Pick Power – James Hetfield Picks History

Metallica frontman James Hetfield has one of the most ferocious right hands in metal. While redefining what chromatic metal riffing could sound like, he also gave a masterclass in how downpicking will always sound superior to alternate picking.

Papa Het has used a lot of different picks over the years, and currently has two custom James Hetfield pick sets for sale online.

We’re going to tell you everything you need to know about James Hetfield’s guitar picks – then and now.


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What guitar picks does James Hetfield use?

Hetfield currently uses custom Jim Dunlop picks in 1.0mm and 1.14mm gauges. His custom Black Fang pick is based on a vintage tortoise-shell pick (which he used for the first 20 years of the band), while his White Fang is based on a Dunlop Flow pick.


Dunlop Hetfield Black Fang

James Hetfield Guitar Pick

The Black Fang was first introduced in 2009, and is a 1.14mm ultex pick with a beveled edge that has a defined tone and sharp attack.

The pick appears to have been road-tested by Hetfield on the Death Magnetic tour as what is known as the Papa Het Wheel custom pick.

The pick also went through several design prototypes before landing on the final horror inspired green face design.

“It’s fast, bright, and strong because of its hard point and material,” says the man himself. “It gives you everything you need—just add venom.”

It is available for sale in .73mm (Dunlop PH112T.73 – note the PH for Papa Het), .94mm (Dunlop PH112T.94) and 1.14mm (Dunlop PH112T1.14) variations.

Sale
Jim Dunlop PH112T1.14 Hetfield Black Fang, 1.14mm, 6 Picks/Tin
Jim Dunlop PH112T1.14 Hetfield Black Fang, 1.14mm, 6 Picks/Tin
The Dunlop black fang Pick Tin - 6 pack is a collection of special picks; Country of Origin: United States
$9.99 Amazon Prime

Jim Dunlop White Fang

James Hetfield Guitar Pick

In 2018, Hetfield started testing out a new 1mm pick for Dunlop called the White Fang. It is based on a Dunlop Flow pick profile, but taking some of the best aspects of the Black Fang to give Hetfield the best of both words.

James Hetfield Guitar Pick
Courtesy of IPOM.com

The initial test picks had a dot and dash grip similar to the flow (which Hetfield started out testing live) rather than the dot grip used on the final picks.

You can also distinguish the picks used by Hetfield in concert from the commercially available picks by the dash over the D in Hetfield. Some unscrupulous jerks actually scratch off this dash and try to sell the sale picks as concert used on eBay.

Hetfield's White Fang™ Custom Flow® Pick

The White Fang is essentially a Dunlop Flow pick that incorporates the Black Fang’s blended beveled edges and steps up the weight a notch to 1.14mm (standard Flow picks don’t go past 1mm). It also has an enhanced grip which allows Hetfield to dig in, and not have to worry about the pick going flying.

“The White Fang Pick has amazing grip when sweating from heavy riffing, and a smaller profile to go faster,” he says. “Plus, the white is easier to see when they get thrown into the crowd.”

Sale
Jim Dunlop White Fang 1.0mm Guitar Picks (PH122P1.00)
Jim Dunlop White Fang 1.0mm Guitar Picks (PH122P1.00)
Combines the specially engineered shape of flow picks with Hetfield's black fang Pick; Small profile and low profile grip provide superior control
$9.99 Amazon Prime

Before the fangs

Hetfield has used hundreds of picks over the years, both in a regular pick shape and a rounded triangle shape.

For years his pick of choice was a plain old Dunlop “tortoise shell” Tortex pick in .88mm.

Kirk Hammett Guitar Pick

Kirk Hammet also played Tortex .88mm picks until he swapped over to the Jazz III pick in 2008. He has said that the Jazz “completely changed” the way he plays guitar, as having so little contact with the string means he can get more notes out with much less effort.

JIM DUNLOP Kirk Hammett Signature Jazz III, 6 Pack
JIM DUNLOP Kirk Hammett Signature Jazz III, 6 Pack
Custom model designed for Metallica’s Kirk Hammett; V-shaped cutout provides superior grip
$9.99 Amazon Prime

Metallica Tour Pick 2017

Custom Tour Picks

Metallica have made custom picks for tours and events for years, and starting in 2008 have made custom city picks for many stops while on tour.

I was personally in the Snakepit for a show in Orlando in 2017 when the band were each handed a cup of picks right at the end of the show to throw out into the crowd.

Within a day the picks were for sale on eBay for upwards of $90 – such are the lengths Metallica fans will go to for collectables.

The amazing Insanity Place Of Metallica website has an exhaustive list of the picks Metallica have used over the years, both live and promo totaling (at time of writing) 692 picks.

The band has also released many pick tins over the year – curently there are nine different variations available for sale on the Metallica webstore.

In addition, each of the band’s larger box set released (both the Live Shit Binge And Purge box and the individual album reissue boxes) have come with picks.

Picking Style

“I don’t know any guitarist who can down-pick like Hetfield” – Dimebag Darrell

No question – James Hetfield is the master of down picking. Tight, chunky but fast downpicking defined the sound of much of Metallica’s 80s and 90s output.

Take the opening riff to Blackened from 1988’s masterpiece …And Justice For All – it’s a 195 bpm downpicking marathon.

Weekend Wankshop 70: Metallica Blackened intro riff lesson

“It’s not hard for me to play fast,” Hetfield told Guitar World in 2012. “It’s just not. And I love that. It might take a little while to warm up to certain songs, but the fast down picking—the really fast double picking in the riffs, especially when I pick up the beat—is just fun.”

The thing about learning to play fast is it takes repetition. Hetfield also has something of a competitive nature, which helped him develop his speed (and timing) as he got into speed contests with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.

“It was always a kind of contest – who could down-pick the fastest – and mostly it was a battle between me and Lars, actually,” Hetfield told Music Radar in 2008. “It’s a hard thing to do well, because your timing has got to be dead on.”

Flemming Rasmussen worked with Metallica on three of their first four classic albums, Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, and …And Justice For All, so outside of the main camp he’s probably seen Hetfield lay down more rhythm guitar than anyone. In 2019 he told Blabbermouth “There’s no one better than him when it comes to down-picking. It’s unbelievable. He’ll do eight tracks and it’ll sound like one guitar.”

Why does James Hetfield only Downpick?

First off – he doesn’t. Hetfield does still alternate pick in places (Battery for example). That said, the reason he prefers downpicking is that you get a good consistent chug when you continuously downpick. When you’re playing a power chord, you want the notes to ring out the same every time. If you’re alternate picking the chord, half the time the higher notes are ringing before the lower ones do, whereas if you always downpick, you’re getting a consistent sound from every attack.

How does James Hetfield hold his pick?

While most people hold a pick with their thumb and index finger, Hetfield uses three fingers, thumb/index/middle. This approach can take some getting used to, but ultimately gives you more power, as well as making it easier to control your palm muting. When you play as fast and as tight as Hetfield, you really want to take every small improvement you can – it all adds up to the monster riffage for which Papa Het is known!

Final thoughts on James Hetfield Picks

Hetfield has one of the most famous right hands in metal, and with the right pick, and a lot of practice, you can get there too!

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  • Brian Kelleher

    I'm the main guy at KillerGuitarRigs.com and I want to tell you all about guitars. I've been playing music since 1986 when my older brother taught me to play "Gigantic" by The Pixies on a bass with two strings. Since then, I've owned dozens of instruments from guitars to e-drums, and spent more time than I'd like to admit sitting in vans waiting for venues to open across Europe and the US.