The Metal Zone: Is it really a pre-amp?
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- The Boss Metal Zone... one of the worlds most loved and most hated on distortions. However, many of my fellow youtubers have considered the idea that perhaps it's actually meant to be a pre-amp. Maybe it's meant to run into the effects loop rather than the input of the amp. Then again, maybe not. I discuss this and more in the video. Plus we change out some frequency response curves, discussing why it may or may not actually work better in the effects loop. Or the input.
Comment below with your thoughts on which way you thought it sounded best!
Link mentioned:
modyourownpeda...
The Boss Metal Zone... one of the worlds most loved and most hated on distortions. However, many of my fellow youtubers have considered the idea that perhaps it's actually meant to be a pre-amp. Maybe it's meant to run into the effects loop rather than the input of the amp. Then again, maybe not. I discuss this and more in the video. Plus we change out some frequency response curves, discussing why it may or may not actually work better in the effects loop. Or the input.
Comment below with your thoughts on which way you thought it sounded best!
Link mentioned:
modyourownpedal.com/collections/books
Tbh i just bought it and put on my board for the meme.
This and miku stomp.
Hmmm i need another meme pedal tho any thougjt
When you mod a pedal does it change the mV's of the pedal? I've got a Indyguitarist modded CH-1 and wonder about this pedal's mV's needs. I got a Meat and 3 modded Soul Food and don't know the mV's actually needed. How would someone who don't know or even understand most this technical talk figure this out on all the modded pedals I got.
sparkyguitar 00 the simplest way would be to actually measure how much current it draws using a multimeter.
Companies have made SS pre, tube power amps for years especially peavey. How is running a drive pedal into an EQ into an fx loop not just the same as that kind of amp? Is there any point to doing this other than bypassing the preamp tubes you paid extra for?
It's on my board in the effects loop. It sounds great for a certain flavor of tone. I don't use it often but it's useful.
"Sweep the mids"
"But Sensei..."
"SWEEP THE MIDS! ALL THE GAIN!"
"You have a problem with that?"
😂 you win the internet today Sir🤘🏽. Thanks for making my morning brighter 😂
I hope you're all watching Cobra Kai. It's the best thing on TV right now.
@@vubear just finished it last night on the Netflixes.
@@clugokillscluco I ate the whole thing in 2 sittings. I hate myself right now
The pink noise generator is a genius idea. This might help me better understand why some pedals seem to work better than others with my amps. I honestly never considered how a mid humped pedal into a mid humped amp could just be difficult to dial tones in, because I honestly never thought to find out the frequency response of my amps.
Thanks Brian.
ThatPedalShow did a good video on this a few years back. I never understood why my Tube Screamer sounded so terrible when everyone said it was amazing. Turns out, Blackstar amps are already.... Tube Screamer-ish.
@@kibbles1053 They AREN'T ALL 'that'!
Technically, any boost, drive, distortion and fuzz is a preamp. They're made up of an amplifier stage or stages, typically have some kind of EQ, and they’re always before (pre) the power amplifier. Really, I just see them as an extension of an amp's preamp section. So to me, running a pedal into the power amp means losing a flavor. That said, whatever gets you the sound you like, do it.
I think it's worth even trying your favorite distortions in your FX return to see if it gets a sound you think is cool. Thinking outside the box and getting new, cool sounds is half the fun of having real pedals in my opinion.
I bought the top 3 distortion pedals I thought i wanted and compared them. I tweaked the eq section on each one to try and match them to each other and to different songs that had distortion I like. A darn funny thing happened...the pedal so many people hate was my favorite. I think the EQ section is versatile if you know how to "tweak" an EQ... MZ for the win!!!
This video shows it. That the greatest thing on Metal zone could also be its greatest problem. The EQ is SO powerfull, that lot of people can easily screw it. The range of EQ is insane.
Same here, although I like the kitsch factor so I was a little biased towards it to begin with, but, all things said and done I genuinely like it better than either of my other amps (and yes, I am using it in 'hipster preamp mode').
Yup I 100% percent agree.
@@stanislavmigra ....you said it better, very easy to screw it up and think it is a bad pedal!
Agreed
With my old band we used to play a lot of shows with a certain opening band whose guitarist used a Metal Zone. He always used to want to borrow my 5150 stack so I would let him use it but get him to plug his pedal in through the FX return so I could retain my settings on the 5150's pre-amp. He was very happy with this as the Metal Zone always sounded good to him that way.
