Cliff Burton Rig

Cliff Burton was Metallica's bassist from 1982 until his death in 1986, and his fingerstyle lead-bass voice — wah, fuzz, and a midrange snarl more like a guitar — is the backbone of Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets. In the classic 1982–84 era he played a burgundy Rickenbacker 4001 with a Gibson EB Mudbucker in the neck, a Seymour Duncan stacked Jazz at the bridge, and a hidden Duncan Strat pickup under the mute, into a Randall RBA-500 head and a Road 2x18 cabinet. Distortion and solos came from an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi and a chrome Tel-Ray Morley Power Wah Boost, the chain behind "(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth" and the intro to "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

By 1985 he had retired the failing Rickenbacker and taken an Aria endorsement, first on an SB-1000 and then on the SB Black 'n Gold I used to record Master of Puppets. The late live rig was a pair of Mesa/Boogie D-180 heads — one clean, one for the effects chain — into Mesa 4x12 and 1x15 cabinets, with an Ibanez TS-9, Boss CS-2, and Ibanez HD1500 rack for the stacked harmonics on "Damage, Inc." Burton was killed on the Damage Inc. tour in September 1986, so there is no current touring bass; the gear fans can buy now is Aria's Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass SB-CLB (the 2026 reissue of the 2013 family-approved Black 'n Gold replica) and Morley's Cliff Burton Power Wah Boost.