Exactly. Mine has distortion at 2 o'clock max, more than enough. I also plug in straight, took some time to eq it correctly and am good to go. I don't get the hate for this pedal.
I saw Ola Englund's demo before yours, but all of you UA-camrs who tried the MT-2 on the FX loop return definitely gave this pedal a fresh breath of life. So to those wanting to sell, throw away, or put back their MT-2 pedals in their closets to gather dust: if your amp has an FX loop, PLUG YOUR MT-2 THERE It will change your life
I've used the MT-2 since the mid 90's and it's a regular on my board. I run it straight into the front of my JCM2000 TSL100. I use it through the clean channel for playing lead. I use the "crunch" channel on the amp for rhythm and never use the "lead" channel because it's not much different than the crunch channel. Before the Marshall, I used it through a SS Fender amp and it did the job and back then, I couldn't afford to go shopping for more pedals than the one's I already had so, to me, it sounded great. I've tried a tube screamer on the crunch channel but, it just sounds like I'm on a runway at the airport, if you know what I mean? I don't get why people constantly sh*t on the MT-2 because everyone I knew owned one. That EQ totally makes the difference with this pedal!
i also bought a MT-2 in 92 and played it through a cheap clean solid state amp (actually a fender bxr300 bass amp) and it rocked . gigged and recorded with it . it was sweet as
You're still using it wrong. You're supposed to boost the bass and cut the mids all way with the gain on full. Then you need to run it through a 15 watt Line 6 Spider on the insane setting. The "insane" setting is the key here. That's what gives it its master tone. And you can only play with a Squier Telecaster with single coil pickups. No other pedals are allowed in the circuit. Only a Squier Telecaster into the pedal into the input of the Line 6 Spider. And you can't use a noise gate, that blocks all the tone.
LOL That’s exactly the OPPOSITE of the point of this video, but the inexperienced players who do this are the reason why the Metal Zone is hated as much as it is. LOL
(Brace for repetitions from another video.) Back in October 2001, I procured a Scholz Research & Development Rockman X100. It was great having the 80s Boston tones at my fingertips, but the amp itself was not compatible or ergonomically user-friendly. I basically spent the following 17 years longing for another way to loosely emulate that tone, not realizing the solution was under my nose the whole time. The secret is to have a clean amp channel and have this pedal, the MT2, dial back the gain control to someplace between 3 or 4, put all three EQ controls just right of noon and get your volume level of choice. I’ve achieved my tone of choice with the MT2 emulator in my Boss ME-80. Good for both Boston or 80s Queen.
Just bought the Boss Waza MT-2 a week ago. I bought my first MT-2 in 1994 and ran it straight thru the front in out jack. Well, I now run my Boss Waza Craft MT-2 into the effects loop passing the preamp and it sounds like a Friedman, Bogner or Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. I also run a Boss CH-1 Chorus pedal and a Boss DD-7 Digital Delay thru the effects loop and it's sounds amazing. And I'm a tone stickler and it sounds killer from my '79 Les Paul 'Silverburst ' into a JC-95 Jerry Cantrell Wah.
I’m sure it will last me a lot longer than that. I bought my first Metal Zone in 1991, I think, whatever year it was they came out. I still have it, I’ve never had ONE problem with it, and it still works fine. I have an old DF-2 Super Feedbacker & Distortion from about 1984 or so. Also still works just fine. I had a CE-5 on my pedalboard that was literally on it for 15 years. When I finally decided to take it off and replace it with something else, it still works fine. We STILL don’t know what the lifespan of a Boss pedal really is because they been made since the 70’s and NONE OF THEM have died yet.
@@RobertWJackson that CE-5 Chorus pedal is another excellent pedal, especially for clean sounds. I always used the baby blue colored CH-1 Chorus pedal. In my opinion, Boss makes the best pedals by far, in strength and sound quality.
That'd be something to hear. I do wonder though, does the JCM2000's Ultra gain channel not give you the tone you want, and you use the Metal Zone for distortion instead? Unless of course you want the options of both pedal and amp distortion, which I can relate to. 🤘
The JCM 2000 is probably the easiest amp to put pedals in front of. Unfortunately that also tells us something about why the amp itself sounds the way it does.
You can achieve the same tone from example 1 and example 2... And even a much better tone if you adjust the peddel correctly. All peddels add a couple watts to your signal so it is all ready a pre amp. Little as it is, it is.
I've actually considered using a Metal Zone with a Graphic EQ or a clean boost in front of the pedal to tighten things up enough for recording tight, articulate Death Metal riffs.
This is how I use it as well, as a preamp(well through 1 of my amps). Let me explain. I play 80's metal. My rig consists of guitar through a Boss Gt6. The GT6 has the metal zone distortion built in, but it doesn't have the 4 band eq that the pedal has. I have the pedal hooked into the GT6 as my distortion. I'm using a Fender Twin clean preamp tone from the GT6. Out from the GT6 I go on the right out to the effects return of my Marshall DSL 100 head. Left out of GT6, I go straight into the input of my JCM 900 4100 head. I don't use the effects return of the 900 because I have a rack BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer going into that send and return(the 900 really comes alive with the bbe in loop). I also have the GT6 delay panned to give my amps the stereo sound. It sounds so thick and heavy. It's the sound I just love. Yeah, my setup is old and outdated(like me..ha ha), but it makes the heavy thick distorted wall of sound of the 80s metal sound I love. I've used that setup on 3 CD's I've done guest appearances on.
Not sure if this was mentioned, or if you've seen the videos...but, Kirk Windstein from Crowbar uses only a tuner and a Metal Zone into a solid state amp, and has for years. But, he uses it as a clean boost in front of the amp (not in effects loop). So, level all the way up, distortion all the way down, all EQ settings at noon...I like his tone, but to each his own. He mentions that he knows that most people think that the Metal Zone sucks. He used to play Randall RG100ES heads and, just recently, switched to Orange CR120 i believe.
bnoyz3 seen them 3 times and every time he had 2 Mesa dual rectifier heads and 4 4x12 cabs. he probably has used solid state but not at the show's here.
I’ve wondered the same things many, many times myself. If you were a teenage metal guitar player in the 90’s, most likely that was your distortion. Most of those guys may not want to admit it, but it’s Boss’ second-best selling pedal EVER for a reason.
Robert's Guitar Dungeon yup. I still use mine, it's a staple of 90's death metal. USED AS A BOOST no distortion at all from the pedal. That's how they did it. And it is special. It's tight, it's aggressive and crunchs hard. No other pedal has that magic in my opinion.
I think by “they”, you’re referring to the old Swedish death metal bands of the 80’s. In which case, they actually used the HM-2 Heavy Metal distortion pedal. (The Metal Zone wasn’t out yet.) But I do agree with you. There are good tones to be had, depending on what your tastes might be. I don’t hate it.