I didn't particularly like his tone as he always had a scooped mid sound, so that's what I thought those pedals mainly did. Later on I got one myself secondhand for a good price and actually found they are much more versatile than that.
I prefer the sound through the front input actually. It's crisper and more crunchy to me.
The ending is truly the GOAT
crafty GOAT
@@stanislavmigra FULL of GOATY goodness! Meehehhhh!
This is why I love UA-cam, imagine flipping on a tv show and finding a documentary on the metal zone.
What are your thoughts on pedals with tubes in them?
They're great, but you have to have the ear to recognize when the tubes are starting to die, and the option to replace them by design. If they are soldered in forget it, it's planned obsolescence.
The Two notes LeLead preamp pedal is fucking awesome. Even the clean channel has tube chime. Into a boss katana it's great
@@DaveWestGuitar A preamp valve usually lasts DECADES!
Pedals don't run enough voltage to make a tube do anything in a pedal.
They're useless.
@@vorpalblades How much voltage is necessary? Two notes claim theirs run at 200 volts
I had one of these as a kid in the 90s and loved it. Imagine my suprise when it became a bad pedal meme these past couple years
Your videos are truly useful, educational, professional, objective and generous
I absolutely loved watching the eq as you turned the knobs with the pink noise!
I don’t play guitar. I knew the answer to this question after you spoke for 30 seconds. Yet, I watched to the very end! You got some mad voodoo, man. Good job.
Awesome, I like being able to put a visual with what I’m hearing. I love your work.
Just when I thought this video couldn't be any better, you whip out the BE-OD! Thanks for this, great work.
I love my Medal Zone !
I get why lots of people may not like it, but I think many of them dont take the time to set it up to what they want, but to each their own.
I removed the C35 and C24 caps, which helps, and then I turn the gain on the Metal Zone almost all of the way down. I run it into my fx loop, then hit the front of the pedal with a clean boost. Best Metal Zone tone I've ever had.
Isn't that the Diezel Mod?
@@onerandombruh Pretty much but I think the Diezel Mod changes "C34: 0.047uF MKT Capacitor".
Most dirt pedals work about as well as a pre-amp as the pre-amp in your amp.
It's all about raising the volume levels for the power amp section. Overdrive was a wonderful and unexpected secondary result of raising the volume level.
So basically, any pedal that allows you to raise the volume, sculpt the EQ, and/or add grit will behave roughly like your amp's pre-amp.
Nice to see the visual comparisons with the pink noise though! So thank you, Brian. THAT is what needs to be shown in many of the "pedal shootout" videos.
In fact, Brian, just like freq response graphs allow us to kind of estimate how a speaker may sound, I wish we'd see freq response curves for out pedals. I want to know what freq the mid-push is at, where the low-end cutoff knee is, etc.
You should start a revolution by adding these technical specs to your documentation. Hopefully other makers will join suit and we customers will have more info that makes our shopping more efficient.
that *is* something that might be cool!
@@wampler_pedals yah like lens MTF curves!
i really enjoy all of the nerdy stuff in this demo. I found it very informative. Keep up the good work.
Hi Brian, great to see you applying your scientific skills to this debate! I only have a suggestion to start with the visualization for the EQ of a heavy gain Marshall tube presmp that the Metal Zone tries to mimic, so people have a baseline for comparison. Cheers
Finally! I made a video that got close to 200k views about a super simple mod on the MT2 to take away that harshness and make it play nicer with the front of any amp. The amount of angry comments saying "you are using it wrong!" "it's suposed to go in the loop!" or "don't you know it's a preamp, dumbass!" is mind blowing. Luckily now I can direct them to watch this video and learn something. Thanks Brian for another awesome video full of knowledge and valuable information. Keep on with the nerdy stuff!
@War Zone It’s ok Ola, this wasn’t your fault. The internet just has too many mindless zombies who will take whatever you tell them as gospel. I know, all you just wanted was to show how good a mt2 can sound in the fx loop, but they are too used to being spoon fed to see that. It’s ok, we know it backfired, but you really don’t need to keep on with the facade. It’s ok..
Very professional and entertaining channel. You have given me the confidence to attempt a build of my own. Keep up the great work! I dig the wig... Thank you!
Love these videos Brian.... Your breakdowns on circuits, Freq Responses, caps, resistors,Lp/Hp filts, etc, etc, etc,. Ill definitely be watching!
in my personal experience. every BOSS dirt box sounds great with Jazz Chorus amp (input).
