I have entered the zone…

[Supernautilus]

THE METAL ZONE.

Picked this up on a Memorial Day sale. I’ve used the regular one before so I know what it does. I wanted to see what the Waza fuss was about it. This thing CHUGS. Custom mode is the best I think. I been running it like a boost. Volume cranked. Gain really low. Sounds great into my Strymon Iridium. I like it.

[jeremy]

they do their thing like nothing else!

[beaubrummels]

they do their thing like nothing else!

That's a perfect marketing quote.

[Chistopher]

Man, I was so disappointed with the Waza MT-2. I put in all these hours trying to tweak my Metal Zone to get it to sound how I wanted, and then a few months later Boss decides that my "perfect MT-2" is going to be available straight out the box with nothing more than the flick of switch

[Supernautilus]

Update:

Today I finally tried the “metal zone as a preamp” trick. Unfortunately I don’t have an amp with a fx loop/power amp input. So I disabled the preamp sim in my Iridium so it was just the cab sim running for a similar effect. The result blew me away. It sounds fantastic this way. Everything I’ve read is true. The MT-2 really is a legit preamp!

[Rex_Rocker]

I one had a Metal Zone. I got it used, and it was beat up, so I'm not sure if that's how all are. But I used to have EMG's on my guitars at that point, and I found even with the level cranked, it sounded quiter when it was on than when it was off. Keep in mind, EMG's are loud, but they're not as loud as a Black Winter, an X2N, a 500T or a Duncan Distortion, even.

Is that how all Metal Zones are?

[Chistopher]

Not in my experience. How severely did you scoop the mids? Also too much gain gets rid of cut if you are using it in a band setting.

[Rex_Rocker]

Not in my experience. How severely did you scoop the mids? Also too much gain gets rid of cut if you are using it in a band setting.

Not much. The stock standard Metal Zone is already pretty scooped, so probably not a lot, if any. I wasn't playing in a band setting. I was playing by my own, but I probably didn't have the gain high. But then again, it's a Metal Zone. Even with the gain low, it's pretty gainy.

Then again, I got mine used, and it was beat up. So no guarantees there wasn't something wrong with it.

However, that has been my experience with all Boss gain pedals I've tried, which aren't many, if I must be honest. But the DS-1 and SD-1 kinda have that issue. Except I would never use a SD-1 on a clean channel, so it hasn't been an issue for that particular pedal.

[Rex_Rocker]

Cross that. The HM-2 doesn't have that issue. But then again, the HM-2's EQ knobs do the HM-2 thing when they're boosting, so that probably helps with output volume. Or at least perceived loudness.

[Supernautilus]

Not much. The stock standard Metal Zone is already pretty scooped, so probably not a lot, if any. I wasn't playing in a band setting. I was playing by my own, but I probably didn't have the gain high. But then again, it's a Metal Zone. Even with the gain low, it's pretty gainy.

Then again, I got mine used, and it was beat up. So no guarantees there wasn't something wrong with it.

However, that has been my experience with all Boss gain pedals I've tried, which aren't many, if I must be honest. But the DS-1 and SD-1 kinda have that issue. Except I would never use a SD-1 on a clean channel, so it hasn't been an issue for that particular pedal.

I have a modest Boss collection and I can confirm that some Boss stomp boxes are like that. Which is why many run them with the volumed dimed. The SD-1 is like this, as is the DS-1. My Metal Zone also sounds good with the volume up pretty high. Unmodded, they do not provide much boost on their own. That's my experience.

With that said, it shouldn't be quieter on than off with the volume maxed. That sounds like a technical problem, for sure.