Definitely sounds better as a preamp than as a distortion pedal. Maybe they were working on it right as rack gear was falling out of favor and opted to just make it a distortion pedal without much tweaking.
Saw this one and I just tried it through my old ss pa system. There is a noticable difference. Sounded more like a proper distortion pedal. I'm going to try it with my 5150 combo when it's not the middle of the night and hear it at volume. Might actually use the thing after only hooking it up for a quick laugh once in a while.
Lol i started using my broken metalzon again after seeing ola englunds vid. It sounds so much clearer and smoother through the effects loop of my old fenderfm212R.im actually getting decent metal tones now lol
Well in my opinion..Boss Mt2 is for amp that has no drive/dist, but if you had a tube amp you need only Overdrive like Boss Sd or Od..and yes i agree using Mt2 as a preamp in that situation.
It really depends on what amp you have. Some amps like a Peavey have a fairly flat response in the preamp section, and so does a Marshall TSL. That's why those are pretty easy to use with pedals. I have no idea what you are playing through, but it probably has to do with the amp you use. I have used a Metal Zone as part of my rig since 1997 and it's never been in anything but the FX loop or power amp input if one was available. If used with an amp head or combo with a separate power amp input the neat thing is that you basically get an extra channel if you use an AB box. Just use a Boss GEQ7 at the end which is always switched on, and you basically have and extra clean channel you can run pedals to.
never crank on the distortion on it thats why it sounds bad. keep it at around 2 or 3 o clock and keep the Level at 12. also you gotta screw with the equalizer a lot to get it to sound good. just my experiences
I’ve never even tried a Metal Zone before, but I use this same setup with the old DOD FX-86B Death Metal distortion and the result is basically the same. Through a clean channel it’s pretty unusable but through a Marshall DSL effects return it’s night and day! Not my go to distortion but I still go back to it once in awhile to mix things up! I’ve also heard really good things about a clean boosted Metal Zone through an effects loop return as well. Cool video, thanks!
Nice demonstration. You just plugged it in and started jamming without tweaking the pedal. In the effects loop you had a good tone! Would have liked to see you adjust the gain and what not but over all good video.
Thanks to Ola Englund, this video is suddenly getting some traction again. When I originally recorded it, the point was just to show the difference between running it through the front vs. into the effects loop without touching ANYTHING else. I may do another one where I tweak some knobs since it’s suddenly a popular topic again.
I have been using it in front of the amp distortion on 0 level up to 6 or 7 cut down the lower mids and 5 on the upper mids works well as a boost to the gain of of my dsl 20 head
Sadly my Secret is now out. I’ve been given the MZ-2 for years on guitar trades & deals always being ask why. I’ve been taking them to a Shop on the N.Side of Chicago & having them re-voiced. Dumble, Solodano, Bogner, Mesa, all a Pre-Amp achieved w/a donor BOSS MT-2. Check out Johnny at Alchemy Audio in the Fort Knox Studio Complex.👍🏼
I have a fender deluxe 85 redknob and using my metalzone this way makes that amp sound 10 times better than into the clean channel or the dirty or the both channel. My DS-1 not so much though.
I have hooked all my distortion pedals through a 35 watt mini floor solid state power amp into a 2x12, and they all sound like a high gain amp head and better than my 6505 Peavey mini head...used an egnator black metal, a blackstar ht metal, my modded metal zones and the rocktron zombie, even a boss ds 1 being boosted by an sd1 .....one thing that will help as far as pedals as preamps go, is to use a graphic eq pedal after the distortion, works great for presence and depth controls
So, have you ever used a Marshall Jackhammer Distortion/Overdrive pedal? I have one that I thought smoked the Metal Zone. I bought mine at a flea market for $20 and haven't really seen any in any kind of music store. They're listed on Amazon new for $95 or $40-50ish used. It had the benefit of being an overdrive and distortion pedal by just clicking a dial switch on the front. Might be an idea for a future video for you.
When you quote someone else, you should remember to give them credit. Those are Ola Englund's word's, not yours. ua-cam.com/video/nxRe99Tjlwg/v-deo.html
I would like to see a video of the same experiment with variations on the EQ and Gain. With the Gain dimed on both instances it would be nice to see what the EQ and less gain can do in the front and in the return of the Fx loop. I always ran my MT2 with about 1/3 to half the gain in the front of an almost breaking up amp and had decent tone. Still have to try the Fx loop though. Cheers and good work.
Aloha, I just watched and then I tried it out with my Boss Metal Zone hooked up the exact way you did ,Marshall DSL 20 and my Marshall AVT150 with effect loop with mix and volume master both sounded better through fx loop , i think the Metal zone is for solid state amps and for tube we go thru the Effects loop ,,Cool ,,Thanks for the Lesson ,I love it,
I have a redknob deluxe 85 fender which is solid state, the pedal sounds garbage in the front, I never used it till trying this and it sounds SOOOO much better. I dont know if its an effects loop, it has a power amp in and a pre amp out. It sounds great in there and terrible in the clean or dirty channel.
In my humble opinion: Use the Metal Zone dialed in for Mesa-ish crunch (gain pulled way back) and something like a Super Overdrive for boost in the B loop of a Boss Line Selector for crunch and lead and the something like a Blues Driver in loop A for a warm clean. Run the Line Selector into a Super Chorus and Delay for ambience and modulation. That can feed something like a Seymour Duncan Powerblock and cab. Boom. Entire amp rig on a pedal board with quick flexibility to swap out a pedal for a different tone for a different musical application and, again, in my humble opinion having played shows with a similar rig, it'll sound fine!
Yep, you sure can. Run your first cable guitar -> Metal Zone input, and your second cable Metal Zone output -> Power Amp In on the Blues Deluxe. Good luck!
It is not a bad pedal. That is how amps sounded back then. It reminds me of Accept's " Balls to the Wall" song or Judas Priests "You Got Another Thing Coming" song.
Best video on metal zone on you tube. I too bought it in 92. Best distortion so far, beats MXR Distortion, and better than the Marshall dsl40c distortion which is good but needs a boost. Any ideas how to boost it up?
If an overdrive pedal through the front won’t get it done for you (honestly, this sounds like a job for the Horizon Devices Precision Drive designed in collaboration with Misha Mansoor), then I’d try either a boost pedal like the TC Electronic Spark, Spark Mini, or Pigtronix Class A Boost. Or now that I think about, probably the best thing you could hit it with would be an MXR 10-Band EQ (you can boost the gain but keep the level where you want it). And minus the overdrive pedals, don’t be afraid to try running any of these in the effects loop for some different results, as well. Good luck man!
