? for metal guitar players

  • Thread starter Thread starter cellardweller
  • Start date Start date
cellardweller

cellardweller

New member
What brand/model of distortion pedal/rack has the best, most versatile (slight to full filth distortion), out there? Are there any such animals which make it possible to record with more gain/distortion, without creating the infamous "wall of fuzz" crappy sound?

I have had it with my BOSS pedal... It has squealed its' last! Time to move on...

BTW, I am 'po, and I'd prefer not to go "Line 6", as I have heard this is more for d/i recording, and is out of my current price range anyway...

What about Sans pedals??? I've seen them recommended for metal distortion...

All responses deeply appreciated
 
Tough question, kinda...

I would usually hesitate to pigeon hole myself with the narrow constraints of genre title, but for guitars sake, we could call it black/death/doomish, though I in no way adhere strictly to the tenets of these styles. I like to do an occasional slow song as well, with only light or no distortion. I like to do covers of old punk/pop/rock/80's songs, etc..., hence the "versatility" part of the question.

Is there such a thing?

*edit*

Jacksonville, that's close to Springfield, isn't it? What kind of music do you listen to/do???
 
Yup! Jacksonville's like 28 miles away.

I listen to a lot of different music. Heavy/not-so heavy rock, dance, pop, blues, punk, hardcore, metal....lots!


Hmmmm...what sort of Boss pedal are you using? I've used an MT-2 for years and it's always worked for me. I don't need it anymore because I have a JCM 900 which can pretty much do everything that pedal does and more.

If you don't watch ebay, you really should. I got my amp for $400.
As far as on the fly versatility, hmmm......I don't really know what I would recommend. Sorry.
 
Have you tried to pull back on the gain of the Boss pedal and double,..triple,..hell guadruple your guitar parts? Also,...maybe buy another cheaper pedal with different distortion characteristics and blend the 2. Mix in a little clean guitar for some defintion.
I dunno,..just some thoughts.

take 'er easy,..
Calwood
 
(rvdsm-Howdy neighbor! From Decatur)

Yea, it's an MT2. I dunno, it just seems I can't record filthy distorted parts very effectively (gets that nasty fuzz). I've cut WAY back on gain/distortion to compensate, and it is a better result than the alternative, but just not quite the tone of "filth" I'm hoping for. I have not tried recording an absolutely clean part to fill it out yet though. I have tried a track with significantly less distortion. When I used to play with a band, I loved the sound I got from the MT2, it just doesn't seem to be doing what I need anymore...

ProCo Rat? NOt sure I've heard of that one, though I've heard talk of "Rat" pedals before, would this be "the" Rat? What type of music would you say it would be best suited for?

Thanx
 
the rat wouldn't work at all for the sound you're going for. i own one and it doesn't get very distorted......i believe it would be classified as an overdrive pedal. it also adds this weird highend harshness that i just absolutely hate.

maybe try the ibanez smash box.......my friend used to use it. he plays death metal. he likes his amps distortion more though.
 
I have an Ampeg VT120, which should be done having the tubes biased tomorrow or Friday. I thought that I bought it new, but as it turns out, it comes stock with GE tubes, and mine had Sovtek (obviously not new!). Maybe I've never heard it in true and full form, maybe I'll not need a distortion box after Friday,

maybe dragons will issue forth from my arse also...
maybe I'll wake up rich and trouble free in the morn...

Ibanez huh?
 
I used an MT-2 for a loooooong time, but retired it about 7 years ago when I bought a Rocktron Voodu Valve. I find I can get the Voodu valve to sound like a Mesa, but it's never really the same.

If you have $$$ and want a really good distortion, filty yet smooth, the Mesa Boogie's are the ones for the job. I have never played one (can't afford one) but I have heard nothing but good things.

If you want, I'll make a few samples with the Voodu Valve directly recording, you can judge for yourself.
 
I'm not looking for this type of distortion, but I'd love to hear any samples of the Voodu Valve as I've been looking at purchasing one myself, hopefully in the next few months.
 
Agtronic said:
I have never played one (can't afford one) but I have heard nothing but good things.
Click to expand...

The Mesa Dual Rectifier is one of the best amps I've used. It's very, very thick. The only thing about the amp that could have possibly been improved is the clean channel. It doesn't have the pristine quality of other amps, but then again when you have an amp that delivers such devistatingly thick low end I guess you really can't expect it to deliver like a solid state.

It's definitely worth the investment, if you can afford it. Go to The Luthier Shop in Springfield. They'll tell you all about it (just make sure you have a few hours to spare, they like to ramble on!)
 
Agtronic said:


If you want, I'll make a few samples with the Voodu Valve directly recording, you can judge for yourself.
Click to expand...

I'd love to hear some samples...
 
I don't have one, but I really really want one, a Bigg Muff Pi distortion pedal. Made of metal and sounds plenty nice and crunchy :). Looky here. I think there are also some samples to listen to on that site.
 
If your strapped for cash, the 'Grunge' pedal had some good crunch to it. In 2000 I bought a Digitech RP2000, and I record with it exclusivly. If you could go thru musicians friend, Digitech has the GNX3 on sale. I dont see using any single pedals anymore.
 
I bought a Create Stealth. Although I am not a big fan of Create products, this amp rocks. It has a great dual distortion channel and the clean is awesome too. I have the Boss MT-2 also which works well with it too.
 
Hey cellardweller,
An Ampeg VT120, thats the tube job with the 4 10'es right?
what a sweet amp, great sound but i could never get mine to stay operational.

My amp had no preamp distortion, just an overall volume knob that would get super loud! I never had the thing above 3!

I got my best results just playing with that volume knob.
I used a Boss PowerDrive pedal (discontinued) and would play with the volume knob on the amp till it had the right kind of punch.

You know the difference between Preamp distortion and Poweramp distortion right?
Preamp is the fuzzy stuff, the high end boost and the overall dirty part to the signal.
Poweramp distortion - that's the punch and the power, the chunk and the guts to it all
It sounds to me that you are going ballsout with the fuzzy stuff and not enough of the guts & punch.

Try starting with the overall volume kinda cranked and then start dialing in more and more distortion on your pedal til you get a sound you like. Another thing, that amp has some of the coolest EQ I've ever seen on an amp, and they are active! Try switching the mids to 300Hz and adding a couple Db, that always got me some extra "filth"
Good luck. Experiment, that amp has a thousand different sounds.
 
Well, nevermind about those samples.
Just purchased a VooDu Valve Online for $300 on eBay :D

I did more x-mas buying for myself than others this year...Merry Christmas to Me!
 
Now I will speak for what I do own, a J-station. Coupled with a nice midi footboard, this thing is killer!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top