Best/favorite distortion pedal for metal tones?

Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion does it for me. Really excels at string-to-string clarity at high gain and sounds killer with humbuckers and single coils.
 
Demanic said:
A buddy of mine used a fullbore for awhile. I thought that it sounded good into his SS Marshall head and 4x12. It could be run unscooped and with a gate.

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Click to expand...

Yeah, it definitely sounded better with the Marshall practice amp I used to own. And the built-in gate is very handy. I too never used the scooped setting.

I think I'm just more into getting distortion from my amp these days. I may give it another whirl, though, and see if I can't dial in a better tone with the Fullbore.
 
I've gone thru a couple dozen distortion pedals over the years before I went tube-OD and haven't gone back

After sampling all those pedals, I settled on a few that were just amazing.
The DigiTech Metal Master being my personal favorite
The metal muff nano was my second favorite.
The Revv G4 is amazeballs.

I liked the dracarys but it had a nasally freq that made me sell it off.

I liked the mesa throttle box, but it was pretty much a single tone kind of sound.
 
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baritone said:
I wasn't a huge fan of the Metal Muff, but it sounds a lot like what you're describing.
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It’s amazingly brutal just as a preamp without the top-boost. Not 100% a recto in a box but a very useable facsimile of one opened all the way up. I might have to get one for another option for my fly-rig. In the meantime I’m torn between a Krank Distortus Maximus for the cheap price, an AMT K2 or Vt2 or a 2 notes Le Lead though I really don’t need so many features.

Just after a really good single channel only, heavy preamp box or pedal to integrate into my multi-fx and amp switcher. Even then, I’ve gotten the Mark IV model sounding amazing at rehearsals without any external boosts. I probably don’t need anything else, I’ve just liked the idea of having an equally good preamp sound in the analog domain in case I want to put my custom OD in front of. Something that does the Fortin sound in a box would be perfect, then I can leave my prized JVM at home for far away shows or if I just want to take that sound on a plane as compact as possible.
 
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Beer$ said:
What pedal does that best to your ear? The 5150 preamp pedal by MXR? I have perfectly serviceable gain built right into flyrig Multi-fx but I’m always looking for an effective analog option to put in the amp loop so I can use my custom overdrive in front.

Similated pres just don’t seem to like being pushed by analog overdrives. I had the perfect one but it’s malfunctioned and the circuits are far too complicated to fix myself. I’m considering either an AMT Vt2 or the Two Notes Le Lead.
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I've had success with various modelers and amps to cover the 5150 part (Fractal FM3 into a 2x12, Fender Mustang, Crate GTD, VST plugins), and have used a variety of boosts as well - really any pedal with a gain control has worked pretty well. Latest go-to for this tone is just dialing in a boost within the Fractal FM3 but it all gets me the same flavor whether I'm staying within the FM3 or using the gain control on a flat EQ pedal to boost into a physical amp. I think the type of boost is less important than getting amp part right. The MXR pedal is probably a good place to start for single use pedals. However personally I'm a big fan of the digital stuff because there's always been an option that works for me in those boxes, so if you could pony up for something like an HX Stomp you're pretty much guaranteed to find a way to integrate this sound into your setup (with some solid reading/tweaking/experimenting of course). If you did that, since you don't like analog drives into simulated pres, you could put the HX Stomp at the beginning of your chain and dial in the complete boosted 5150 tone within the unit and only engage it when you want that sound. Just thinking out loud.
 
alex1fly said:
I've had success with various modelers and amps to cover the 5150 part (Fractal FM3 into a 2x12, Fender Mustang, Crate GTD, VST plugins), and have used a variety of boosts as well - really any pedal with a gain control has worked pretty well. Latest go-to for this tone is just dialing in a boost within the Fractal FM3 but it all gets me the same flavor whether I'm staying within the FM3 or using the gain control on a flat EQ pedal to boost into a physical amp. I think the type of boost is less important than getting amp part right. The MXR pedal is probably a good place to start for single use pedals. However personally I'm a big fan of the digital stuff because there's always been an option that works for me in those boxes, so if you could pony up for something like an HX Stomp you're pretty much guaranteed to find a way to integrate this sound into your setup (with some solid reading/tweaking/experimenting of course). If you did that, since you don't like analog drives into simulated pres, you could put the HX Stomp at the beginning of your chain and dial in the complete boosted 5150 tone within the unit and only engage it when you want that sound. Just thinking out loud.
Click to expand...

Adding an HX stomp is just too much kit. The Mk IV patch on my multi-fx/router is more than adequate without any boosting so technically it’s not so much a “need” as it would just be neat to get more of my big rig/studio sound into the fly rig like a small pedal pre in the amp loop. I’m torn between a few AMT Legend models, even the Krank Distortus Maximus I used to have go way cheap and I can run my Cornhole in front.
 
The Mark IV on the HX stomp is kinda weak, TBH. It *barely* has enough gain unboosted with EMG's. If you're running hot passives, and have to turn the input pad on, forget it.

*EDIT* Oh, sorry, misread the post.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
The Mark IV on the HX stomp is kinda weak, TBH. It *barely* has enough gain unboosted with EMG's. If you're running hot passives, and have to turn the input pad on, forget it.

*EDIT* Oh, sorry, misread the post.
Click to expand...

I think my current Mark IV model is the go until an analog pedal pre really blows me away.
 
OP do you know what flavor of tones you want to emulate - bands, albums, songs? Suggestions in here are great but they may or may not be the sound that you're looking for.

This is why I like digital stuff - I've had years and years of success not knowing diddly about different amps or pedals but finding my tones in this or that digital box. Heck even the old kidney bean PODs still bang in some of the high gain patches and those can be had for like $60.
 
weepingminotaur said:
Yeah, it definitely sounded better with the Marshall practice amp I used to own. And the built-in gate is very handy. I too never used the scooped setting.

I think I'm just more into getting distortion from my amp these days. I may give it another whirl, though, and see if I can't dial in a better tone with the Fullbore.
Click to expand...
In the end, everyone's ears are different. And if one source isn't giving you what you want, there are plenty of options.
A rabbit hole's worth.

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80's_Thrash_Metal said:
The Revv G4 is amazeballs.
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Weird, I sent it back to the store in 2 days... My impression was that even when dimed on the Red it felt like it's medium gain at best and the low end was sooo loooose and farty, that I couldn't dial it out. I even tried boosting it, still flubby. I felt kinda st00pid as evvvverybody and their mother seems to love it, but I just couldn't justify keeping that much money in a pedal I don't like...

Do you use it to the front of the amp or as a preamp?

To be on topic, for me its Friedman BEOD and Black Cat Amps Djenttonic.
 
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