It could just be that dust has gotten inside of the jacks. Blow it out with some canned air. If that doesn't do it, open it up via the screws on the bottom side and air it out. Also hit the potentiometers with some De-Ox It contact cleaner. Dust accumulating in these areas are usually the culprits for scratchy noises. If the problem still persists, you may have a cold solder joint or two or three that needs to be touched up.
I have a Metal Zone and am really wanting to get me a Maxon Overdrive. I've been struggling for over 25+ years to find the right combination for killer destructive metal tone. Why a Maxon pedal simple the guys in Suffocation, Hate Eternal and Belphegor use Maxon.
Word to the wise, its not simply a Maxon overdrive that gives that sound. Those guys all use that overdrive pedal as a boost in front of a high gain or already dirty amp. The same would apply if you put it before your Metal Zone. On the Maxon, turn the overdrive down, volume all the way up, and set tone where you'd like it and it "boosts" the guitar signal in to the pedal helping the sound to stay tight and articulate.
I have an OD808 which I use as a clean boost for a Bugera 333xl infinium (which is the cheap as shit amp I use for gigging that sounds killer and just refuses to die) and a 5150 (which stays in my studio). I've never used it for the distortion sound.
And if you want to kick it up a notch. Guitar - Dyna Comp - AB box(A into preamp in B into chain going to FX return) - MXR 108S(Master EQ) - MT2 - Carbon Copy - GE-7(lead boost) - Joyo JF-38 at +35db(Master level boost) - Volume pedal - Return. This gives you a complete extra channel to play with which can be both clean and dirty, all while still being able to run into the amp like normal using the AB selector.
I really think goin tho the preamp is making it more useful for sure and would prob be a good alternative to a heavier sound on a fenderish/vox clean amp.
The difference when running the pedal through the FX Return was almost not noticeable because you had the volume on the pedal way too low. The pedal was super quiet compared to the clean sound.
I imagine why so many people hated the metalzone was because they had to be metal and it's not metal if you don't turn everything up to its highest setting and it sounds like a beehive just fell on your head. Then there's bands like Placebo who just got it. The frontman plays with one, the bassist/guitarist has a bass pedal version and a guitar one. They dialed in their settings a bit differently, didn't bother shredding or chugging, and guess what, they were one of the not just the best sounding bands in Europe but they became one of the biggest alternative bands in Europe. Two decades later they've still remained relevant over there playing stadiums and making records. (You may not have heard of them because they completely ignored the west and instead tour around paris, spain and other countries over on the other side of the pond.) There's no doubting this pedal's power.
One question. If metal zone is intended to be a pre-amp, can I plug it in into my audio interface ( which has no pre amp to jacks ) without using after some amp plugins?
Overall it does imo - if your power supply is good. I measured it once, and it likes amps. That's also why it eats batteries like there's no tomorrow. Give it a good 6-12v PSU and it will deliver.
Have always been a huge fan of metal zone .. just like you when they first came out I got one .. it was the VERY best pedal for metal .. long story short . I have two now .. I run a looper .. so in one of my loops I use a boss eq before the metal zone to add a lil bit more gain and adjust the eq to help thicken it up for a lil more sustain on leads .. I run an aby box to two Mesa boogies in the front .. it's a killer sounding rig at any volume .. metal zones are awesome pedals .. can't convince me any different .. let the haters hate ..
Hi buddy, he mentioned in the video that modern distortion pedals are better than this one, what would you say the best pedal is now and what sort of amp is best to use it with? I have one and I’m using it with a Crate GT 212 through the effects loop with a ESP LTD Snakebyte, I have a Jackson Rhodes also with Duncan designed pickups, it sounds ok I think but not as good as these guys on Utube make it sound, any suggestions? Cheers
2:18 - I was not expecting that & the reaction was great 😂 Edit: My cousin gave me that pedal years ago & I never used it because of the sound. I still have it packed away so now I'm going to look for it and try it as a preamp. Thanks, definitely subscribing.
Also look at the metal zone videos by Lasse Lammert. He uses it as a boost with great results... but the way to use the EQ is to cut the harsh frequencies instead of boosting.
It sounded great in the return loop. There’s few distortion pedals that sound good going straight in the front, all overdrive sound good in front of amp, but with distortion, it’s a hit or miss. Even the boutique pedals, ( I collect pedals). They’re just too hot. Ive heard pedals sound awesome in one amps and totally crap in another amp. With a lot of amps you also have control of presence and resonance going through the loop, giving you additional control. My favourite was using. Boogie Mk3, you also had the Boogie EQ going through the loop. What I personally use is, I have a line mixer going into a Velocity 300 watt guitar power amp, with presence and resonance, an MXR 10 band EQ in the mixer loop, into a Boogie 4x12. I run my pedals through that and they all sound awesome, boutique or cheap. Even the DS1, and the MetalMuff, which is another hated pedal sounds absolutely amazing like this, overdrive for boost and tightness, and all I can say is wow. No preamp coloration problems or fried treble response.
I remember this pedal. Some good tones if one takes time to dial it in (better than the HM2 i finally gave away). Not a fan of effect loops but in this case, its not even close. Sounds good.
@@RobertWJackson I was just making sure :D I'm playing for about half a year, but i'm not into electronic stuff so i wanted to ask. Cheers and thanks for the quick answer!
WOW, what a difference. I own a Metal Zone, if eq'ed right it can sound pretty damn good in front to of the amp but... I will try this into the send and see what happens. Interesting review. I'll be boch!
You have the distortion all the way up. NEVER HAVE THE DISTORTION ALL THE WAY UP! I rarely go past 12 o'clock. The most distortion I've ever used is 6.5. Years later I dialed it back to 5.5 and these days I set it right down the middle. The new Waza Metal Zone is killer!
Thanks for Subscribing, glad you enjoyed it! No, when you run this pedal or ANY pedal into an amp’s Return, you are effectively bypassing the amp’s preamp section altogether, replacing it with the pedal itself, so the knobs on the amp become useless at that point. Even the volume control won’t do anything.
What if you have an amptweker tight metal in return of amp that has an effects loop, so that when you inactivate the distortion the effects loop activates the drive pedal? I am really interested in this. And great video Robert. I reallyy dig those MT sounds.
I’ve never tried running and Amptweaker in an effects loop just because it’s already got THREE effects loops built into it itself. Seems a little overkill to me.
but it has one effects loop in lead, one in rhythm, and one when pedal is bypassed. So you could have delay going on when you switch to clean or any pedal for clean, and even a slight delay for lead channel for the solos! So its a win win. you dont even need to use the effects loops.
I think I see what you’re trying to do. I’m not sure it would work though - unless you continued to use the Amptweaker’s effects loops - because you still wouldn’t have anything plugged into the Send input of the effects loop like you normally would.
