Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

I used to use a TS w/ my old Marhsal 5xxx series Solid State amps..warmed it up fairly nice/ made a good boost. Don't see why ti wouldn't work well with a Randall or Marshall MG.

But yeah..TS does not sound like a tube amp to me..however goosing a Marshall it's very nice.

That said, one of the best "metal" tones I ever heard was at a shop back in the late 80's. Guy took a Boss Heavy Metal pedal (pre-cursor to the MZ and similarily sounded like a buzzsaw on it's own), and goosed a 2203 with that thing and the tone he got was ungodly for metal..much heavier and tighter than the tones they pass off as "metal" these days.

And it was LOUD :eek2:
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

Am I forgetting the sequence of pedals? I'm pretty sure I had a Metal Zone that I got used in say, 94-95. It was well used- that was essentially a distortion box with a chorus- this is the pedal we're talking about?
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

The Golden Boy said:
Am I forgetting the sequence of pedals? I'm pretty sure I had a Metal Zone that I got used in say, 94-95. It was well used- that was essentially a distortion box with a chorus- this is the pedal we're talking about?
Click to expand...

That is the Digital Metalizer. I had one of those. Different pedal though.

Edit: I think I just realized why you thought that though. We've been using MZ to refer to the Metal Zone when MZ is the part number for the Digital Metalizer (MZ-2). The Metal Zone is MT-2.
 
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Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

I think they made the HM and the DM alongside each other for a few years...then dropped the HM (perhaps the DM too) in favor of the MZ.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

I'm pretty sure I traded the Metalizer- or whatever- for either the DS-1 or SD-1 that I currently own.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

JeffB said:
I think they made the HM and the DM alongside each other for a few years...then dropped the HM (perhaps the DM too) in favor of the MZ.
Click to expand...

The HM-2 was made from 1983-1991
The HM-3 was made from 1993-1998
The MZ-2 was made from 1987-1992
The MT-2 was made from 1991-present

For a while they Heavy Metal and Metalizer were made side by side. The Metal Zone came out though before the Metalizer was dropped but I wouldn't be suprised if that was the plan.

More Boss info: http://www.bossarea.com/default.asp
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

I haven't tried the MZ, but own a reissue TS808. I play it mostly through a '53 Fender Deluxe w/ a Celestion Alnico Blue speaker and a Tele. That rig does have a very strong emphasis on the upper mids / highs, which I can use quite effectively in some blues applications ( I'll try to put a clip in the Tips and Clips forum some time ). Since I only use tube amps, I can't comment how it might sound through SS or digital rigs.

Off topic, my favorite pushed tube sound ( other than pushing the tubes ) is from the little known Ibanez Tube King. Someone said it actually has a tube in it. I dont even know if that's true or possible.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

The Golden Boy said:
I would disagree with that. I believe it was Ibanez' attempt to make a pedal that attempted to achieve the sound of an amp naturally overdriving. People have used it as an extra preamp of sorts since it's release, as it really doesn't sound anything like natural tube amp overdrive.
Click to expand...

Sorry to be anal, but I disagree with your statement. Skarekrough's original statement said that the pedal was INTENDED to cause a tube amp to distort, not that it did it well in any way.

Anyways, I think that the TS really does sound great, and it's hard for me to reason why somebody would need more gain.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

The MT-2 is sizzling steak distortion. Very far from a dual rec IMO.

I bought one to get modded by robert keeley (www.robertkeeley.com), to use in conjunction with my old marshall JCM 800. But, I got rid of that amp, got my KRANK now, and couldnt be happier :).

The pedal I'm sellin now on ebay, I just couldn't get used to the sterile sound and didn't have enough money to mod it.

I'd suggest if you're lookin for a "better" distortion box though, check out keeley's site and see bout gettin it modded. The sound samples he's got seem pretty sick.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

For some reason I find all Boss pedals to be "fuzz factoriezz" (lol) so I'd beware if you don't like that kind of tone. The only exception is the HM-2 which my friend in high-school had, it made that "80s metal" tone perfectly and sounded awesome, at least with his Les Paul and the school's Fender Stage 160 haha.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

I have both, and they're totally different animals (as I'm sure other repliers have stated). The Metal Zone is pure distortion, and while it can work for older rock, I find it best-suited to metal and anything else that requires a lot of distortion. The TubeScreamer I've found works very well as a "boost" pedal for leads on a clean-to-just-getting-dirty amp. It's not a pedal for doing rhythm work at all IMO - not enough bass.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

FretFire said:
TS players you might have heard of would be Stevie Ray Vaughan, Trey Anastasio, etc. etc.
Click to expand...

.......and if you were to ask Kirk Hammett what his secret tone weapon is he would tell you it is his Tube Screamer. He claims to use it on darn near every solo he has ever played.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

B Bent said:
.......and if you were to ask Kirk Hammett what his secret tone weapon is he would tell you it is his Tube Screamer. He claims to use it on darn near every solo he has ever played.
Click to expand...

well at least he has good taste in pedals

:D

Seriouly though, you can DEF hear the TS on the first two Metallica albums...once they got into Boogies I'm not sure I could tell.

Gary Moore is the reason I got one.....back in his metal days...before that he used a DS1 and damn if he couldn't get THAT to sound good too.....Cooridors of Power, Victims of the Future and We Want Moore are the DS1...arguably WWM is his best tones ever...(as well as his best playing)..you can hear the tube screamer on Run For Cover and the latter albums

TS is the Duncan JB of the pedal world...VERY distinctive with the high mids :D
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

ErikH said:
The HM-2 was made from 1983-1991
The HM-3 was made from 1993-1998
The MZ-2 was made from 1987-1992
The MT-2 was made from 1991-present

For a while they Heavy Metal and Metalizer were made side by side. The Metal Zone came out though before the Metalizer was dropped but I wouldn't be suprised if that was the plan.

More Boss info: http://www.bossarea.com/default.asp
Click to expand...

Hmmm..don't remember the MZ comin out that early, nor do I remember the HM-3 :scratchch Then again, I'm getting to be an old fart and can't remember where I put my keys half the time :D

I am only fam w/ the HM-2 (which is the ped that fellow used, and I also had)
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

B Bent said:
.......and if you were to ask Kirk Hammett what his secret tone weapon is he would tell you it is his Tube Screamer. He claims to use it on darn near every solo he has ever played.
Click to expand...


True, but yet again we're talking leads AND pushing a high gain amp already running hot. The TS will not be a good choice for metal rhythm playing as stand alone distortion unit.
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

....and don't foregt about the hyper-metal pedal. i have one of those. sounds like complete @ss! :lame:
 
Re: Metal Zone or Tube Screamer?

these_go211 said:
....and don't foregt about the hyper-metal pedal. i have one of those. sounds like complete @ss! :lame:
Click to expand...

The HM-3 is the Hyper Metal, the successor to the HM-2 Heavy Metal. And yeah, it sounded horrible.
 
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