Roland Orzabal from Tears For Fears used Boss pedals and Jazz Chorus amps pretty exclusively
Could you do the same test for Sd-1 and TS to finally see which mid frequency gets boosted on those pedals respectively
sure! it's 723hz on the TS depending on where exactly the tone control is. I'll have to do sd-1 shortly.
@@wampler_pedals Here's a better question that's been bothering me for some time. I've modded my MT-2 with a combination of your JCM Boogie mod and your Overdrive mod, and got addicted to it and learned a lot about SD-1's and Tube screamers in the process. My question is about the LPF in the feedback loop of the SD-1. In the Tube screamer, the same values in reverse order makes a HPF to ground the same as the LPF in the SD-1. In one of your MT-2 modding videos, you said that the order doesn't matter. How does that work? What am I missing?
Thanks for putting visuals on the sounds!
Download reaper and do it yourself for basically nothing.
@@orionktulu In short: the word "negative" before "feedback". They're both the same HPF. One decides what frequencies get shorted out to ground. The other decides what frequencies get cancelled out by it's own out op phase output.
Brian, you're one of my favourite fellow nerds. Always informative and technically on point.
Whether its actually a pre-amp or not, I can share my own experience. I like many others got a metal-zone as my first distortion pedal, but was able to make it work. it sounded a little thin, and flat, and after I got a Hughes and Kettner Warpzone a few years after, I havent really used it. every now and then I did pull it out to try it, but it was always the same. But after all this talk on youtube about it I decided to bring it to practice one day, I plugged straight into it with my Heavy axe tuned to drop G with a Emg 81 in the bridge, and ran it straight into my power amp. And it sounded great! the tone had grith, and it sounded much more alive and responsive than ever. I was surprised, and so was the rest of the band. It sounded so good that I used it for the reminder of the practice. So, it made a huge difference for me.
Awesome Work, Brian! Love the breakdowns and comparisons on these videos! cheers :)
Thanks for the video. Very informative. I have an old Digitech Grunge pedal that I have tried both ways in my amp. I obtained similar results. Darker through the effects loop.
S.P.I.C.E. !!! I haven't heard that mentioned since college! (hint - a LONG time ago).
Neat video, I really like the production, pace, and length!
Thank you so much for doing nerdy technical content. I love it.
Man ,,, you help me so much ... I do love books ... Gonna get your's ,,, as soon as I can ... Thanks ... You da man ... D
I discovered running distortion pedals through the return a few years ago and was pretty amazed by the difference (starting with the DS-1). I almost feel like the designers of the pedals did all their sound crafting/testing through a raw amp without a pre-amp, and that's why it sounds better bypassing the amps pre-amp.
Now I want to try every single distortion pedal I could get my hands on and run it into the return to see how it sounds. 😄
Although I will say, to me, no pedal beats my JCM 2000 head distortion, or even my Crate BV.
I loved the visuals with the pink noise! Very cool.
Hi Brian!
Your predicament about lack of Volume/Level control when running a distortion or pre-amp unit through an effects loop immediately brought to mind Jeff Diamante's (Diamond Amplification) decidedly-unorthodox solution. He designs his effects loop such that, when something is plugged into the effects loop, the front panel knob labeled "effects return" acts as a master volume on the amp, with the volume controls on the channels then each act as a "Level" control at the Effects Send. At first, I thought this approach was a little perplexing-- I always run B/O/D pedals into the input, with my modulation and filter effects running through the effects loop, so I never really had to worry too much about volume control through the effects loop. Now that I've seen this video demonstrating the Metal Zone used as a pre-amp, Jeff's approach makes a lot of sense!
Thanks again for the informative videos - they're some of the best out there on these topics!
The Metal Zone can be really great if you'd just use it as a solo boost after your main overdrive. Just one thing you need to understand is DON'T USE THE DISTORTION KNOB, SET IT AT ZERO!!! What's left is a volume control to boost your signal and a very versatile and powerful EQ-section. If you want endless sustain, warm notes, hot overtones when soloing, the Metal Zone can be your cheapest, yet one of your best friends, as long as you DO NOT USE the distortion knob! 😊
I use like this too! Zero gain and after the od! I really like the harmonics in it
@@pedraomn ; Absolutely! It’s not the easiest eq, because it’s so powerful, but if you find the perfect setting you can’t go wrong.
tnx mario, im inspired by your idea, im excited to try it.