1) in THAT guy's video you heard exactly what you get after recording guitar with mic (in his situation mic and cab was replaced with cab impulse) and no post-processing. He also did double-tracked guitars and put in context. 2) I, in general, don't like distortion pedals in amps clean channel for the exact reason, but still, MT-2 EQ is so powerful that it can sound good on a clean channel, the only problem is that user requires good ear to set according to a situation (and not look for most stupid preset settings). 3) I think you should work a bit on micing speaker because even clean guitar in clean channel sounded off. Sound from power-section sounded kinda ok because it got bass it was lacking.
Anyone using the MT2 as a buffer only and keeping it on bypass mode? I have a ME80 and Ddrop then i bought a MT2 and place it in between, the sound become clear any idea?
It probably has something to do with the buffered bypass. A lot of people will use a TU-2 or TU-3 specifically for this purpose. (And also because they’re good tuner pedals.)
I watched a video (by Colin from CS Guitars) how to mod this pedal. It involved replacing some resistors with different values, eliminating some resistors all together and a few other tweaks. All in all, a very straight forward mod that anyone who's competent with a soldering iron should be able to do in a few hours. The difference was astounding. It really removed that fizzy top end that makes it so harsh, it gave the EQ a whole new curve and basically made it pleasing to the ear. Also, how you set this pedals controls is critical to good tone. First rule: Back off that gain knob to about 2. Then tailor the EQ to the amp you're using and the room and whatever style you're attempting to play. But with the vast amount of high gain pedals in the market today, just go find one you like. The TC Electronics Dark Matter is a killer metal pedal for $50.
It is unfair to A/B compare the same pedal settings with and without an external EQ (preamp)because the variable is not the pedal. In the front end of the preamp, you have to adjust your pedal's EQ to work with the clean sound you've set up in the preamp. In the loop return you skip the preamp EQ and the only EQ is the pedal. So your have to set up the pedal accordingly. But then you also have no control over the clean sound...
Having control over the clean sound is irrelevant in this particular instance. The entire point of the video was to showcase what the Metal Zone sounds like when used as a preamp versus running it through an amp’s front end.
Run it through the preamp? Just run it into the front end where you normally plug your guitar into. If you want the Metal Zone ITSELF to act as the preamp, then run it into the Return jack of the effects loop of any amp.
I've always read it could harm your amp ,plugging it into the fx return. The other thing is , you can't use your amp settings anymore, why would people do this? On top of all that , how do you connect other pedals ?
It won’t harm your amp at all, that’s a ridiculous notion. All your doing is bypassing the amp’s preamp section. Hence why most of the amp’s controls don’t do anything when you’re running it this way - the Metal Zone becomes the preamp as the signal path is now going straight into the power amp section. If you want to run other pedals, you connect them in series the same way you would if you were running them into the front of the amp.
Honestly I didn’t even mess with the controls at all. Haven’t played this pedal in years before shooting this video. I just grabbed it off the shelf and plugged it in. The settings aren’t that point of the video anyway.
Love the Zone, always have. Always will.
To be fair, any pedal would sound bad with the treble and gain at max. I did think it sounded way better through the effects loop though.
The HM-2 sounds incredibly with treble and gain maxed
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I use the metal zone connected to the pre-amplified part of the amplifier. The sound that it gets is much cleaner, precise and full-bodied.
Metal zone and a eq got me thru the 90s. Loved every minute.
Use mine going straight into the amp and back off distortion knob.....sounds great. If you know how to.dial it in, great pedal.
Exactly. Mine has distortion at 2 o'clock max, more than enough. I also plug in straight, took some time to eq it correctly and am good to go. I don't get the hate for this pedal.
I've had this pedal since 2002... It still works for me. Playing it through a Crate stealth 50 what 412 cab.
I saw Ola Englund's demo before yours, but all of you UA-camrs who tried the MT-2 on the FX loop return definitely gave this pedal a fresh breath of life.
So to those wanting to sell, throw away, or put back their MT-2 pedals in their closets to gather dust: if your amp has an FX loop, PLUG YOUR MT-2 THERE
It will change your life
Ola just posted his video recently, and he seems to agree with me. His sounded killer
And I happen to agree with you both!
Great video by the way. You guys helped me keep my MT2 than sell it haha. Cheers!
I just tried in the loop and sound s great
Ola RULES!!! And yes his video made me want to get a metal zone again
I've used the MT-2 since the mid 90's and it's a regular on my board. I run it straight into the front of my JCM2000 TSL100. I use it through the clean channel for playing lead. I use the "crunch" channel on the amp for rhythm and never use the "lead" channel because it's not much different than the crunch channel. Before the Marshall, I used it through a SS Fender amp and it did the job and back then, I couldn't afford to go shopping for more pedals than the one's I already had so, to me, it sounded great. I've tried a tube screamer on the crunch channel but, it just sounds like I'm on a runway at the airport, if you know what I mean? I don't get why people constantly sh*t on the MT-2 because everyone I knew owned one. That EQ totally makes the difference with this pedal!
Thanks for the video about this pedal, its a good pedal, ive had mine since 1999 and still use it now and then, thanks
i also bought a MT-2 in 92 and played it through a cheap clean solid state amp (actually a fender bxr300 bass amp) and it rocked . gigged and recorded with it . it was sweet as
You're still using it wrong. You're supposed to boost the bass and cut the mids all way with the gain on full. Then you need to run it through a 15 watt Line 6 Spider on the insane setting. The "insane" setting is the key here. That's what gives it its master tone. And you can only play with a Squier Telecaster with single coil pickups. No other pedals are allowed in the circuit. Only a Squier Telecaster into the pedal into the input of the Line 6 Spider. And you can't use a noise gate, that blocks all the tone.
LOL That’s exactly the OPPOSITE of the point of this video, but the inexperienced players who do this are the reason why the Metal Zone is hated as much as it is. LOL
Metalzone and Line6 spider. The two most used guitar gear used in memes
Huh? What the... Its medication time for you Christopher. Very good...nice and slow, swollow and sip and.....
ALL THE GAIN
NO MIDS
METAL ZONE
SLAYERRRR
Haha you made my day !! Epic :)
(Brace for repetitions from another video.)
Back in October 2001, I procured a Scholz Research & Development Rockman X100. It was great having the 80s Boston tones at my fingertips, but the amp itself was not compatible or ergonomically user-friendly. I basically spent the following 17 years longing for another way to loosely emulate that tone, not realizing the solution was under my nose the whole time. The secret is to have a clean amp channel and have this pedal, the MT2, dial back the gain control to someplace between 3 or 4, put all three EQ controls just right of noon and get your volume level of choice.
I’ve achieved my tone of choice with the MT2 emulator in my Boss ME-80. Good for both Boston or 80s Queen.
I guess you had another thing coming with that experiment. My old early 90s metal zone is gathering dust. Maybe I'll try this out just for fun.
I see what you did there.
