All clips were recorded direct to disk using a Les Paul Special with the bridge pickup selected. The pickup was a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck humbucker. The signal chain flowed LP, pedal, Behringer GI-100 direct box (with speaker simulation turned on), hard disk recorder.
Each pedal was connected separately one at a time so the tone would not be effected by the bypass of the other pedals. The tone controls on the pedals were set as flat as possible. Output was set to unity gain with the bypassed signal. The gain was set for the maximum usable distortion which was not 10 in most cases.
The clips are meant to give you an idea of the character and sonic signature of each pedal and do not necessarily represent the best or ultimate tone each pedal is capable of.
In each clip you will here an open E chord clean then with the pedal on followed by a short power chord riff clean and with the pedal on. Next you will hear a palm muted E chord. If the pedal has more than one function you will hear the last two parts repeated with each function.
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The Boss Digital Metalizer combines distortion with several preset short delay and chorus effects. While the distortion itself is analog the optional effects are digital hence the name Digital Metalizer. The effects are meant to broaden the sound by simulating the double tracking effect often employed in the studio.
At the time of the MZ-2's introduction in the late 80's digital technology had finally progressed to the point that it could be used in something as small as stomp box. CD's were expensive and most people still listened music on a format we called tapes. Manufacturers were falling over themselves to put the word "digital" on every possible product. Digital stomp boxes were all the vogue (Ibanez Digital Flanger anyone?) and hair metal was king. Into this fray stepped the MZ-2 promising to make all your adolescent spandex rockstar dreams come true.
By today's standards this pedal doesn't sound very metal at all, but remember at this time Poison was one of the biggest metal bands around.
The Boss Digital Metalizer is long out of production. It is most famously used by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
As you listen to the audio clip you will hear the plain analog distortion sound without the digital presets followed by each preset as the mode knob is clicked through clockwise.
Digital Metalizer Audio Sample
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The Yerasov 9000 volt "modern overdrive/distortion" comes to us from Russia. It features two modes: overdrive and distortion. Each mode has its own output (current) control, but shares the same EQ section. A footswitch allows the player to select which sound is active.
The very powerful EQ section has controls for treble (life), and bass (death) as well as a sweep-able midrange. The color knob controls the center of the mid frequency while the antishock knob allows the mids to be raised or scooped.
The 9000 volt seems well suited to shred style lead playing, but is also a great all around dirt box for any style from country to hard rock.
At the time of writing the 9000 volt is still in production.
For the audio clip the EQ is left flat. The overdrive is heard first followed by the distortion.
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The DNA Gain F##ker is a hand built pedal from Japan. It is a very high gain pedal that sounds as if it is based on the ProCo Rat.
The EQ controls are fairly unique and quite interactive. Like the Rat it uses a low-pass filter (cut) to sculpt the treble frequencies in place of the traditional tone knob. The FXXK knob is a bass boost that can add some serious thump. Playing with the settings of these two knobs results in a large variety of sounds.
The Gain F##ker seems well suited to classic metal tones as well as medium gain crunch tones. While it does not deliver the scooped sounds used in a lot of modern metal it does excel at metal style lead tones and it should appeal to a larger cross section of guitar players from classic rock to emo and punk.
At the time of writing the DGF-2 is still in production.
For the audio clip the cut control was set to 10 (minimum hi-cut) and the fxxk control was set to 0 (minimum bass-boost).
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Zoom is best known for its digital multi-effects pedals. The Zoom Tri Metal comes from a short lived series of analog pedals manufactured in 2001. This series also included the UF-01 Ultra Fuzz, PD-01 Power Drive, and HL-01 Hyper Lead.
The TM-01 incorporates three cascading gain stages to create a massive amount of gain. There are no crunch sounds available and the gain knob has a very limited range that varies only from very heavy to very, very heavy. The amount of harmonics generated suggests the sound of modern high gain tube amps (such as those made by Randall and Krank) that are popular for current metal styles.