@@marloncasin7655 ; You’re welcome! I hope this works for you.
@@mariodriessen9740 dude you ain't too old for anything. Keep playing!
Nice video Brian. Your videos are always instructive.
And by the way, I'm a Metal Zone user for years, mostly because of it's versatility (and solidity).
From what I've understood, 'White Noise'= all frequencies at same level, while 'Pink Noise'= compenseted for human ears (it's a curve with more low and high freak'n'cies).
About using it, I don't think they were built with the idea that they were to be used in the effects loop (EL) channel. It has become a trend, as more and more amps are built with ELs, but, What people forget, is that people were using outboard gear and entire racks in their EL, often Reverbs or Delays, some Distortions but usually a volume pedal, so you could dial the amount of 'Drive' you wanted in the moment. Also meaning many cables.
Steve Morse is one good example.
Another thing, usually, when you use the effects loop, you tend to use the 'wet' part not 'dry+wet',(like in a mixing console), something that you can't do with a pedal, by it self in the EL. Does that make any sens? Genuine question here.
Btw, the way, The MT-2 can be useful for others things than the Guitar. Used it with a berimbau and a cello bow, same with a Portuguese guitar, Drum machine, Bass, voice, etc. The buttons are really tiny for their range, but you can really go from bluesy dirty tones to full blast metal, and everything in between. I use a few pedals but there's none that is always on. I see the MT as a guitarist's swiss knive, if you'll need a distortion of some kind. Keep up the good work, it is appreciated, and take care.
ps I have one of your Triple Wreck pedals, and love it, but use it when i want a certain flavor. Also have the G4 from Revv, the Metal Planet from Rocktron and the Uber Metal from Line6. My amp is an Acoustic 165, all tubes, the wooden ones with a Vintage EV (12T?), full range speaker. Maybe that helps.
ps2 Sorry for my bad English. Hope you're doing ok.
I have a metal zone. I never plug it into the fx loop. It sounds great! It sounds so good I'll probably never hook it into the fx loop.
I actually like the smooth, rounded off sound you get when you plug the metal zone into the front of the amp. Plugging it in the fx loop sometimes sounds too harsh for me.
Hi. I am a beginner and mostly interested in technical experience with pedals. And today I am getting this pedal delivered. I am sort of excited what I really can do with it. My goal is to get rid of some other Pedals. The reason to buy this pedal was some review of another well known channel on YT. They were excited about it and you answered my last question technically. Thanks for that. I need to reduce the number of pedals on my board. Spending money on bull I did too often and my financial situation is not terrible but also not as good as I would wish it was. Too much bull led to it. Any more mistake I try to avoid. This time I am confident.
Works great as a pre-gain boost with the versatile eq and unique harmonic texture.
See cannibal corpse.
Cool video. The visualization of the pink noise was helpful. You can go nuts examining the attack transience and all kinds of bits, but the frequency curve does what it does. Because guitar players, I just know there’s guys out there sticking distortion in their effects loops and then putting an EQ in front of it set to a very close facsimile of the curve of their preamp.
Thanks for the nerd video, keep them coming!
9:07 I’ve been fiddling with running pedals into the return on my jcm800 2203 bypassing the preamp. I found this also bypasses the master volume control. So if I turn off the last pedal in line, the volume is no longer throttled and I ended up in a Marty McFly situation. “Whoa...Rock ‘n Roll!”
Another video to the testament of how great the Metal Zone...
LIKE!
Super interesting!
Wonderfully demonstrated.
Only been using the MT-2 for 30 years... I never ever tried this!!!
Tomorrow morning, though...
Thanks Brian.
Can't wait to buy a Tumnus btw
I use it as a parametric EQ, changed the clipping diodes to LED’s so it doesnt distort with the gain at zero, leave bass and treble centered. And either boost or scoop mids. then again I have a 6505, so i don’t need it for gain
If you want it to truly be a transparent EQ you'll have to do some more mods to it, as the first few stages are "set" Eq stages boosting mids if I recall correctly. I have a video on how to do this: ua-cam.com/video/gc5T1jQHjYQ/v-deo.html
I used it for a parametric too, but replaced it with an ARTEC SE-PEQ para I found on ebay for $25. No noise at all and easier than subbing LEDs to tame the unwanted distortion. Good on you though for saving the MZ.
e3a3c3 i just like having it on my board as a troll more than anything.