Just bought the Boss Waza MT-2 a week ago. I bought my first MT-2 in 1994 and ran it straight thru the front in out jack.
Well, I now run my Boss Waza Craft MT-2 into the effects loop passing the preamp and it sounds like a Friedman, Bogner or Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. I also run a Boss CH-1 Chorus pedal and a Boss DD-7 Digital Delay thru the effects loop and it's sounds amazing. And I'm a tone stickler and it sounds killer from my '79 Les Paul 'Silverburst ' into a JC-95 Jerry Cantrell Wah.
Yep, it’s a killer pedal man. I love mine and I use it all the time. Mine has made several appearances in other videos since this one.
@@RobertWJackson Boss pedals are built like a tank, It'll probably last you another 20 years mate! ☺
I’m sure it will last me a lot longer than that. I bought my first Metal Zone in 1991, I think, whatever year it was they came out. I still have it, I’ve never had ONE problem with it, and it still works fine. I have an old DF-2 Super Feedbacker & Distortion from about 1984 or so. Also still works just fine. I had a CE-5 on my pedalboard that was literally on it for 15 years. When I finally decided to take it off and replace it with something else, it still works fine. We STILL don’t know what the lifespan of a Boss pedal really is because they been made since the 70’s and NONE OF THEM have died yet.
@@RobertWJackson that CE-5 Chorus pedal is another excellent pedal, especially for clean sounds. I always used the baby blue colored CH-1 Chorus pedal. In my opinion, Boss makes the best pedals by far, in strength and sound quality.
I use a Metal Zone in front of my JCM 2000 + 4X12 1960A and it sounds sick! just keep tweaking the knobs until it sounds killer!
That'd be something to hear. I do wonder though, does the JCM2000's Ultra gain channel not give you the tone you want, and you use the Metal Zone for distortion instead? Unless of course you want the options of both pedal and amp distortion, which I can relate to. 🤘
The JCM 2000 is probably the easiest amp to put pedals in front of. Unfortunately that also tells us something about why the amp itself sounds the way it does.
just adjust treble on 0, 7 o'clock. do whatever eq, drive equalization. best pedal ever.
You can achieve the same tone from example 1 and example 2...
And even a much better tone if you adjust the peddel correctly.
All peddels add a couple watts to your signal so it is all ready a pre amp. Little as it is, it is.
I've actually considered using a Metal Zone with a Graphic EQ or a clean boost in front of the pedal to tighten things up enough for recording tight, articulate Death Metal riffs.
Yup, I use it the whole time with a boss SD1.
This is how I use it as well, as a preamp(well through 1 of my amps). Let me explain. I play 80's metal. My rig consists of guitar through a Boss Gt6. The GT6 has the metal zone distortion built in, but it doesn't have the 4 band eq that the pedal has. I have the pedal hooked into the GT6 as my distortion. I'm using a Fender Twin clean preamp tone from the GT6. Out from the GT6 I go on the right out to the effects return of my Marshall DSL 100 head. Left out of GT6, I go straight into the input of my JCM 900 4100 head. I don't use the effects return of the 900 because I have a rack BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer going into that send and return(the 900 really comes alive with the bbe in loop).
I also have the GT6 delay panned to give my amps the stereo sound. It sounds so thick and heavy. It's the sound I just love. Yeah, my setup is old and outdated(like me..ha ha), but it makes the heavy thick distorted wall of sound of the 80s metal sound I love. I've used that setup on 3 CD's I've done guest appearances on.
great final thoughts man.
Not sure if this was mentioned, or if you've seen the videos...but, Kirk Windstein from Crowbar uses only a tuner and a Metal Zone into a solid state amp, and has for years. But, he uses it as a clean boost in front of the amp (not in effects loop). So, level all the way up, distortion all the way down, all EQ settings at noon...I like his tone, but to each his own. He mentions that he knows that most people think that the Metal Zone sucks. He used to play Randall RG100ES heads and, just recently, switched to Orange CR120 i believe.
bnoyz3 seen them 3 times and every time he had 2 Mesa dual rectifier heads and 4 4x12 cabs. he probably has used solid state but not at the show's here.
I can't figure out how the Internet made it trendy to hate the Metal Zone so much?
I’ve wondered the same things many, many times myself. If you were a teenage metal guitar player in the 90’s, most likely that was your distortion. Most of those guys may not want to admit it, but it’s Boss’ second-best selling pedal EVER for a reason.
Robert's Guitar Dungeon yup. I still use mine, it's a staple of 90's death metal. USED AS A BOOST no distortion at all from the pedal. That's how they did it. And it is special. It's tight, it's aggressive and crunchs hard. No other pedal has that magic in my opinion.
I think by “they”, you’re referring to the old Swedish death metal bands of the 80’s. In which case, they actually used the HM-2 Heavy Metal distortion pedal. (The Metal Zone wasn’t out yet.) But I do agree with you. There are good tones to be had, depending on what your tastes might be. I don’t hate it.
If you guys didn’t see the video that went live today yet, I can’t wait for what I’m going to demo next!
Because, it is a bad investment. So it costs money and time. It's like rooting for the home team at a football game. Yeah, team Metal Zone sucks!
Definitely sounds better as a preamp than as a distortion pedal. Maybe they were working on it right as rack gear was falling out of favor and opted to just make it a distortion pedal without much tweaking.
Saw this one and I just tried it through my old ss pa system. There is a noticable difference. Sounded more like a proper distortion pedal. I'm going to try it with my 5150 combo when it's not the middle of the night and hear it at volume. Might actually use the thing after only hooking it up for a quick laugh once in a while.
Lol i started using my broken metalzon again after seeing ola englunds vid. It sounds so much clearer and smoother through the effects loop of my old fenderfm212R.im actually getting decent metal tones now lol
Well in my opinion..Boss Mt2 is for amp that has no drive/dist, but if you had a tube amp you need only Overdrive like Boss Sd or Od..and yes i agree using Mt2 as a preamp in that situation.
It's funny because the way his metalzone sounded plugged into his fx loop is exactly the way mine sounds plugged straight into the clean channel
It really depends on what amp you have. Some amps like a Peavey have a fairly flat response in the preamp section, and so does a Marshall TSL. That's why those are pretty easy to use with pedals. I have no idea what you are playing through, but it probably has to do with the amp you use. I have used a Metal Zone as part of my rig since 1997 and it's never been in anything but the FX loop or power amp input if one was available. If used with an amp head or combo with a separate power amp input the neat thing is that you basically get an extra channel if you use an AB box. Just use a Boss GEQ7 at the end which is always switched on, and you basically have and extra clean channel you can run pedals to.
never crank on the distortion on it thats why it sounds bad. keep it at around 2 or 3 o clock and keep the Level at 12. also you gotta screw with the equalizer a lot to get it to sound good. just my experiences
I’ve never even tried a Metal Zone before, but I use this same setup with the old DOD FX-86B Death Metal distortion and the result is basically the same. Through a clean channel it’s pretty unusable but through a Marshall DSL effects return it’s night and day! Not my go to distortion but I still go back to it once in awhile to mix things up! I’ve also heard really good things about a clean boosted Metal Zone through an effects loop return as well. Cool video, thanks!
