Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

super rad ska said:
what pedals are you selling?:D
Click to expand...

Already fleabay'd. ;)

Just a Proco Rat, modded DS-1, Artec 8-band EQ, Marshall Jackhammer, and a Marshall Guv'nor (the new one). The Marshall pedals were sold and shipped out already. The others are still up.

The Metal Zone and Tube Screamer do the distortion sounds I really want. The Tube Screamer is smoother and warmer than the Rat, and the Metal Zone can cover most of the ground that the other pedals can.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I have owned three.
Loved them all!
Had two of them take a dump and need to have new switches soldered in.
But if you like old school scooped and seriously screaming solos, that is the best pedal made in my humble opinion.
I currently am playing a lot of dropped tunings and am now using a Digitech Metal Master and a Death Metal pedal, I think these sound better for what I am playing now.
I Ended up selling my metal zones to younger kids looking for that razor bite.
I think they are awesome for that sound. perhaps a bit weak in the mids though.
I think Metal Zone, I think Pantera, OLD metallica . . .
 
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Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I'm a fan. Through some amps it can't possibly sound good. Through some others though there are some great sounds. I disliked how it sounds with the neck pickup though. I find my settings with it are with all knobs generally around 11 to 1 o clock, extreme knob settings lends jarring sounds.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

[old thread, I know]

add me to the metal zone club. I had tried out Digitech's Distortion Factory pedal, and the metal zone setting was the only one I liked. Last time I actually played through a real MZ was my friend's in high school, like 20 years ago! Seemed like an OK deal ($55 shipped, with AC power). Figure I can at least keep the power supply and sell the pedal for $40-45 if need be. I forgot how much I liked scooped mids! clippage to come!
 
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Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

my problem is that the sound seems to disappear when i play live, when i kick on the metalzone. i've sold it since.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

Man, mids are where the tone is, and the Metal Zone can have tons of them if the EQ is right. If they're just scooped out you'll get lost in the mix, simply because mids are where all the presence is at, and the guitar is a midrange instrument.

I have two settings that I use pretty commonly, both approximating certain tones I have in my head. One is a Marshall sort of tone, based on Megadeth. The other is an Orange sort of a tone, or at least what I like about the distortion from a cranked Orange amp. Because the MT-2 has the semi-parametric EQ, it's easy to dial in the necessary lower-mids to approximate something like an Orange.

MT-2 MARSHALL (MEGADETH):
Level: 8:00 (variable)
Low: 2:00
High: 10:00-11:00
Mid Freq: 12:00
Middle: 5:00
Dist: 2:00 (variable)

MT-2 ORANGE:
Level: 8:00 (variable)
Low: 2:00
High: 12:00
Mid Freq: 10:00
Middle: 5:00
Dist: 2:00 (variable)
 
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Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

hanumanlangur said:
The Metal Zone and Tube Screamer do the distortion sounds I really want. The Tube Screamer is smoother and warmer than the Rat, and the Metal Zone can cover most of the ground that the other pedals can.
Click to expand...

Those are the only distortion pedals I have as well.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

i set the level at 12, high at 12, low at 3, both mids at 9, and the gain about 10.
ah hell thats that crappy scooped mid buzy sound noone likes huh? but i use a sh-5 in a ltd/esp fx 260. the pup cleans the buzz up alot. and the guitar is so dark by itself i dont really get that high pitch everyone else does. i guess it makes a difference what kinda rig you are using with it.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

CaughtLikeFire said:
The early Metal Zone pedals sound different to me than the ones produced in the past 5 or 6 years.

I think they take more effort to dial in than most Boss pedals and they can create some pretty nasty nasally tones when not adjusted properly so this turns a lot of players away.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with the above statements.

I bought one around '91 and thought it was pretty good. Sold it years later and just recently bought a new one. Couldn't get rid of the new one fast enough.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

tried out a new setting and it's very nice; real marshally. inspired by a few posts in here, it goes as follows:
level: variable though 12:00 was pretty good
low: 1:30
high: 1 o'clock
middle: maxed out(right)
mid freq: 2 o'clock
distortion: anywhere from 9:00 to max sounded good

it's a very chunky setting, much fuller and smoother than you would think. with the mids dialed in this way it's not so nasaly. and with the treble on a lower setting, it's not so buzzy. so..... i win!:approve:
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I had one for two weeks . . .

. . . then traded it for a BD-2 !

Best trade i ever made, because the BD-2 was made for me !

I wanted a BRUUTAL dist. box at the time, and the sales clerk said, "this is what you want" ! So i bought it.
I NEVER could get the tone out of it, what was in my head.
(i did not know it at the time, but the tone in my head sounded very similar to that of a OLC OrangePeel)
To me it sounded wayyyy to thin, & fizzy, as aposed to PHATT & fuzzy.
Even with the bass maxed, i was not happy with it, so i traded it !

My brother on the other hand liked the tone, and he is very far from a metal player !



James




EDIT :

. . . my (used) FZ-2 & FZ-3 has replaced the spot that the MT-2 was meant for.
I still want an OrangePeel though ! Maybe this year !
 
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Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

SlowGroove said:
So are you trying to say it would appeal to non-metal players that's looking for a hi-gain stomp box ?


James
Click to expand...

i'm more of a ska/blues/rock guy(wierd combo i know:D) and it definitely appeals to me. i'm also a bit of a tweaker and all those different sounds you could get from messing with the freq. knob is what's really cool about it to me.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

Way back in the '90s when I started to return from multi FX units to a few stompboxes, I A/B tested that with my old DS1.

The Old Fart Orange made it clear in a sec, who's the BOSS ;)
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

NecroPolo said:
Way back in the '90s when I started to return from multi FX units to a few stompboxes, I A/B tested that with my old DS1.

The Old Fart Orange made it clear in a sec, who's the BOSS ;)
Click to expand...


I can relate to that !
I prefer the old grand-daddy DS-1 over the MT-2 aswell !
Now if that DS-1 just had more deeper bass !


James
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I think it's fun to fool around with occasionally, but i can't justify buying it.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

i used to use it in conjunction with the SD-1 in front of a fender clean amp and for what i remember it sounded pretty kick ass for old type of heavy metal and hard rock tones.. not the best or detailed of distortion but it defenetly worked well for me, i absolutely hated it by itself bu set with mederate gain and boosted by an sd-1 it sounded pretty nice when dialed in right.
 
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