best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
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Shooter.556
New member
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
I have the 50 watt 1x12 and it gets Fender clean. You just have to dial down the gain and increase the volume for headroom. The cleans are really good but you have to remember to turn the gain back up to go to the blue channel to rock. That's the only crap part of the amp, the shared eq on channels 1&2.
dominus
King Midas to Cheap Guitars
devastone
Well-known member
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
The clip you posted was Marshalls, from what I gather, his main amp for years has been a Jose Arrendondo modified 50W Marshall. He used Boogies for the Whitesnake album and used some rackmount Dual Rectos for the first Blue Murder tour, but it's pretty obvious that he is using Marshalls on those clips, and yes, they are modified. You can also see the JC120 he uses for clean sounds in the pic above.
The clip you posted was Marshalls, from what I gather, his main amp for years has been a Jose Arrendondo modified 50W Marshall. He used Boogies for the Whitesnake album and used some rackmount Dual Rectos for the first Blue Murder tour, but it's pretty obvious that he is using Marshalls on those clips, and yes, they are modified. You can also see the JC120 he uses for clean sounds in the pic above.
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
so, i don't understand because i really thought he had new amps= Mesa Boogie
but ok
not in this concert
so how can he get this tones with a jcm?
because of his cabinets and speakers? very strange for me !
but yes, the photos were about his LP and Marshall heads yes
for me, his sounds for a rhythm guitar are fantastic
not really rock or metal
just heavy metal
so, i don't understand because i really thought he had new amps= Mesa Boogie
but ok
not in this concert
so how can he get this tones with a jcm?
because of his cabinets and speakers? very strange for me !
but yes, the photos were about his LP and Marshall heads yes
for me, his sounds for a rhythm guitar are fantastic
not really rock or metal
just heavy metal
devastone
Well-known member
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
He has used quite a few Boogies, the Coliseum, Marks, and Dual Rectos, he also has some Jose modded Marshalls.
You can see this is an old 4-input Marshall, so 95% sure it is one of the Jose modded 50 watters, I'm guessing the mod involves cascaded gain stages, and probably bumping up the gain in some of the stages.
He has used quite a few Boogies, the Coliseum, Marks, and Dual Rectos, he also has some Jose modded Marshalls.
You can see this is an old 4-input Marshall, so 95% sure it is one of the Jose modded 50 watters, I'm guessing the mod involves cascaded gain stages, and probably bumping up the gain in some of the stages.
devastone
Well-known member
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
I can get reasonably close at bedroom levels with my AMT SS-11b through an AMT TC-3 into a 1-12 cabinet. So, are you looking for a pedal to run into your Laney combo or are you looking for an amp now?
John's Marshalls were modded by Jose Arrendondo, (I think I mentioned that, anyway, he was kind of the original amp modder to the stars). Another big part of what creates sounds like that are big amps cranked through big speakers, which may be part of the problem trying to get it with the little Laney combo, or through anything at bedroom levels.
But back to suggestions, You check out the AMT pedals into your Laney, use the effects return if it has one. The Legend 2 series have a great Fendery clean channel too.
The SD Palladium might also work great into the front of the Laney set clean.
If you are looking for an amp that will work at bedroom levels, I would check out the Peavey Valveking mini head, those are supposed to get the modded Marshall vibe IIRC, or maybe the 6505MH if you want more gain, those are more in the Soldano/Recto vein, but should get you close.
As usual, this is my <$0.02, so YMMV, etc... There are lots of good suggestions on here.
I can get reasonably close at bedroom levels with my AMT SS-11b through an AMT TC-3 into a 1-12 cabinet. So, are you looking for a pedal to run into your Laney combo or are you looking for an amp now?
John's Marshalls were modded by Jose Arrendondo, (I think I mentioned that, anyway, he was kind of the original amp modder to the stars). Another big part of what creates sounds like that are big amps cranked through big speakers, which may be part of the problem trying to get it with the little Laney combo, or through anything at bedroom levels.
But back to suggestions, You check out the AMT pedals into your Laney, use the effects return if it has one. The Legend 2 series have a great Fendery clean channel too.
The SD Palladium might also work great into the front of the Laney set clean.
If you are looking for an amp that will work at bedroom levels, I would check out the Peavey Valveking mini head, those are supposed to get the modded Marshall vibe IIRC, or maybe the 6505MH if you want more gain, those are more in the Soldano/Recto vein, but should get you close.