MZ into amp input (first test) is like a fly or bee in a jar! Into amp return (second test) has good low end and sounds much better.
Great video man 👍
Nice demo 👍, I use my mt2 and plug into the fx loop (return) of my orange dark terror, really good distortion sound and have gain that i need
This is the kind of useful stuff UA-cam is great for. I use that same pedal and have never tried that. Great Video!!!
Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it.
Nice demonstration. You just plugged it in and started jamming without tweaking the pedal. In the effects loop you had a good tone! Would have liked to see you adjust the gain and what not but over all good video.
Thanks to Ola Englund, this video is suddenly getting some traction again. When I originally recorded it, the point was just to show the difference between running it through the front vs. into the effects loop without touching ANYTHING else. I may do another one where I tweak some knobs since it’s suddenly a popular topic again.
If not he can't proof that it will sound better in the f2f loop
I have been using it in front of the amp distortion on 0 level up to 6 or 7 cut down the lower mids and 5 on the upper mids works well as a boost to the gain of of my dsl 20 head
Try running it into the Return jack of the effects loop! Ola Englund recently did a video on this same topic, and he was shocked, as well.
I use it how Pat from Cannibal showed me. Works for me.
Sadly my Secret is now out. I’ve been given the MZ-2 for years on guitar trades & deals always being ask why. I’ve been taking them to a Shop on the N.Side of Chicago & having them re-voiced. Dumble, Solodano, Bogner, Mesa, all a Pre-Amp achieved w/a donor BOSS MT-2. Check out Johnny at Alchemy Audio in the Fort Knox Studio Complex.👍🏼
Whats the name of the shop?
Your secret? I've been using the MT-2 followed by a GE-7 since the mid 90's in front of either tube power amps or just in the fx return.
I have a fender deluxe 85 redknob and using my metalzone this way makes that amp sound 10 times better than into the clean channel or the dirty or the both channel. My DS-1 not so much though.
I have hooked all my distortion pedals through a 35 watt mini floor solid state power amp into a 2x12, and they all sound like a high gain amp head and better than my 6505 Peavey mini head...used an egnator black metal, a blackstar ht metal, my modded metal zones and the rocktron zombie, even a boss ds 1 being boosted by an sd1 .....one thing that will help as far as pedals as preamps go, is to use a graphic eq pedal after the distortion, works great for presence and depth controls
So, have you ever used a Marshall Jackhammer Distortion/Overdrive pedal? I have one that I thought smoked the Metal Zone. I bought mine at a flea market for $20 and haven't really seen any in any kind of music store. They're listed on Amazon new for $95 or $40-50ish used. It had the benefit of being an overdrive and distortion pedal by just clicking a dial switch on the front. Might be an idea for a future video for you.
I’ve actually never played through one of those, though I have been curious. I may try one out one of these days.
it sounds broken when going through the input jack of the front of the amp. Putting it through the effects loop makes it sound fuller and meaty.
When you quote someone else, you should remember to give them credit.
Those are Ola Englund's word's, not yours.
ua-cam.com/video/nxRe99Tjlwg/v-deo.html
I would like to see a video of the same experiment with variations on the EQ and Gain. With the Gain dimed on both instances it would be nice to see what the EQ and less gain can do in the front and in the return of the Fx loop. I always ran my MT2 with about 1/3 to half the gain in the front of an almost breaking up amp and had decent tone. Still have to try the Fx loop though. Cheers and good work.
Aloha, I just watched and then I tried it out with my Boss Metal Zone hooked up the exact way you did ,Marshall DSL 20 and my Marshall AVT150 with effect loop with mix and volume master both sounded better through fx loop , i think the Metal zone is for solid state amps and for tube we go thru the Effects loop ,,Cool ,,Thanks for the Lesson ,I love it,
I have a redknob deluxe 85 fender which is solid state, the pedal sounds garbage in the front, I never used it till trying this and it sounds SOOOO much better. I dont know if its an effects loop, it has a power amp in and a pre amp out. It sounds great in there and terrible in the clean or dirty channel.
In my humble opinion:
Use the Metal Zone dialed in for Mesa-ish crunch (gain pulled way back) and something like a Super Overdrive for boost in the B loop of a Boss Line Selector for crunch and lead and the something like a Blues Driver in loop A for a warm clean. Run the Line Selector into a Super Chorus and Delay for ambience and modulation. That can feed something like a Seymour Duncan Powerblock and cab. Boom. Entire amp rig on a pedal board with quick flexibility to swap out a pedal for a different tone for a different musical application and, again, in my humble opinion having played shows with a similar rig, it'll sound fine!
Yeah that’s nice and easy to remember and ten miles away from the question. Look at me guys. Pow
Wow, that does sound quite a bit better! I'll have to try that!
Beginner question: How do we hook up the pedal & input output cables to use it as a pre-amp?
Can I do that with my Fender Blues Deluxe amp?
Yep, you sure can. Run your first cable guitar -> Metal Zone input, and your second cable Metal Zone output -> Power Amp In on the Blues Deluxe. Good luck!
It is not a bad pedal. That is how amps sounded back then. It reminds me of Accept's " Balls to the Wall" song or Judas Priests "You Got Another Thing Coming" song.
My metal zone sounds great with a valvestate amp but horrible with my tube head sounds like if was different pedal
Best video on metal zone on you tube. I too bought it in 92. Best distortion so far, beats MXR Distortion, and better than the Marshall dsl40c distortion which is good but needs a boost. Any ideas how to boost it up?
If an overdrive pedal through the front won’t get it done for you (honestly, this sounds like a job for the Horizon Devices Precision Drive designed in collaboration with Misha Mansoor), then I’d try either a boost pedal like the TC Electronic Spark, Spark Mini, or Pigtronix Class A Boost. Or now that I think about, probably the best thing you could hit it with would be an MXR 10-Band EQ (you can boost the gain but keep the level where you want it). And minus the overdrive pedals, don’t be afraid to try running any of these in the effects loop for some different results, as well. Good luck man!
I bought mine in 1992. It's getting scratchy. How do I fix it?
It could just be that dust has gotten inside of the jacks. Blow it out with some canned air. If that doesn't do it, open it up via the screws on the bottom side and air it out. Also hit the potentiometers with some De-Ox It contact cleaner. Dust accumulating in these areas are usually the culprits for scratchy noises. If the problem still persists, you may have a cold solder joint or two or three that needs to be touched up.