@@Ottophil Yep, that pedal has been a running joke for years. Good move!
Same. I modded my mt2 inspired by Brian's Diezner mod and it sounds great. I just love the look on people's faces when they see it on my home made pallet pedalboard
For better cleans with volume control, split the signal. I use a Boss TU-3 that starts my clean signal out the Bypass jack and into the input of my GK 800RB bass head. The Effects Send then runs out to my clean chain (BF-2, TR-2, Polara) and into the A/B-side of a Passive Summer. Back at the TU-3, the Output jack connects to my Metal Zone and the remainder of my distortion chain (CH-1, M108S), then into the A/B-side of the summer. The combined signal leaves the Y-side of the Summer to connect to a BBE Sonic Stomp, then the amp's Effects Return. With BEAD-tuning, the always-on cleans help define my distorted low end.
Please do more like this with other overdrive and distortion pedals! Also, it would be interesting to input an A440 sine curve and compare how different overdrive and distortion devices clip the peaks as viewed on an oscilloscope.
Another great use of the Metal Zone !
Thanx, Master !
I've done the spectrum analyzer trick to try to match different pedals and amp sounds. Easiest way to see what a pedal/amp's EQ is doing.
This was such an interesting video. Very well done. I'm going to try doing some pink noise analysis of my own tonight.
wonderful analysis. as both guitarist and physicist i absolutely love it!
The '"drop the bass" part is the best
😄
I bought the DS-2 kindle! And managed to find an older pedal to open and poke at if the mood hits me. Thanks for sharing knowledge!
Best Bass Distortion Ever.
When I was in high school I got a metal zone and found it sounded best through this really clean solid state head that I had (a really high wattage Peavey of some kind). I actually dug out a VHS tape a couple years ago and it sounded pretty good. Never understood the hate for the Metal Zone. It's not my kinda sound anymore but it was pretty good for what I was into at that time.
I have no idea what the hate is about. I have one, it has a mid parameter dial, it sounds good. My amp is trash though, not much sounds good through it. It's a Kustom 5 the defender. I swear it is raging loud, cant play it at low volume. Get volume near tolerable, and your snipping all the signal. I think the shop I bought it from fucked it up. Someday, a Blackstar for me, and no more issues with pedals.
Pink noise was explained to me as being noise that is attenuated to the natural frequency curve of the ear.
i still own it
and honestly sounds sick on my Black SG
I Think that most people who didn't like it, they just didn't took their times well into make it sound good or also could be lack of good Gear, amps, guitars, pick ups the right settings etc
Watch Ola play Metal Zone through the Effects loop. Every Metal player will want to get this pedal after watching that. I did and am so Happy with my Metal Zone.
His amp must be really fucking shitty then. My amp has no FX loop so what do I throw this pedal in the trash?
@@trefwoordpunk2225 Mod it, it's easy
@@orionktulu What do I NEED an FX loop for? The only pedal I use is the metal zone, and it goes into my INPUT :P
@@trefwoordpunk2225 I meant mod the pedal
For playing live, I considered having a pair of those preamp-in-a-pedals.
For instance, one clean pedal and one dirty pedal going into an A/B loop which would go into the return jack.
I love this content, thanks Brian!
I was using the mz2 waza and that custom switch is amazing ! it literary sounds like a amp rather than a distortion pedal, blown away !
I used to own one decades ago, sold it in favor of digitech multi pedal, now I bought one again and enjoying messing around with it
Guys, don't lie, isn't it a visually beautiful pedal? It is, guys. 😍🥰
Stellar Video !!!
Love the deep dives 👍🏻
Great video, I had a Tube screamer a Boss Distortion and an MXR distortion over the years. My metal zone has more adjustments and sounds as good or better. The Tube screamer has its own sound. Great with a tube amp. Metal Zone is great on my pedal board as well.
Serious question: Is preamp just a meaningless term? If it technically just means that it's a voltage amplifier before the power amplifier, wouldn't every boost, od, dist., etc. pedal be a preamp? If it needs tone shaping to count, does a DS-1 and an M108 together make up a preamp?
It just feels like it's either so granular that's it includes nothing, or it's so general that it includes everything.
In a pure audio sense a volume pot is a passive preamp. I have a Schiit Sys. It's a switch and a volume pot. They can do more can still be a pre-amp.
