Often, when a musician puts his name on a product, it is because the guitar or amp meets their demanding expectations. Other times, I think the name is just slapped on there.

I was surprised to see a little 15 watt amp with Kirk Hammett's name on it. I associate Metallica with lots of power and huge stacks of amplifiers.  Nevertheless, I wanted to give it a try.

The Kirk Hammett 15 Watt Combo Guitar Amp

This amplifier is a small transistor combo amp with a clean channel and a distortion channel.  It is made by Randall and it's a Kirk Hammett custom amp. That is, Metallica's guitar player has his name emblazoned on the front.  The amp has a 6.5" driver and a black case with a black grill cloth.  The whole amp is about a foot square and about 6 inches deep.

I've played 15 watt amps before, and I know that even though that is a small number, it doesn't always equal a small sound.

Clean and Overdrive

You get two basic sounds here, Clean and Kirk Hammett's signature overdrive. Each has its own volume knob, and a small button allows you to switch between channels.  You can hit a second button for Boost and adjust the gain for the overdrive channel.

EQ

The Amp has three standard EQ controls, bass, middle and treble. All the knobs are labeled in Hammett's own handwriting. He writes neatly enough to clearly be able to read them.

Volume  Inputs and Outputs

Finally, there is a master volume, output for headphones and the power button.

On the front of the amp is the guitar input, and on the back is an auxillary input for something like an MP3 player.

The Sound

Okay, I've only been playing guitar for a couple of years, but I've been listening to Metallica for 20 years.  I tried the clean channel first.  It has an okay sound, you can hear chords and leads, although nothing has a very full sound. Its a bit anemic and thin actually. 

Well, the amp is supposed to provide that Kirk Hammett signature sound. I kicked it into overdrive and played the intro to One, and a little bit of Blackened from the ... and Justice for All album.

??? Okay, I know I'm not a great guitar player, but I can play chords and basic leads (nothing too fast), and I can recognize Tones.  On my Line 6 Spider III at home, I can recognize the signature sound of Neil Young, Guns n' Roses and AC/DC when I slam out a few chords.  They have a certain feel and sound to them that is unmistakable. Metallica's sound is also unmistakable. This little amp doesn't produce that sound.  I turned up the gain and flipped on the Boost switch. It was a bit fuzzier and more distorted, but this was hardly the sound I heard from albums like Kill 'Em All, Master of Puppets or Death Magnetic.  Perhaps the sound of St. Anger is more what these anemic little amp was going for.

Price / Value

This amp has a suggested retail price of $199.00, but you can purchase it at most stores for half that.  If you want a small practice amp that you can pick up and carry, I guess this will fit the bill, but if you are expecting that signature Metallica sound, I really didn't hear it from this little guitar amp.

Summary

Stranger eons, death may die, drain you of your sanity, face the [amp] that should not be.

This wasn't an amp I decided I wanted. It certainly wasn't an amp that provides the Metallica sound.




Recommended: No