As usual, this is my <$0.02, so YMMV, etc... There are lots of good suggestions on here.
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
thanks
my lc 15-110 is a 15w amp
i don't use the distortion inside because there is hum and it can be loud
it's perfect for all kind of musics with pedals
but i think for metal - heavy metal, it's not the best
for dirty sounds too
so, i would like another kind of sound
thanks
my lc 15-110 is a 15w amp
i don't use the distortion inside because there is hum and it can be loud
it's perfect for all kind of musics with pedals
but i think for metal - heavy metal, it's not the best
for dirty sounds too
so, i would like another kind of sound
bloodswords
New member
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
I've pretty much given up in trying to look for a worthy metal-type pedal that sounds decent when cranked up- the Metal Zone was the first to go. These days, my metal tones come from amps instead of pedals but I understand the plight of players who can't get what they want at the performance venue & would need pedals to save themselves. So I kept the Twin Tube Mayhem pedal here for days when I'm sentimental.
I've pretty much given up in trying to look for a worthy metal-type pedal that sounds decent when cranked up- the Metal Zone was the first to go. These days, my metal tones come from amps instead of pedals but I understand the plight of players who can't get what they want at the performance venue & would need pedals to save themselves. So I kept the Twin Tube Mayhem pedal here for days when I'm sentimental.
Gainstage
New member
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
Heavy metal is a very ranged notion of sound which goes from a not so distorted tone with watts and body to a fuzzed out often notched mids buzz out.
Seemed to be a trend for a time to deeply notch out the mids with massive gain and while that does have a tone, problems arise when trying to use that in a band. The guitar itself is a midrange instrument and without mids you cannot cut through the mix or even seem to fit within the sonic area where you should be that is open for the guitar. Super high gain gets washed out in a band like a wall of effects you will not hear all the fancy over processed sounds. Ever listen to a lot of "metal" bands live their sound is rather weak and fizzy. Helps if you have a versed sonic engineering tech to make sure the EQ is properly done, plug and play, no thought to anything, seldom yields anything other than dumb luck.
Mesa came up with the low mids notch cut at 750hz which leaves the area around 1k for the natural sound of the guitar. If you can adjust to notch around there it sounds better. If you notch wrong you and literally remove the core tone and sound of the guitar itself. A lot of demos out there demonstrate this.
Personally I feel you need a closed back cab, I prefer a 4x12 myself for the body and power. Trying to get metal tones on an open back 1 12" is going to sound a little thin and nasal.
Contrary to popular yada, wattage is not loudness, wattage is headroom and fidelity, there is no low end without wattage. Metal can be very thin and nasal with no bottom end punch and just not a very good tone. Early Sabbath is really not that distorted and early Priest used Marshall bass amps they they went for cool tones with their gain structure. Removing the wattage out of amp is not about making it less loud more so than castrating it. Loudness as a function of measure sonic physics is defined at a mere +3db increase for every doubling of wattage. A low amp can be really loud but the depth of the sound is not there. A 20 watt amp is in potential +3db louder than a 10watt. A 40watt +3bd louder than a 20watt. So yeah things do get louder with wattage but there is a whole lot more involved than just loud.
Speaking from my personal use/ownership, the best high gain pedals I have used or still have:
Wampler Triple Wreck (Might be the most intense but still articulate high gain, not very versatile but dials in EQ for that monster Rec tone, boost is actually a fuzz circuit laid over the distortion which is OK for single lines gets a little muddy on chords w the boost. This was a fav for a period of time until I got the itch and wanted to try something different.)
Wampler Pinnacle Deluxe (Remains on my board as a go to pedal, I use it on lower gain vintage mode for a great Pagey sounding Marshall. Does the EVH "brownsound" amazingly. Wonderful range of adjust. I do not see myself ever dropping this pedal sounds so amp like and again all it how you learn to adjust the EQs, )
Seymour Duncan Palladium (my new jewel in the crown, others might muster more intense gain but this has articulation and real tube amp sounding high gain, works well with boost or drives in front as well.)
5150 EVH, I do not have but is a great pedal (There are many demos of this pedal and I have to say some great tones, for the price a real winner)
Mesa Throttle Box EQ, not very versatile sort of fuzz mixed into the high gain structure. (Intense super gain but for those who can handle or like a fuzz/distortion. Was not my thing despite I dig the Mesa Pedals.)