Most of the time a preamp converts line level or a transducer signal to a useable level for a power amp or perhaps a mixer. Most of the time DI isn't considered a pre-amp, but it is the closest thing to one you can get. It is common to see the same features across all preamps. Tone controls, volume control, gain control on some things.
A preamp and power amp in one unit is an integrated amplifier, even though instrument amps rarely use this terminology.
In the context of a guitar pedal, it really depends on what it was designed to do. A Boss distortion pedal is not a preamp for example. It was built to manipulate an audio signal before it reaches the preamp stage of a guitar amplifier. In general, stomp boxes are not preamps, but there are plenty of them that were designed and marketed to functionally mirror what one does to the signal.
These days it is also a consideration of the design of a pedal if it can be used directly into a power amp. I'm speaking in generalities and obviously you can find someone that is an exception to any of that.
I think in this context it’s not referring to input impeadance or voltage or current gain to drive a power stage, it’s referring to the color or frequency response that the amp front end gives... so not a flat response is what preamp means I suppose.... in guitar universe nearly nothing makes much sense technically, even though there is a precise technical definition...
@Thomas Jefferson A preamp only needs to attenuate volume. Not sure why you seem to want to argue the point. I'll bet a guy selling an 11 thousand dollar active/buffered preamp doesn't like his equipment being loosely equated with a 50 dollar device. That doesn't change the facts though.
Thomas Jefferson I’m sure you’re correct, the electronics engineers seem to disagree though, Wampler and myself, as to what signal properties he’s referring to as “preamp”, in a guitar amplifier it’s where the tone shaping and equalizer circuits live... but I’m positive that has nothing to do with frequency response whatsoever...
Wampler - I really love your explanatory and funny uploads. You are nerdiness to the power 4 - and I'm a physicist! I have what might seem like a simple question: why put a resistor serially into an input path - what is it doing? Esp when in series with a capacitor (rather than a capacitor to ground.) Clearly it limits the current, but how is its value determined? Yours nerdily - Steinberger player and philanderer.
Try the Metal Zone as a clean boost (Volume maxed, Dist at 0, EQ flat) in front of a distorted amp, as Simon Neil and Kirk Windstein do.
Even with Dist at 0, the MT-2 is not a clean boost lol
I really with more people did this kind of test to gear! Great job!
I feel most of the fuss people get is because of pickup selection along with the pedal.
I had a Metal Zone, oh so many years ago, but probably won't buy one again. That said, it's a lot of fun to look at a frequency response analysis of what it was doing. The EQ, especially the mid sweep (with a notable exception somewhere in the middle) is at least remarkably honest. Even if I still had the pedal and curiosity, I don't think I'd have the time or the patience to do this, so thank you!
More goat content please. I'm not kidding. I started putting the "handsome nature" channel on for my daughter's dog to chill him out (it works beautifully). After a while, I started leaving it on for background noise, as it sort of chills the whole place out. So yeah, maybe stick a go pro near the goat play-fort or something. I would check it out. If it had HD audio & were about 4 hours or so, it would totally get views. My grand-puppy thanks you in advance.
Nerd Vision, I love it. Keep them coming.🤘
This really begs the question of how would the pink noise curve look like through marshall (and same for metal zone into input and power amp).
Good question! I’ll have to put that on the list for upcoming videos!
That boost on 4k in the metal zone is the desease!
Great video!!! Congrats!!!
Hi from Russia! It's a Preamp +built-in tube screamer. Tube screamer has a midrange boost on frequency response .
Metalzone has a transistor-based gyrator stage. Here it acts as a bandpass filter, centred around 1KHz.
Nice 👍 I run my pedals into the loop return and use a GE7 end of chain just like you said. Works great for me. Good video
Love your "Diezner" mod for these mt-2 pedals!
I like best distortion pedal directly through FX loop return but don't want to loose the clean tone. What I came up with is to split the signal with a pedal like the switchblade pro
Metalzone into power amp is my favorite tone and I'm not even joking
Fun video. A good amount of info
Listening on my phone so wont say as to what sounds better . Although am off to ck out ur modding pedals site . Love the channel
I love this nerdy stuff sir. And I bet you a goat; I love that nerdy stuff too.