I have a Metal Zone and am really wanting to get me a Maxon Overdrive. I've been struggling for over 25+ years to find the right combination for killer destructive metal tone. Why a Maxon pedal simple the guys in Suffocation, Hate Eternal and Belphegor use Maxon.
Word to the wise, its not simply a Maxon overdrive that gives that sound. Those guys all use that overdrive pedal as a boost in front of a high gain or already dirty amp. The same would apply if you put it before your Metal Zone. On the Maxon, turn the overdrive down, volume all the way up, and set tone where you'd like it and it "boosts" the guitar signal in to the pedal helping the sound to stay tight and articulate.
I have an OD808 which I use as a clean boost for a Bugera 333xl infinium (which is the cheap as shit amp I use for gigging that sounds killer and just refuses to die) and a 5150 (which stays in my studio). I've never used it for the distortion sound.
Haha I run my epiphone thru a metal zone on the effects loop on a fender fm100. Perfect for a punk band, lots of bottom end crunchy palm muting! 😎🤘
So, connection should be guitar-->MT2-->>return?
Correct.
And if you want to kick it up a notch. Guitar - Dyna Comp - AB box(A into preamp in B into chain going to FX return) - MXR 108S(Master EQ) - MT2 - Carbon Copy - GE-7(lead boost) - Joyo JF-38 at +35db(Master level boost) - Volume pedal - Return.
This gives you a complete extra channel to play with which can be both clean and dirty, all while still being able to run into the amp like normal using the AB selector.
First learned it here before Ola. Thanks man.
LOL Thanks man!
That definitely makes it sounds better. Maybe there's hope for it after all. :) Good video, man!
+Roast My Rig Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it.
I have a Metal zone only used once for 5 mins. I will have to look for it and give it a re try!! Thanks for sharing =)
Try it using this method. You’ll be shocked!
+ Vixen Vendetta
Saw you in Pomona a few years back before moving back to East Coast. Great show!
I really think goin tho the preamp is making it more useful for sure and would prob be a good alternative to a heavier sound on a fenderish/vox clean amp.
The difference when running the pedal through the FX Return was almost not noticeable because you had the volume on the pedal way too low. The pedal was super quiet compared to the clean sound.
I'm absolutely willing to concede that this pedal is cool as heck in other people's hands, and I'm Metal Zone illiterate.
Great video man.
Thanks man!
I imagine why so many people hated the metalzone was because they had to be metal and it's not metal if you don't turn everything up to its highest setting and it sounds like a beehive just fell on your head.
Then there's bands like Placebo who just got it. The frontman plays with one, the bassist/guitarist has a bass pedal version and a guitar one. They dialed in their settings a bit differently, didn't bother shredding or chugging, and guess what, they were one of the not just the best sounding bands in Europe but they became one of the biggest alternative bands in Europe. Two decades later they've still remained relevant over there playing stadiums and making records. (You may not have heard of them because they completely ignored the west and instead tour around paris, spain and other countries over on the other side of the pond.)
There's no doubting this pedal's power.
You have the most informative guitar page on Y/T. Thanks for all your work.
im glad didnt get rid of that pedal
just dont know how to set up i no amp lol an thank you for sharing robert
That's a good idea
This is how this pedal should be used . Its been known for a long time . And sounds great when plugged in the correct way
Brother, you have my respect and my like. Hugs from Brazil
Thank you brother, that means a lot!
One question. If metal zone is intended to be a pre-amp, can I plug it in into my audio interface ( which has no pre amp to jacks ) without using after some amp plugins?
Yep, you sure can. I do it all the time. Just make sure you’ve got an IR cab on the back end of the signal.
Would running your pedal on an AC adapter sound better than a 9V battery?
It may eliminate some RF interference introduced by the electrical wiring in the walls, but tonally it won’t change anything.
Overall it does imo - if your power supply is good. I measured it once, and it likes amps. That's also why it eats batteries like there's no tomorrow. Give it a good 6-12v PSU and it will deliver.
Have always been a huge fan of metal zone .. just like you when they first came out I got one .. it was the VERY best pedal for metal .. long story short . I have two now .. I run a looper .. so in one of my loops I use a boss eq before the metal zone to add a lil bit more gain and adjust the eq to help thicken it up for a lil more sustain on leads .. I run an aby box to two Mesa boogies in the front .. it's a killer sounding rig at any volume .. metal zones are awesome pedals .. can't convince me any different .. let the haters hate ..
Hi buddy, he mentioned in the video that modern distortion pedals are better than this one, what would you say the best pedal is now and what sort of amp is best to use it with? I have one and I’m using it with a Crate GT 212 through the effects loop with a ESP LTD Snakebyte, I have a Jackson Rhodes also with Duncan designed pickups, it sounds ok I think but not as good as these guys on Utube make it sound, any suggestions? Cheers
I got mine in the 90'$ also
I still have it
2:18 - I was not expecting that & the reaction was great 😂
Edit: My cousin gave me that pedal years ago & I never used it because of the sound. I still have it packed away so now I'm going to look for it and try it as a preamp. Thanks, definitely subscribing.
+TRON KNOWS Awesome, thank you so much! Your support truly means a lot to me. Glad you enjoyed it!
Also look at the metal zone videos by Lasse Lammert. He uses it as a boost with great results... but the way to use the EQ is to cut the harsh frequencies instead of boosting.
I’ll have to give that a shot, thanks!
Yup And even in front of the amp, if you eq it right, it can be very usable. Its got sooo much gain, its ashame to waist! all that gain!
even if you didn't like that, you could still sell it, they hold a lot of their value for some reason
I use mine as a distortion pedal into my dirty amp ...sounds great...
It sounded great in the return loop. There’s few distortion pedals that sound good going straight in the front, all overdrive sound good in front of amp, but with distortion, it’s a hit or miss. Even the boutique pedals, ( I collect pedals). They’re just too hot. Ive heard pedals sound awesome in one amps and totally crap in another amp. With a lot of amps you also have control of presence and resonance going through the loop, giving you additional control. My favourite was using. Boogie Mk3, you also had the Boogie EQ going through the loop. What I personally use is, I have a line mixer going into a Velocity 300 watt guitar power amp, with presence and resonance, an MXR 10 band EQ in the mixer loop, into a Boogie 4x12. I run my pedals through that and they all sound awesome, boutique or cheap. Even the DS1, and the MetalMuff, which is another hated pedal sounds absolutely amazing like this, overdrive for boost and tightness, and all I can say is wow. No preamp coloration problems or fried treble response.
I remember this pedal. Some good tones if one takes time to dial it in (better than the HM2 i finally gave away). Not a fan of effect loops but in this case, its not even close. Sounds good.
But will it sound good with a combo?
