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Metallica - KING NOTHING - Guitar Tab

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Metallica - KING NOTHING - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - KING NOTHING guitar tab video
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Load (Remastered Deluxe Box Set) album cover
Load (Remastered Deluxe Box Set)
1996 5:28
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Heavy Metal 1996 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

KING NOTHING

"King Nothing" is a heavy metal track by Metallica, released as the fourth and final single from their sixth studio album, Load, in 1997. The song showcases Metallica's mid-90s shift toward a groovier, blues-influenced guitar style, making it a strong study piece for electric guitarists looking to explore riff-driven playing beyond traditional thrash. Its main riff is accessible yet powerful, offering solid practice in palm muting, rhythmic precision, and tone control.

  • "King Nothing" was the last of four singles released from Metallica's 1996 album Load, giving it significant radio exposure.
  • The song reflects Metallica's blues-influenced guitar evolution on Load, with James Hetfield using a more open, groove-based riff style.
  • Learning this track is practical for intermediate guitarists, the main riff focuses on controlled palm muting and tight rhythmic picking patterns.
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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