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Metallica - BREADFAN - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - BREADFAN guitar tab video
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Garage, Inc. album cover
Garage, Inc.
1998 5:41
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Heavy Metal 1998 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About BREADFAN

Originally recorded by Budgie in 1973, "Breadfan" was covered by Metallica for their 1998 covers compilation "Garage, Inc." and it remains one of the more demanding tracks in their catalogue to replicate faithfully. The song lives and dies by its main riff, a relentless, driving figure in E minor built on power chords and single-note runs that need to lock together with precision across both rhythm and lead guitars. Getting the riff to feel tight at full speed takes real work, because any looseness in the picking hand gets magnified immediately. The right approach is to learn the riff in small segments and use the Practice Toolbar to loop each one slowed down until your fretting and picking hands sync cleanly before pushing the tempo back up. The song also features a long, aggressive lead section, so stamina and pick control matter just as much as note accuracy here.

  • The central riff in E minor combines palm-muted power chords with quick single-note runs, demanding tight synchronization between both hands.
  • The song includes an extended solo section, making it a good workout for picking stamina and sustained lead playing.
  • Keeping the main riff clean at full performance tempo is the core challenge, so isolating short phrases and building speed gradually is the recommended approach.

How to Play BREADFAN

The song moves through: • Intro, • Verse Riff, • Guitar Solo Kirk, • Guitar Solo : James Riff, • Bridge, • Final.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 161 BPM

The arrangement runs through 6 distinct sections, and the solo is the steepest jump, so isolate it on its own. At 161 bpm it moves fast, so the real test is building picking stamina and keeping every note clean at speed.

Loop the hardest passage and creep the speed up from around 70 percent until it holds at 161 BPM.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Kirk Hammett's vintage 1959 'Greeny' Les Paul Standard delivers warmer, more dynamic PAF-style tones that contrast his EMG-equipped ESP guitars, adding organic sustain to his lead work. This guitar's traditional construction gives his solos a thicker, less compressed character than his signature models.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While not Hammett's primary choice, the Les Paul Custom shares the Les Paul's warm PAF pickup character and thick body resonance, offering heavier players an alternative to Strat-style designs for achieving Metallica's crushing rhythm tones.

Gibson Explorer
Guitar

Gibson Explorer

James Hetfield's early Gibson Explorer established his signature angular shape and thick body tone, delivering the aggressive midrange attack essential to Metallica's crushing rhythm style before his ESP signature models became his primary tool.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

Kirk Hammett's Dual Rectifier heads provide the high-gain, midrange-forward aggression that lets his solos cut through Hetfield's scooped rhythm tone, creating definition and clarity in Metallica's dense wall of distortion.

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Hetfield's bridge EMG 81 delivers the hot, compressed output with tight low-end that defines Metallica's palm-muted riffs, the ceramic magnet and active preamp cutting through heavy arrangements with focused, aggressive attack.

EMG 60
Pickup

EMG 60

Both guitarists use the neck EMG 60 for warmer, more articulate rhythm tones and smoother lead voicings, balancing the 81's aggression with clearer note definition across Metallica's dense arrangements.

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