Going down the mega-distortion rabbit hole...

[Aceman]

SO, I have been looking for a Distortion pedal to fill a certain niche. And that lead me to

The Keeley Filaments

And of course, the Black Clouds

And the Wampler Mosfetto

And all kinds of evil little dirt machines....

 

[Securb]

I am going down that hole right now myself. I want to add another flavor for our next recording session. I might just break out my BOSS Mega-Distortion

 

[misterwhizzy]

I have the answer for you. Mega distortion is the name of the game here.

Or if that doesn't float your boat, if you gloss over Revv, you're missing an incredibly versatile set of options.

 

[Securb]

I will say the Wampler Dracarys​ is still my main tone but I want something different when laying down rhythm guitar tracks This time around I used a dimed D+ with an EP boost and it sounded great. But I always have my eyes open for other options. The Black Clouds is high on my list to look at deeper.

 

[El Dunco]

I will say the Wampler Dracarys​ is still my main tone but I want something different when laying down rhythm guitar tracks This time around I used a dimed D+ with an EP boost and it sounded great. But I always have my eyes open for other options. The Black Clouds is high on my list to look at deeper.

I’d love to hear this compared to the Keeley Filament. They both look amazing. I wonder which is more versatile.

 

[NotDemanic]

Guessing that you haven't heard of the Metalzone.

 

[Securb]

Guessing that you haven't heard of the Metalzone.

The MetalZone is not as pliable as I would like. If I were to go the BOSS route I would just use my Mega-Distortion and that is not off the table.

 

[Aceman]

I will say the Wampler Dracarys​ is still my main tone [/img]

That keeps popping up on my list too....

 

[Aceman]

So, my current list

- Have a Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem, and EHX MEtal Muff w/ Top Boost. And never use them. Oh yeah - a couple of Metal Zones. So obviously I want...


A Keeley Filaments
DSM Black Clouds
Revv G3 (or G4)
Empress Heavy
Amptweaker Tight Metal

These are the ones I see mentioned all the time by Heavy Aficionados

 

[Chistopher]

To me the key to a hard hitting heavier distortion tone is less gain than you think you'd need, more mids than you think you'd need, and a good bass player. But given that good bass players are in short supply, a G3 would probably do you fine.

 

[Securb]

That keeps popping up on my list too....

I think you would be happy with it. I am not dime-ing mine; I have it somewhere in the world of old thrash and very-metal, not death or doom. The touch dynamics are phenomenal as are the overtones and feel of the pedal. Mine is not coming off the board; I am just looking for something to complement it. If the DSM Black Clouds were the same price as the Dracarys, it would already be under my foot. I hate paying amp money for a dirt stomp, no matter how good it is.

 

[Aceman]

I did a used price check on a Dracarys once.

I just want a complete apocalypse dirt box for some reason. I just get in a thrash mood every once and again...Metal Muff and Mayhem aren't doing it for me. I need something 20-20's

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

I did a used price check on a Dracarys once.

I just want a complete apocalypse dirt box for some reason. I just get in a thrash mood every once and again...Metal Muff and Mayhem aren't doing it for me. I need something 20-20's

I had a dracarys for awhile, I bought it over the tight metal.
It has a lot of gain, but it has a very distinct flavor, you'll either love it, or deem it unusable. Of course you can always use an EQ with it.

 

[Securb]

I am intreged by the Stone Deaf PDF 2. It is desgned to play well with other distrotions and overdrives and I am thinking paird with the MXR D+ it could give me the goose in fatnessand gain I am looing for.

 

[El Dunco]

To me the key to a hard hitting heavier distortion tone is less gain than you think you'd need, more mids than you think you'd need, and a good bass player. But given that good bass players are in short supply, a G3 would probably do you fine.

You’re so right. People ask if a particular product “has enough gain” for metal and advertisements will tout over the top amounts of gain as a selling point that actual metal players recording or playing shows with would barely use past 2 o’clock on the dial (mine doesn’t even make it past noon on most modern amps.).

The actual voicing is way more important for a heavy guitar sound in a mix. Context is important too. The conventional wisdom might suggest that the heavier or the more modern the genre, the more gain you need but if you listen closely, Eddie Van Halen probably uses more gain than most tech-death or djenty bands.

If you took out the reverb and mic’d his cabinet closer, it would sound a lot more in common with modern metal than would suit VH’s music :laugh2:

 

[Supernautilus]

I heard a lot of good things about the Joyo Rigel, so I picked one up. It’s pretty awesome. I guess it’s a clone of the KRS Ceres. I use it as a preamp into an IR loader, so I can’t say how it works with amps. But it sounds amazing for my little home studio.

https://youtu.be/DS7zqDoeN_A?si=J8bDjcSI5dpmuTF7

 

[Chistopher]

You’re so right. People ask if a particular product “has enough gain” for metal and advertisements will tout over the top amounts of gain as a selling point that actual metal players recording or playing shows with would barely use past 2 o’clock on the dial (mine doesn’t even make it past noon on most modern amps.).

The actual voicing is way more important for a heavy guitar sound in a mix. Context is important too. The conventional wisdom might suggest that the heavier or the more modern the genre, the more gain you need but if you listen closely, Eddie Van Halen probably uses more gain than most tech-death or djenty bands.

If you took out the reverb and mic’d his cabinet closer, it would sound a lot more in common with modern metal than would suit VH’s music :laugh2:

And half these pedals where the gain knob goes way to high struggle to achieve unity level, especially with higher output pickups.

 

[El Dunco]

And half these pedals where the gain knob goes way to high struggle to achieve unity level, especially with higher output pickups.

That’s a good argument for encouraging players to back off the gain if compromises must be made to accommodate levels higher than are practically useable. Why is that an issue? Does the output volume just inherently have to be lower to clip the input by that amount? Could they not compensate for it?

 

[Supernautilus]

I am going down that hole right now myself. I want to add another flavor for our next recording session. I might just break out my BOSS Mega-Distortion

I just went down the rabbit hole myself and ended buying a Boss Mega Distortion. The demos sounded great! I found one for 50 bucks on ebay. Can't wait to try it out at home.

 

[Aceman]

OK - I appreciate all of the "less gain is better" comments - but to be clear:

I just want stupid gain levels for playing solo in the music room, just for $#!ts and giggles because insane gain.