The generous EQ section has controls for bass, treble and a sweep-able midrange control. Modern scooped sounds are easily achieved at moderate EQ settings. Extreme EQ setting can create some truly bizarre and sometimes abrasive sounds.
While the sound is slightly more "distant" than the other pedals in this round-up the TM-01 may come closest to "metal in a box".
The Zoom TM-01 is no longer in production.
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Electro Harmonix virtually invented the distortion pedal concept. Inspired by Hendrix's cranked Marshall and Fuzz Face tones Mike Mathews created the original "amp in a box" known as Big Muff in the early 70's.
The Big Muff has made an occasional appearance on metal albums (most often as a bass effect). A Big Muff was even used for one song by Kirk Hammett of Metallica, but it never gained widespread acceptance as a Heavy Metal effect. Now metal heads have their very own Big Muff in the form of the Metal Muff.
The Metal Muff has an effective three band EQ and a footswitchable "top boost" control that adds brightness to make leads jump out of the mix.
The Metal Muff does deliver a wide array of sounds that should please metal players of almost any stripe. It can also be used for AC/DC like crunch and more traditional hard rock tones.
At the time of writing the Metal Muff is still in production and two budget variations of the Metal Muff have been added to EHX line: the Micro Metal Muff and Pocket Metal Muff Nano.
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The Arion Metal Master may be the most affordable pedal ever marketed toward the metal set. As such it became many a metal head's first stomp box.
The SMM-1 features high and low EQ controls and two outputs. A slide switch allows one output either to pass the the dry signal for bi-amping, or select a slightly less heavy "soft" setting at both outputs.
The SMM-1 has a rather basic distortion tone that could be used in almost any rock genre.
The SMM-1 is no longer in production. Sadly it looks as though Arion may have closed its doors for good though at the time of writing some Arion pedals can still be found at retail outlets.
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The Danelectro Black Paisley Liquid Metal LM-01 was manufactured in 2003 and marketed mainly in Europe. The only other pedal in the series was the PD-01 Blue Paisley PureDrive.
No matter how you set the controls the sound is distinctly metal-centric. Though it is quite versatile within the metal genre it is not suited to anything other than metal.
In addition to knobs for bass and treble the LM-01 has a three way toggle switch that voices the midrange with preset scooped, boosted and flat settings. Set the mid switch to flat for classic metal tones, scooped for modern metal tones or boosted for lead metal tones.
On the back of the pedal there is a sub-octave switch that produces a note one octave below the fundamental. The sub-octave effect is analog so it must track the notes as you play. It tracks well for single notes and power chords, but more complex chords will lead to strange garbled random pitches. This feature is great for Black Sabbath and Melvins like sounds or to spice up a lead part.
The LM-01 is no longer in production, but can still be found on the shelves of some european retailers.
For the audio clip the mid toggle was set to flat as were the tone controls. First you will hear the pedal with no octave then with the octave.
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Exar is a Polish company that has been building pedals for many years. The Exar brand is virtually unknown in the United States, but its pedals have been marketed here for the last few years under the name Jacques. In the U.S. the Exar Kamikaze is sold under the name Jacques Bat Fuzz.
The Kamikaze has two distortion engines under the hood which can be used separately or blended together. The three band EQ is more than adequate. Many variations on metal can be created from the most old school to new and original sounds.
In the audio clip you will first here the mix knob fully counter-clockwise, then fully clockwise and finally in the center position.
extreme closeup!
The DOD MF-70P Big Pig "fat distortion" was made as an exclusive for Musicians Friend in the 90's. It is merely a cosmetic redesign of the Metal X and was also sold under the name Corrosion and later extreme though the extreme differs in that it was not made in the USA.
Despite its pink paint the sound is decidedly metal. There is no midrange control but the sound is rather scooped even with the EQ set flat. The scooped effect can be exaggerated further by turning up both EQ controls and mitigated somewhat by turning down the EQ controls and raising the volume to compensate.
A fun collectible that really delivers an authentic metal sound. Perhaps this was meant to appeal to female metalers or was just a practical joke on musicians friend.
The MF-70P is long out of production.