Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
I like mine. It's a great platforming for modding, but you have to know quite a bit about circuit to tweak it exactly how you want.
What are your thoughts on the Metal Zone
- Thread starter Chistopher
- Start date
Señor Verde
Member
I haven't owned a Metal Zone for at least a couple decades and was never able to get what I considered to be a good sound out of it, so I chose the last option.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
I had one for a while and couldn't really make it work for the stuff I like to play. There are a few sounds in there that I'd call decent, but the controls were so finicky that it was near impossible to get exactly to what I liked at a later date. I could see how it might be great for a very particular kind of guitarist.
SirJackdeFuzz II
Active member
I feel, it is a miss understood pedal.
80's_Metal
Underglazed Hair Metalologist
If you have a junky or low gain amp, it can be amazing! For the brootz
80's_Metal
Underglazed Hair Metalologist
NotDemanic
Active member
It's best used into a super clean amp, possibly as a pre-amp strait into the power section. And the eq for the midrange has a pretty wide range of settings. Set it with your ears, not your eyes.
Coma
Well-known member
It was the bomb when I bought it at age 15 or something. Along with my Crybaby it turned my solid state amp into a sick metal meltdown machine.
Or at least that what it sounded like to my ears at the time. In reality my tone was probably just as grating as my parents perceived it.
Or at least that what it sounded like to my ears at the time. In reality my tone was probably just as grating as my parents perceived it.
( in my national geographic voice)
Hear we observe the wild metal zone in its natural habitat. Frolicing amongst other similar animals. Seeking shelter in the quiet refuge of a warm cave. For the metal zone is not a social animal. Soon it will be feeding time searching for wild grown alkalines...............yes I have problems
beaubrummels
Well-known member
At least it's a recycle bin.( in my national geographic voice)
Hear we observe the wild metal zone in its natural habitat. Frolicing amongst other similar animals. Seeking shelter in the quiet refuge of a warm cave. For the metal zone is not a social animal. Soon it will be feeding time searching for wild grown alkalines...............yes I have problems
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
I was also getting into rack gear at that time probally another reason why I didn't spend too much time with one.
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
I think it’s misunderstood as being for a super modern hi-gain metal tone when it came out in the very early 90s before that sound was ubiquitous. It would have been based more on esrly Metallica/Pantera and the swansong of glam in contemporary heavy music at the time before it disappeared.
Like any piece of gear with a lot of features, it has more points of failure for people who don’t know how to dial in the very sensitive and adjustable EQ and erroneously blame the pedal.
People get fantastic results using it in their FX return where the EQ really shines bypassing the amp EQ, but the factoid that BOSS designed it to be used as a preamp is a debunked myth.
What I disliked about it most was sound of the filtering circuitry BEFORE the gain stage, as it has a super-processed, cocked wah effect in the upper mids. It does make for some interesting lower gain sounds, some bands love that feature and like that pre-gain filter used like a Tubescreamer (flat EQ, gain at 0) to boost an already hi-gain amp for a more metallic grind that’s popular with brutal death metal bands.
There is a mod to pull down that honky mid push, make the pre-gain filtering more transparent and natural and the gain more useable across the sweep of the knob. The resulting sound is much more natural and amp like, even without running into the FX loop.
A pedalmaker friend of mine did that for a client’s metalzone but I think it’s a popular enough mod to have schematics and demos online.
Like any piece of gear with a lot of features, it has more points of failure for people who don’t know how to dial in the very sensitive and adjustable EQ and erroneously blame the pedal.
People get fantastic results using it in their FX return where the EQ really shines bypassing the amp EQ, but the factoid that BOSS designed it to be used as a preamp is a debunked myth.
What I disliked about it most was sound of the filtering circuitry BEFORE the gain stage, as it has a super-processed, cocked wah effect in the upper mids. It does make for some interesting lower gain sounds, some bands love that feature and like that pre-gain filter used like a Tubescreamer (flat EQ, gain at 0) to boost an already hi-gain amp for a more metallic grind that’s popular with brutal death metal bands.
There is a mod to pull down that honky mid push, make the pre-gain filtering more transparent and natural and the gain more useable across the sweep of the knob. The resulting sound is much more natural and amp like, even without running into the FX loop.
A pedalmaker friend of mine did that for a client’s metalzone but I think it’s a popular enough mod to have schematics and demos online.
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
I've done a few metal zone mods but unfortunately didn't care for any of them
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
There’s too many better choices in the small pedal format. Modelling has gotten verr convincing with some units the size of a stompbox. There’s the preamp pedal craze like the very tiny yet convincing Mooer digital preamp pedals, the same idea entirely in analog like the Revv G series or AMT Legend series which copies the original amps’ circuits with JFETs, not to mention real full voltage tube floor preamps.
I can’t speak on the improvements on the waza version, never had a chance to try it but besides nostalgia or looking for that very specific sound. I would mod one for fun if I already owned it, but I have no reason to buy one.
I do have a Behringer Ultra Metal a friend left behind years ago that if it’s an exact copy of the Metalzone, I’ll be able to mod it into something better than the original.
I could even put it in a different chassis and sell it as a custom, boutique distortion which wouldn’t be untrue..