Boss Metal Zone w Keeley Mod (had this one some time back, tricky to dial in but once you learn the EQ can get some monster tones. I would say the Wampler Triple is the deal these days and a much better pedal. I was never a big fan of Boss to begin with. Most demos of this have just terrible EQ adjust on the pedal and it gets a lot of bad rap for that. It had one basic sound and when you get that perfect EQ setting this puppy cranks massive low end and strident high end. Was not a terrible pedal but did not have the articulation of many others.)
Black Arts Toneworks Coven (if you want just over the top fuzzed out distortion madness like Satan crapping a big muff, these guys make some vicious fuzz and distortion pedals.
I like my rig to be able to adjust and create a wide range of tones and sounds so I like a pedal like the Palladium which gives me that high gain tube amp thing but with better tone and articulation. I like hearing my guitar in the gain structure else it does not matter what you play. When you use a Les Paul you like to hear what makes it a Les Paul. The more you develop as a player the more you define and seek note articulation in the higher gains. High gain pedals and amps can be tremendous fun to play but not by far a fraction of what the guitar has to offer.
Heavy metal is a very ranged notion of sound which goes from a not so distorted tone with watts and body to a fuzzed out often notched mids buzz out.
Seemed to be a trend for a time to deeply notch out the mids with massive gain and while that does have a tone, problems arise when trying to use that in a band. The guitar itself is a midrange instrument and without mids you cannot cut through the mix or even seem to fit within the sonic area where you should be that is open for the guitar. Super high gain gets washed out in a band like a wall of effects you will not hear all the fancy over processed sounds. Ever listen to a lot of "metal" bands live their sound is rather weak and fizzy. Helps if you have a versed sonic engineering tech to make sure the EQ is properly done, plug and play, no thought to anything, seldom yields anything other than dumb luck.
Mesa came up with the low mids notch cut at 750hz which leaves the area around 1k for the natural sound of the guitar. If you can adjust to notch around there it sounds better. If you notch wrong you and literally remove the core tone and sound of the guitar itself. A lot of demos out there demonstrate this.
Personally I feel you need a closed back cab, I prefer a 4x12 myself for the body and power. Trying to get metal tones on an open back 1 12" is going to sound a little thin and nasal.
Contrary to popular yada, wattage is not loudness, wattage is headroom and fidelity, there is no low end without wattage. Metal can be very thin and nasal with no bottom end punch and just not a very good tone. Early Sabbath is really not that distorted and early Priest used Marshall bass amps they they went for cool tones with their gain structure. Removing the wattage out of amp is not about making it less loud more so than castrating it. Loudness as a function of measure sonic physics is defined at a mere +3db increase for every doubling of wattage. A low amp can be really loud but the depth of the sound is not there. A 20 watt amp is in potential +3db louder than a 10watt. A 40watt +3bd louder than a 20watt. So yeah things do get louder with wattage but there is a whole lot more involved than just loud.
Speaking from my personal use/ownership, the best high gain pedals I have used or still have:
Wampler Triple Wreck (Might be the most intense but still articulate high gain, not very versatile but dials in EQ for that monster Rec tone, boost is actually a fuzz circuit laid over the distortion which is OK for single lines gets a little muddy on chords w the boost. This was a fav for a period of time until I got the itch and wanted to try something different.)
Wampler Pinnacle Deluxe (Remains on my board as a go to pedal, I use it on lower gain vintage mode for a great Pagey sounding Marshall. Does the EVH "brownsound" amazingly. Wonderful range of adjust. I do not see myself ever dropping this pedal sounds so amp like and again all it how you learn to adjust the EQs, )
Seymour Duncan Palladium (my new jewel in the crown, others might muster more intense gain but this has articulation and real tube amp sounding high gain, works well with boost or drives in front as well.)
5150 EVH, I do not have but is a great pedal (There are many demos of this pedal and I have to say some great tones, for the price a real winner)
Mesa Throttle Box EQ, not very versatile sort of fuzz mixed into the high gain structure. (Intense super gain but for those who can handle or like a fuzz/distortion. Was not my thing despite I dig the Mesa Pedals.)
