The internet has long been awash with rumours that Mesa/Boogie built James Hetfield a signature guitar amp but it never saw a release – and the high-end amp brand's founder, Randall Smith, has confirmed that it was indeed true.
Speculation reemerged recently when the Metallica frontman joined lead guitarist Kirk Hammett in a video greeting wishing ESP a happy 50th anniversary.
The footage was shot at the metal giant’s rehearsal space, with Hammett and Hetfield sporting their ESP signature guitars. But the sight of an unidentified Mesa/Boogie head, with what looked like the initials “JH” on the front, plus an oversized dial in the middle of the control panel, had ‘Tallica tone sleuths on edge. What was this?
If your working theory was that somehow this would combine the Metallica-approved solid-state architecture of the Roland JC-120 with a Mark Series Mesa/Boogie and/or maybe a Diezel tube amp, too, then you would be on the money.
Smith, who founded Mesa but has been out of the picture since his controversial exit in August 2024, says that this Hetfield amp was to be just that, a three-in-one head, one amp to rule them all [see the pic below for what this would have looked like] .
Replying to a YouTube commenter, Mesa Sean, who had asked that very question: what was going on with this amp? Smith explained what went down.
By the sounds of it Smith, had not seen the ESP video but he knew exactly what amp he was talking about, and said he had already spoken about it in his YouTube channel.
“Not sure what you’re seeing there,” replies Smith. “I mentioned the JH amp that was to be, and we did get pretty far with it (a combo of Roland Jazz Chorus, Diesel and Mark IIC+) but he wanted all that at an undoable selling price.”
Given the prices of some of today’s tube amps, we’d like to see what an undoable selling price looked like. There would surely be many a deep-pocketed player who could and would pony up for an amp that could legitimately claim to be the ultimate Metallica amp.
As Smith explains, John Marshall, childhood friend of Kirk Hammett’s, former Metallica tech and Metal Church guitarist, was involved with the design.
Marshall has been working for Mesa/Boogie since February 1995. You might remember that he filled in for Hetfield when he broke his arm in a skateboarding accident in 1986, and then again in 1992 after the pyro engulfed the Metallica frontman during their set at Montreal. Hetfield returned to the stage just 17 days later with Marshall on guitar.
“Yes, JM knew Kirk from way before Metallica and teched for Cliff [Burton] ’til the bus wreck,” replies Smith. “James is cool and wanted everything in his rig put into one small amp, which JM did [our italics]. James also wanted an unrealistically low price so production never occurred.”
So there you go, the James Hetfield signature amp that never was. But then with Mesa/Boogie reissuing the Mark IIC++ as a limited edition production model, maybe you have all you need to to put those things together and build the ultimate Hetfield rig. It’ll cost you.
What won't cost you is a subscription to Randall Smith's YouTube channel, which is well worth checking in on as a source of Mesa/Boogie history straight from the horse's mouth.
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