Weak Boss Metal Zone MT-II

[legionserial]

sucky distortion pedals suck ....... good ones do not.
My Fulltone Fulldrive is a great sounding pedal and there are plenty of others that are great also.

Yeah, the Metal Zone isn't great but he can still get more out of it than he does right now.
And really, replacing any pedal with a good amp will improve your sound ........ all he has to do is grab a Mesa Mark V like mine ...... oh wait ........ that's $2k!

It's easy to spend someone elses' money but the OP has said he doesn't have any right now so may as well try to help him get the most he can out of what he has until he can get something better.

He was the one suggesting getting a new amp. I was just agreeing. :shrug:

I personally don't like metal zones (I prefer the Boss DS-2 or even the DOD grunge), but that might be because the people I've jammed with who have them (which is a lot of people...probably because they're more sensible with money than I am ) didn't have a clue how to dial in a decent tone, and I've always used amp distortion since I was a beginner. To be fair, I managed to fix thier problem pretty quickly. But 70% of the time I did that by letting them use one of my amps. The rest of the time it probably was a case of un-sucking the mids.

 

[Lt. Bob]

He was the one suggesting getting a new amp. I was just agreeing. :shrug:.

true ..... I wasn't really critisizing ...... just explaining why I was focusing on the pedal.

I personally don't like metal zones (I prefer the Boss DS-2 or even the DOD grunge), but that might be because the people I've jammed with who have them (which is a lot of people...probably because they're more sensible with money than I am ) didn't have a clue how to dial in a decent tone, and I've always used amp distortion since I was a beginner. To be fair, I managed to fix thier problem pretty quickly. But 70% of the time I did that by letting them use one of my amps. The rest of the time it probably was a case of un-sucking the mids.

I agree about the Metal Zone. I'm not a metal player but I found it to be really fizzy sounding ..... bees in a can.
I really like my Rocktron Metal Planet a lot. And it's cheap.

Actually, since I got the Mark V, I've quit using any pedals so I'm right with you there. But I didn't quit 'cause I dislike pedals ...... I just don't really need them anymore so it's less crap to haul around every night.

 

[legionserial]

true ..... I wasn't really critisizing ...... just explaining why I was focusing on the pedal.

I agree about the Metal Zone. I'm not a metal player but I found it to be really fizzy sounding ..... bees in a can.
I really like my Rocktron Metal Planet a lot. And it's cheap.

Actually, since I got the Mark V, I've quit using any pedals so I'm right with you there. But I didn't quit 'cause I dislike pedals ...... I just don't really need them anymore so it's less crap to haul around every night.

I don't entirely dislike pedals either. I have plenty of effects boxes, and used to have few distortion pedals (until I lent them to my ex and she didn't give them back), but I used them mostly for deliberately fucking up my sound. I just feel more comfortable with amp distortion. It just...feels better. Getting my first tube amp some years ago made that even better.

 

[killthepixelnow]

(...)Dude you gotta save some money,work some overtime,sell your sperm or whatever you gotta do and get yourself an amp that's powerful enough to gig with.Period.(...)

I've just bought the BC Rich, $1K. Once I recover from that spending the next step is to get a great amp that I can use if for practice and for the gigs. As I already told you, I really don't use stomp boxes in a live situation, this issue happened in the last concert, the distortion coming from the head was dreadful so I decided to put the MT-II in front of it.

For the record, active EMGs + Peavey Bravo tube gain = Killer sound.

 

[Guitargodgt]

Not personally had that problem with mine. My mids usually sit at around 3-4 o clock.

What cab ya rocking? I would probably go higher if I had a different cab, this head just seems honky with my cab.

 

[Guitargodgt]

I think a modded metal zone sounds ok, although it didn't keep me from getting rid of it. It certainly helped with that shrill thing crappy dist it puts out stock.

I'm another for just running the gain on the head, and the gain on the 5150 sounds good (hence they are used for recording in the metal genre quite a bit). It's pretty much (IMO) a one trick pony, but it does that one trick pretty well.

The Mesa Mark series is an awesome line of amps, but it falls in the realm of to much mids for me. Lamb of God uses Mark IV amps and I really don't like that tone.

Here are some records done with 5150:

Devildriver: The Last Kind Words (combined with mesa DR)
Arch Enemy: Anthems Of Rebellion (combined with XXX)
In Flames: A Sense of Purpose (also had tiny terror and marshall jcm 2203kk)
In Flames: Soundtrack to Your Escape
Job For A Cowboy: Genesis
Kreator - Enemy of God

 

[DrewPeterson7]

To the OP:

Is it that the pedal just doesn't put out much volume at all, and its quieter than the clean sound? Or is it that it's perfectly loud enough when its just you, but as soon as the bass and drums come in you're getting buried. I.e - is the problem volume as an absolute, or volume relative to bass and drums?

Could you answer this question? I think this would help us figure out what's up.

 

[killthepixelnow]

Is it that the pedal just doesn't put out much volume at all, and its quieter than the clean sound? Or is it that it's perfectly loud enough when its just you, but as soon as the bass and drums come in you're getting buried. I.e - is the problem volume as an absolute, or volume relative to bass and drums?.

Tested it again today, just to answer that question.
Guitar > MT II > Amp
The clean signal is a tad louder than the distorted one. I assume this is 'cause of the gain compression. In the other hand, the tube gain from the amp has a more warm and full tone.

 

[mcmetal]

I've just bought the BC Rich, $1K. Once I recover from that spending the next step is to get a great amp that I can use if for practice and for the gigs. As I already told you, I really don't use stomp boxes in a live situation, this issue happened in the last concert, the distortion coming from the head was dreadful so I decided to put the MT-II in front of it.

For the record, active EMGs + Peavey Bravo tube gain = Killer sound.

I understand you're broke so buying an amp isn't an option.What i don't understand is why you didn't spend $400 on a decent guitar and $600 on a decent amp of your own so you could go out and play gigs.

Having top gear is great but having what you need to get by with is better.It just makes no sense to spend a $1K on a nice guitar when you don't have an amp to gig with and then having to rely on someone else to let you use their amp.

If your goal is to just play at home then fine.If you want to gig then you need an amp of your own so you don't have to break out that metal zone when you get stuck with a less than desirable amp.

How many watts is your Peavey bravo? Can it run a cab? If it sounds great with your guitar maybe just mic it and turn it up a little in the monitors

 

[legionserial]

Here are some records done with 5150:

Devildriver: The Last Kind Words (combined with mesa DR)
Arch Enemy: Anthems Of Rebellion (combined with XXX)
In Flames: A Sense of Purpose (also had tiny terror and marshall jcm 2203kk)
In Flames: Soundtrack to Your Escape
Job For A Cowboy: Genesis
Kreator - Enemy of God

More importantly, anything by Machine Head.

 

[killthepixelnow]

(...)How many watts is your Peavey bravo? Can it run a cab? If it sounds great with your guitar maybe just mic it and turn it up a little in the monitors

Manual says 25W and I know it can be connected to an external cab.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Tested it again today, just to answer that question.
Guitar > MT II > Amp
The clean signal is a tad louder than the distorted one. I assume this is 'cause of the gain compression. In the other hand, the tube gain from the amp has a more warm and full tone.

Try turning the level up from 12 o'clock to 1 and see what happens. Maybe try bringing the gain down from 12 o'clock to 11 while you're at it, too.

 

[Atom Bomb]

I hated that pedal.