Boss Metal Zone w Keeley Mod (had this one some time back, tricky to dial in but once you learn the EQ can get some monster tones. I would say the Wampler Triple is the deal these days and a much better pedal. I was never a big fan of Boss to begin with. Most demos of this have just terrible EQ adjust on the pedal and it gets a lot of bad rap for that. It had one basic sound and when you get that perfect EQ setting this puppy cranks massive low end and strident high end. Was not a terrible pedal but did not have the articulation of many others.)
Black Arts Toneworks Coven (if you want just over the top fuzzed out distortion madness like Satan crapping a big muff, these guys make some vicious fuzz and distortion pedals.
I like my rig to be able to adjust and create a wide range of tones and sounds so I like a pedal like the Palladium which gives me that high gain tube amp thing but with better tone and articulation. I like hearing my guitar in the gain structure else it does not matter what you play. When you use a Les Paul you like to hear what makes it a Les Paul. The more you develop as a player the more you define and seek note articulation in the higher gains. High gain pedals and amps can be tremendous fun to play but not by far a fraction of what the guitar has to offer.
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
Really? I love my M9. One of the few things they did right.
Really? I love my M9. One of the few things they did right.
Gainstage
New member
Re: best pedal for heavy metal / pedal
Pedal: After having used a ton of them, right now I 'd say Palladium.
If you want your gain from an amp there are many possibilities but you will still need a good overdrive or boost to make the amp sound its best.
If you enjoy buying tubes, setting bias, and general amp maintenance as parts die, have at it. Been my experience running a hot gained amp is a short lived experience.
The last amp I tried to buy I sent two of them(Egnator) back to the vendor. They did not work right out of the box, one was estimated to have bad power tubes, the other bad preamp tubes. I could not risk working on it or changing the tubes as the warranty would have been void, possibly had other issues as well but the manufacturer guessed bad tubes.
I sent them back to my vendor and that was my last attempt at buying tube amps. The last sets of tubes I bought through a higher end source vendor had bad ones in the set I bought and the few they sent to replace them. If tubes are the solution the future is not bright.
Maybe new manufacturing will emerge with some sense of quality control but I am not holding by breath. And yes I have tried all the major new versions of many tubes. There is a whole lot of hype and yada about various tubes, vendors and this notion of pre bin, checking of tubes before they sell them.
At some point in the extinction of dinosaurs, progression of technology will evolve to a more sustainable engineering alternative. We are living with technology of the 1950s and at some point that is in conflict with the 21st century.
Right now I am pretty happy with my experimentation in modeling and better sounding pedals.
Maybe if I had lottery money I would stock pile tubes and tube amps but budget wise I cannot do that nor can I afford repairs and such all the time.
It's a bit like owning and maintaining a classic old car. I don't know but that 2016 Vet looks pretty sweet to me.
Pedal: After having used a ton of them, right now I 'd say Palladium.
If you want your gain from an amp there are many possibilities but you will still need a good overdrive or boost to make the amp sound its best.
If you enjoy buying tubes, setting bias, and general amp maintenance as parts die, have at it. Been my experience running a hot gained amp is a short lived experience.
The last amp I tried to buy I sent two of them(Egnator) back to the vendor. They did not work right out of the box, one was estimated to have bad power tubes, the other bad preamp tubes. I could not risk working on it or changing the tubes as the warranty would have been void, possibly had other issues as well but the manufacturer guessed bad tubes.
I sent them back to my vendor and that was my last attempt at buying tube amps. The last sets of tubes I bought through a higher end source vendor had bad ones in the set I bought and the few they sent to replace them. If tubes are the solution the future is not bright.
Maybe new manufacturing will emerge with some sense of quality control but I am not holding by breath. And yes I have tried all the major new versions of many tubes. There is a whole lot of hype and yada about various tubes, vendors and this notion of pre bin, checking of tubes before they sell them.
At some point in the extinction of dinosaurs, progression of technology will evolve to a more sustainable engineering alternative. We are living with technology of the 1950s and at some point that is in conflict with the 21st century.
Right now I am pretty happy with my experimentation in modeling and better sounding pedals.
Maybe if I had lottery money I would stock pile tubes and tube amps but budget wise I cannot do that nor can I afford repairs and such all the time.
It's a bit like owning and maintaining a classic old car. I don't know but that 2016 Vet looks pretty sweet to me.
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