If it has an effects loop that you can run it into, I don’t see why it wouldn’t.
@@RobertWJackson I was just making sure :D
I'm playing for about half a year, but i'm not into electronic stuff so i wanted to ask.
Cheers and thanks for the quick answer!
lots of pedals have sweep able mids . maybe not the pedals you would see in GC , but they exist . how about the digitech df7 theres one for ya .
WOW, what a difference. I own a Metal Zone, if eq'ed right it can sound pretty damn good in front to of the amp but... I will try this into the send and see what happens. Interesting review. I'll be boch!
The FX return works a LOT better.
I've never used any pedals cause I'm a beginner but it does sound alot less disgusting as a preamp
You have the distortion all the way up. NEVER HAVE THE DISTORTION ALL THE WAY UP! I rarely go past 12 o'clock. The most distortion I've ever used is 6.5. Years later I dialed it back to 5.5 and these days I set it right down the middle. The new Waza Metal Zone is killer!
Woah, that's quite a difference. Subbed.
Although, in case you are plugged in the 'Return', can you use the amp's equalizer on the clean channel?
Thanks for Subscribing, glad you enjoyed it! No, when you run this pedal or ANY pedal into an amp’s Return, you are effectively bypassing the amp’s preamp section altogether, replacing it with the pedal itself, so the knobs on the amp become useless at that point. Even the volume control won’t do anything.
What if you have an amptweker tight metal in return of amp that has an effects loop, so that when you inactivate the distortion the effects loop activates the drive pedal? I am really interested in this. And great video Robert. I reallyy dig those MT sounds.
I’ve never tried running and Amptweaker in an effects loop just because it’s already got THREE effects loops built into it itself. Seems a little overkill to me.
but it has one effects loop in lead, one in rhythm, and one when pedal is bypassed. So you could have delay going on when you switch to clean or any pedal for clean, and even a slight delay for lead channel for the solos! So its a win win. you dont even need to use the effects loops.
I think I see what you’re trying to do. I’m not sure it would work though - unless you continued to use the Amptweaker’s effects loops - because you still wouldn’t have anything plugged into the Send input of the effects loop like you normally would.
1) in THAT guy's video you heard exactly what you get after recording guitar with mic (in his situation mic and cab was replaced with cab impulse) and no post-processing. He also did double-tracked guitars and put in context.
2) I, in general, don't like distortion pedals in amps clean channel for the exact reason, but still, MT-2 EQ is so powerful that it can sound good on a clean channel, the only problem is that user requires good ear to set according to a situation (and not look for most stupid preset settings).
3) I think you should work a bit on micing speaker because even clean guitar in clean channel sounded off. Sound from power-section sounded kinda ok because it got bass it was lacking.
+NeZversTutorials Awesome, thanks for the feedback! I admit I didn’t focus much on adjusting the gain levels on my 4-track.
Anyone using the MT2 as a buffer only and keeping it on bypass mode? I have a ME80 and Ddrop then i bought a MT2 and place it in between, the sound become clear any idea?
It probably has something to do with the buffered bypass. A lot of people will use a TU-2 or TU-3 specifically for this purpose. (And also because they’re good tuner pedals.)
Absolutely big difference I'd find one of those...
Does any distortion pedal sound good with the treble and gain on 10 and the mids on 0?
🤷🏻♂️
This is the best, nicest "Dungeon" I've ever seen. I guess I'm a 'Masochist' for nice music?
🥰
How is that set up to run as a preamp again? I would love to try that with mine. Thank you.
Thank you!
I watched a video (by Colin from CS Guitars) how to mod this pedal. It involved replacing some resistors with different values, eliminating some resistors all together and a few other tweaks. All in all, a very straight forward mod that anyone who's competent with a soldering iron should be able to do in a few hours. The difference was astounding. It really removed that fizzy top end that makes it so harsh, it gave the EQ a whole new curve and basically made it pleasing to the ear. Also, how you set this pedals controls is critical to good tone. First rule: Back off that gain knob to about 2. Then tailor the EQ to the amp you're using and the room and whatever style you're attempting to play. But with the vast amount of high gain pedals in the market today, just go find one you like. The TC Electronics Dark Matter is a killer metal pedal for $50.
He made a Diezel mod on the metal zone
It is unfair to A/B compare the same pedal settings with and without an external EQ (preamp)because the variable is not the pedal.
In the front end of the preamp, you have to adjust your pedal's EQ to work with the clean sound you've set up in the preamp.
In the loop return you skip the preamp EQ and the only EQ is the pedal. So your have to set up the pedal accordingly. But then you also have no control over the clean sound...
Having control over the clean sound is irrelevant in this particular instance. The entire point of the video was to showcase what the Metal Zone sounds like when used as a preamp versus running it through an amp’s front end.
I like it.
🤘🏼
Is it possible to run this pedal through the preamp on a peavey decade 80s? If so how would you do it? Asking for a friend who recently got that amp
Run it through the preamp? Just run it into the front end where you normally plug your guitar into. If you want the Metal Zone ITSELF to act as the preamp, then run it into the Return jack of the effects loop of any amp.
On his amp there’s no fx loop, and his had a “preamp” plug-in. We just ran it through the front and it sounded fine.
Maybe it never should been a surprise due to the EQ setup.
has anyone tried this with the hm2?
I don’t know if anybody has done a UA-cam video about it, but it would have to improve the sound of that pedal, as well. LOL
Yes, see video in the following link, about 4.06 in the video. One of the best tones in that video. 🤘 ua-cam.com/video/779VEb2ambc/v-deo.html
Holy crap, I've been using it wrong for years!
I know, right???
I've always read it could harm your amp ,plugging it into the fx return. The other thing is , you can't use your amp settings anymore, why would people do this? On top of all that , how do you connect other pedals ?
It won’t harm your amp at all, that’s a ridiculous notion. All your doing is bypassing the amp’s preamp section. Hence why most of the amp’s controls don’t do anything when you’re running it this way - the Metal Zone becomes the preamp as the signal path is now going straight into the power amp section. If you want to run other pedals, you connect them in series the same way you would if you were running them into the front of the amp.
@@RobertWJackson oh wow ok ,, that great to know , so now I have some options ,, thank you very much
Its an awesome pedal
It most definitely is.
Hey, that it is how it normally sounds!! 2:21
You got another thing coming! Nice one bro
I wish you should your amp settings when you ran it as a distortion pedal
Why?
Wow! Substantial difference...for the better. Easier than modifying the pedal. Nice dungeon as well.
+Groove Duude Thank you sir! I very much appreciate your kind words!
Gain on full? You really don't know how to use MetalZone
Honestly I didn’t even mess with the controls at all. Haven’t played this pedal in years before shooting this video. I just grabbed it off the shelf and plugged it in. The settings aren’t that point of the video anyway.