Wide 80's Metal Guitar Tone Trick


Metallica, Megadeth - all those 80's bands had

wide guitar tones on their albums.


Ok, so how do I get that?


The trick here is a technique called LCR,

which means there are 5 guitar tracks that

are panned to the Left, Center & Right. 

You will need:


  • Electric guitar, cable & interface
  • Record 2 guitars and pan them 100% L&R
  • Record 2 more guitars and pan them 80% L&R
  • Record 1 more guitar and leave it right at the center


Yes, all takes have to be played individually (not duplicated).

After recording the 5 Guitar tracks you'll want to:


  • Decrease the Gain as low as possible on the 100% tracks + look for a mid-focused tone
  • Increase the Gain as high as possible on the 80% tracks + look for a scooped tone
  • For the center one, you'll want to leave a crisper tone, leave the gain somewhere in the middle

Recommended Amps/Amp Sims:


  • Marshall JCM800
  • Marshall JCM900
  • Soldano SLO-100
  • Peavey JSX
  • Carvin X100B
  • Lee Jackson GP-1000
  • Mesa/Boogie Mark III


anything with a heavy emphasis on the mids will work

Recommended Guitar Speakers/IR's:


  • Celestion G12 Classic Lead 80
  • Celestion G12T-57
  • Celestion G12K-100

Recommended boost/pedals


- Any Tubescreamer

- ProCo RAT

Ugritone Products used in this blog post

USA Thrash Metal - Impulse Response Pack

$20.00

TRVE Cab - Impulse Response Loader

$20.00

Arena Rock Drums - 80's Hair Metal Drum Library

$59.00
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Ron D. Rock

November 09, 2021