Cool experiment! 😎 Particularly since a MT-2 is the only pedal other than my Dunlop Crybaby, both from the early 90s, that I now have, well those 2 and my old Elector Harmonix Golden Throat Dlx talk box. Unloaded all my other pedals after I got one of those Digitech GNX3000s in 2005. The irony is now since the boutique pedal explosion, there are a good number of various pedals that peak my interest, with most being within the OD & Distortion category, as I'm not overly indulged with all the other FX beyond having some reverb. And tone tweaker pedals such as your parametric equalizer pedal and the various graphic eq pedals have also been of interest. The irony I spoke of is that when I decided to go minimalist on pedals in 2005, I now find myself itching to created a new collection of pedals.😀
I have never tried it in the FX loop of my few amps that have one, so that is now something I'll have to try for comparison's sake on my own amps; I have to date been able to work out a good tone from it as things stand and even used it as a mere EQ of sorts in front of one of my tube amps to good advantage. When the MT-2 wasn't doing it for me as a distortion source, I simply used my ole H&K Cream Machine.
And, the 'nerdy' vids such as this experiment do provide some good insight that is appreciable. Thanks.
Nice! This is the nerdyness we expect from this channel, well done!
Can you do the same for Revv G3 and various other pedals aswell?^^
What about plugging the guitar to the amp input, and just putting the pedal in the effects loop (fx send into pedal)?
That's how I have done it with a non dist bass amp when I want to push the MT-2
+1 vote for the Tube vs. JFET video you spoke of on your podcast!
Once I borrowed a Metal Zone to play a gig, as I had forgotten my pedals. The only thing I remember of that gig is that during the song Enter Sandman by Metallica a fat chick came up onstage for a mosh but she fell right on top of the metal zone. I remember her lying there over the pedal, like a giant scrambled egg.
thats one massive brick of an interface XD That thing is huge
It’s misleading, the bottom two units aren’t being used at all.
Ola did a comparison of it in the fx loop vs in front of the amp. It was a night and day difference.
Yeah, I know. Watch the video, it's more in depth than a "hey look what you can do with the metalzone!" explanation.
Overdrives and distortion boxes act so differently between amps, the clean tone and the power amp could have been worlds apart in their tone and frequency response. I considered it an anomaly when Ola did it. I have stuff that doesn't even work with a marshall DSL's input, but sound fantastic through blackstar modelling amp on clean. Obviously, that's normal.
Cool analysis! 1:24 was Hilarious!
Really cool and informative video. Thanks for sharing the complete signal path from noise to output/DAW, I learned a lot! One question, though: Which amplitude/spectrum would I have to chosse in order to simulate a nearly accurate guitar signal? I guess maybe even the levels vary a lot between single coils and humbuckers...
Regarding the issue at 9:07 concerning the clean tone volume, couldn't that be avoided by plugging the guitar in the Input and having the Metal Zone in the effects loop like one would have a delay plugged in (i.e. Send --> Metal Zone --> Return)? It seems to me like it would give you a nice and controllable clean tone while allowing you to bypass the preamp section when stomping on the Metal Zone.
No, I’m not a fan of running dirt pedals that way, because you are now taking the amplifier and using that as a preamp that’s then going into a 9v distortion stage. Some may like it but to my ears it’s not a great sound.
My first pedal was a Sansamp GT2 clone, the (now kinda famous for its surprising quality) one made by Behringer. What a beast that thing was xDDD
Do you have a video explaining what the PDF is doing?
I used to use mine as a parametric eq. One of these days I'm gonna have to dig it out of storage and see what it sounds like with the mxr 10 band eq.
If you dial it in right. It sounds great. I also use a decimator after the Metal Zone and the tone is soooo crisp and thick.
Aren't all gain pedals, or distortion and boost pedals, etc, really preamps in that they typically are the first stage of effects?? I mean a regular amp has gain stages that are usually first right?
I am asking. What makes a distortion pedal different from a preamp that supplies distortion or gain?
I could never get the eq correct on a metal zone no matter what amp I used. All clean channels, and I always thought it sounded wayyyyy to buzzyyy.. Like a misquito attack by ten gazillion misquitos.. Just horrible, but I always prefer preamp gain from a Plexi like amp pushed hard with the power amp cranked and moving good speakers..
That said, AxeFx is soooo close to me that I will never buy an amp again and will go foh with a frfs monitor.. Just killer. The axeFx just kills. Have you done an amp / axeFx. Comparison? Just wondering..
Thanks a lot for that insight!
I have the original Metal Zone that I bought second hand for £20: it is a deeply unfashionable much maligned pedal but useable if you set the controls properly. Very interesting to see the frequency response of the Mark II version
one thing i learned just use a multi effects, plug it in any amp, and no need for effects loop