Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

hanumanlangur

hanumanlangur

New member
I just got one a few days ago, and I have to say that it's probably the best heavy distortion pedal I've ever used. At stock settings, it just sounds fizzy, thin, scooped, but once the treble is tamed a little bit and the mids come out, then good tones are possible. The EQ controls are really the great part about this pedal -- they're so flexible and dynamic that it can sound totally different with just some slight adjustments.

I can get some really nice high-gain Marshall sounds out of it with the right settings, going into a clean tube amp. And the more I crank up the amp, the better it sounds. Example settings:

Level: 8:00
High: 10:30
Low: 1:30
Mid: 5:00 (maxed)
Mid Freq: 12:00
Dist: 12:00 (variable)

Anyone else out there like this gray little box with a bad reputation? Before getting it, I checked YouTube, and there was only one guy who actually got good tones with the thing. Everyone else was playing with that fizzy scooped tone that every kid has dialed into cheap metal stompboxes ever since the early 90's.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I've owned one or two, but it was during my more formative years before I knew anything about tone or how to properly set up my equipment. I remember that it was capable of massive buzzsaw gain and that the mid freq. control was remarkable powerful.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

i got what I though was a good sound using it with the boss eq-7, it really smoothed out the sound of the Metal Zone.

Settings like:
Bass: 12 oclock
Treble: 1.5 oclock
Mid semi scooped

EQ7 with a big mid-hump.

Got a recto type sound with those settings.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I remember trying out a Metal Zone when I was about 14 and even then I thought it was too over the top for me. I thought it was really good at what it did, but it wasn't my thing.

I think a lot of people are quick to dis it because it puts out some really nasty distortion, but that's kind of the point. It's also very sculpt-able with the EQ controls, which makes it a pretty powerful pedal.

Of course, as with all BOSS distortions, it can be improved tremendously with a few simple mods.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

It was pretty darn cool back in the early 90's when it first came out and I was into metal and had a crappy amp.

It offered a level of control with the para mid sweep, as well as a massive amount on distortion than really no other pedals had back then.

There really wasn't much to choose from in terms of amps either, it was either affordable SS stuff like Crate and Peavey or far too expensive tube models (that on a high schools budget, making $4.25/hr part time you couldnt afford lol)

Though my 2x12 SS 100w Crate amp and Jackson guitar with EMG's it sounded pretty awesome to me. Sounded like an actual Marshall I thought.

As time went on I became less a fan of the buzzy mid scooped massive gain sound it exceled at, but for its time it was defiantly a great pedal

Still not bad today, certainly way down on the list for most of us, but if you keep the gain way backed off, it can do some decent crunch sounds.

Its just a generation of black tshirted teens (myself included lol) gave it a bit of a stereotypical reputation for doing nothing but fizzy grind back in the day I think
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

The Metal Zone was the pedal I owned for the shortest period of time: less than twenty-four hours. I brought it home and tried it, liked it for about seven minutes, then tired of the beehive effect. Back in box.

- Keith
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I gave it a shot for about 10 minutes when I was shopping for a heavy distortion. Then I bought a Metal Muff. Pwnd the metal zone.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I love my metal zone...I find it very usable as well as extremely adjustable. It works great through either my Super Reverb or my home-made version of a Deluxe Reverb. It doesn't do much for my Laney though. My current assumption is that it prefers amps with some "give" in them.

My settings...
level: 12:00
treble: 11:30
bass: 3:00
middle: 12:30
mid freq: 12:00
dist: 10:00

volume on the Super @ 3
volume on "deluxe" @ 4.5

Really makes em move some air!
 
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Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

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

I was in a hardcore band in college and one of the guitarists used a Marshall 100W Valvestate and sometimes a Metal Zone. Properly adjusted, he got some great tones, early Poison the Well sound for one.

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

I bought one in about '89 or '90, took it home and realized I hated it. Took it back the next day and replaced it with a DS-1. Never looked back.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

My lil bro has one, and I hate it. Especially with noisy single-coils.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

i use mine sparingly, or let my buddy use it as his main sound when we jam. i set both midrange controls all the way to the right, treble at about 9:30, bass at 12:00, and level and gain to taste, usually high level low gain. sounds really warm for such a pedal with those kinds of settings, mostly because instead of those buzzy highs that the treble control brings out, it has nice rounder highs from the mids control.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

It can sound good through the right amp. A friend of mine has it set just right to get decent metal tones through a PV Classic 30. I didn't use mine much and eventually sold it though.
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I had one- they have to be played through the right amp- and with an EQ- like the Boss GE-7. It gave me the Metallica Black album tone right out of the box. However, I could never get a good solo tone out of it
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

I think it's a pretty cool pedal in the big scheme of things. Underutilized, stly IMO. The eq is pretty sporty, and never be a afraid to use LESS than max fuzz, and you can get some very hip sounds. Max the gain and scoop the mids to max and you'll sound like everything you hate about the pedal.

And what's wrong with a Rockman? Got my best scorps tone ever with one. Then again, they probably did too!!!
 
Re: Who here has actually played a Metal Zone?

Man, I find it amazing that people can twist knobs on a pedal with a dynamic 3-band EQ for a few minutes and then just decide that it sucks. It never seems to occur to these people that they just suck at using the equipment. It's the same thing with pickups, amps, etc. It's always the equipment's fault, and that's why only boo-teek stuff sounds good.
:earl:
 
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