Best Pedal For Metal Solos

[Thrash]

What FX pedal do you think is the best for playing metal solos without getting to "fake-tone" sounding if that makes sense?

[waylay00]

New tube amp!

On a more serious note, what is your budget? What is your current amp?

[shogun]

Originally Posted by waylay00

New tube amp!

is that a pedal? never heard of it... who makes it? boss?

[Thrash]

I have a Mesa F-30 head and 2x12 Cab. I like the solo tone but want a pedal as well for different songs.

[shogun]

as i said earlier in another thread, i just got a marshall jackhammer, and love it... i would strongly advise that you stay as far away from a boss metal zone as possible.. they are terrible

[LonePhantom]

If you've got the extra green the Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor pedal sounds insanely sweet. That's even through a solid state amp.

[Shredder87]

Hmm... perhaps I'm going to make a sweeping judgment here, but nonetheless I base it on (a lot of) personal experience.

I would avoid ANY distortion pedal which is labelled "Metal". I have tried many, such as the aforementioned Boss Metal Zone and its Digitech equivelant, plus a variety of other distortion pedals which are labelled "Metal" and, to my ears, they ALL shared one common denominator; they all sounded like utter garbage. Horrible, tinny, noisey, and absolutely NO chance of being heard on stage or in a studio in a mix.

Best way is to set your amp up to get a "Metal" sound. What amp are you using? In most cases plenty of Gain, Lots of bass and treble and a little mids will get you a decent metal rhythm sound. Don't take out too much middle or you'll never be heard in the mix if you're playing in a band. And use an EQ pedal to add mids for a lead break...

'87

P.S. Other distortion/overdrive pedals may be of use however... just avoid anything labelled "Metal" because it is bound to sound garbage.

[waylay00]

Originally Posted by shogun

is that a pedal? never heard of it... who makes it? boss?

I was being sarcastic in the first place...

To the original poster, since you already have a good amp, just use its gain channel with some form of boost/OD to give you that "liquidy" feel. I would recommend an Xotic BB Preamp. I would also stay away from any of the "metal" pedals as described above.

[screamndemon69]

I'll second the overdrive idea with your current distortion on your amp (TS-9, Xotic, ect).

On a side note, I tried the new Boss Metal Core and was impressed thru a Mesa F-50 and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (both set to clean of course). I'm NOT a fan of the Metal Zone but the Metal Core does have potential IMHO.

[atimoc]

I would try an EQ pedal first (boost the mids as mentioned previously, maybe highs too), if that fails try some overdrive pedal like Digitech Bad Monkey, and only as an absolutely last resort buy a distortion pedal. You have a nice amp, using a pedal to distort the signal before it gets to the amp would be a shame.

[mi2tom]

Zoom g9.2tt

[Rotti]

It doesn't even matter. If you already have some drive and want something over the top get any decently high gain distortion pedal and play with it. If you have an ear for what you want you can dial in the sound.
I used to have the dreaded Boss Metal Zone and when setup up just right and in the right context. I could kick that sucker on and get insanely hot heavy molten in your face, tone dripping, face melting solos. It could also sound like crap depending on how the amp, pedal, guitar, and other pedals were setup. I'm talking live band situation not bedroom level which is a whole nother deal.

[Tank]

DamageControl Demonizer

[Algiman]

I'm still happy with my Keeley DS-1. Because it is fairly quiet you don't run in to the problems with excessive hiss that normally result from a pedal driving a high gain amp.

[courtney2018]

I'd either go with the Warp Distortion, the Ultra Metal or the Distortion Modeler! These things rock hard!!!!