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Metallica - DISPOSABLE HEROES - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - DISPOSABLE HEROES guitar tab video
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The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition album cover
The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition
2011 6:37
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Metallica Thrash Metal 2011 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About DISPOSABLE HEROES

Few Metallica tracks demand as much sustained picking stamina as "Disposable Heroes." The song is built around relentless, fast downpicked riffing in E minor, the same aggressive approach that defines Metallica's mid-1980s thrash output. Keeping every note tight and even at high speed is the real challenge here: your pick attack needs to stay consistent across string changes without the rhythm dragging or rushing. The main riff patterns move through palm-muted low-string phrases that require a firm, locked-in right-hand position, so even small lapses in technique become audible quickly. Beginners often underestimate how much the left hand has to do while the right hand is working at full pace, particularly through the chord transitions. Use the Practice Toolbar to isolate the toughest riff passages and loop them slowed down until the picking hand stays relaxed and controlled. Building up to full speed gradually is genuinely the only way this one clicks.

  • The song's core riffs rely heavily on fast, consistent downpicking on low strings, a technique that demands serious right-hand endurance to maintain at full tempo.
  • Palm muting is central to the rhythm guitar parts, and controlling the degree of muting through each phrase shapes the aggressive, punchy feel of the riff.
  • The song is in E minor, so open low-E pedal tones anchor many of the riff figures, giving you a useful reference point when learning the patterns.

How to Play DISPOSABLE HEROES

The song moves through: • Intro, • The E Riff, • Apocalyptic Octave, • C# Riff, • Verse, • Pré Ch. / Chorus 1 JAMES, • Pré Ch. / Chorus 2 KIRK, • Bridge, • Guitar Solo - KIRK, • Guitar Solo - JAMES, • C# riff / Verse 3, • Pré Chorus 3, and more.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 189 BPM

The arrangement runs through 12 distinct sections, and the solo is the steepest jump, so isolate it on its own. At 189 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 189 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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