk Hammett defined the lead guitar vocabulary of thrash metal — wah-soaked pentatonic runs, Mesa Boogie high gain and a sense of drama in every solo. His KH-2 signature ESP through a Dual Rectifier is the template for aggressive, expressive metal lead playing.