Help choosing metal distortion to use with solid state PA -

[gu1t4r]

I have been reading this forum for almost 4 years. Don’t post much here because my English is a little mess up (not my first language)
I know there is a lot of cool people here that knows a lot about tone and post on this forum. So I decided to ask for some help.

I need some ideas on lead/rhythm metal distortion pedals or amp modeling processors that sound good through a solid state PA (can’t afford the real thing).
I am thinking about the Boss GP-20 Amp Factory, J-station or SansAmp GT-2. I have $150 to expend on this.
I’m looking for a metal sound that responds well to picking attack and palm muting.
I’m in to neo classical/technical metal/prog metal/fusion I need some kind of smooth distortion that works well with speed picking/legato. Right now I don’t care much about clean or blues sounds and effects like delay, reverb etc because the Digitech rp-100 that I have can do some of that.

The distortion on the Digitech RP100 sounds really bad for palm muting and speed picking. It is hard to hear the picking attack and it sounds like a mess.

The Boss GP-20 sounded so much better at the store. The music stores locally do not have j-station in stock any more. They did have the SansAmp but I forgot to try at the store.

This is my setup:
Kramer 7 strings + Digitech RP100 + PC for recording or Electar 60w solid state PA mixer + Electar speakers that came with it. The two speakers have a 10 speaker and a 3.5 Tweeter. I am thinking if it is worth changing the speakers later.

I like some of the sounds that John Petrucci, Allan Holdsworth, Spiral Architect get etc… So you get the idea of the sounds I’m going after. I am not in to Creed but I like the sound they get out of their amps in some of their songs. But I am not exactly trying to have the sound of someone else. Just looking for a good sound

Any way…
Any help is really appreciated!

[The Dark Wolf]

Well, that throws my idea out the window! Lol... I was going to suggest one of the new Digitech modeling processors, since I use a RP300 into a Behringer solid state mixing board (BTW, most mixers made these days, like, 99.9% probably, are solid state) and I love the sounds I get. Maybe you're just not programming it right. The RP100, 200, 300, GNX, all are built from the same simulations, and will have similar sounds. I get the full range of distortion tones from mine, and all sound smooth and amp-like... So, I don't know what to say. Maybe you just need to tweak. For smoother runs, use the Stack setting, and give it a boost in the midrange. Use a nice speaker simulation, like the Vintage setting, on Mic placement 2, and that is pretty smooth.

If ya don't like that, and you have about $150 dollars, and don't care about effects, a pure distortion/amp modeler might be the ticket for you. Or perhaps a good distortion pedal. I've head good things about the Boss DS-1, and the Boss Metal Zone. Tube Screamer clones are a good bet... but probably not the best thing for straight into a board. That's the problem with a distortion pedal, I guess. Most would sound iffy... maybe even NASTY, sirect into a mixer. Perhaps the Amp Factory is a good bet for you, altho I have never played one before, and can't comment on tone. Heck, I would've told you to get the Digitech!

[JESTER700]

Yeah - pedal into board sounds terrible; buzzy. *The modelers really are a better bet for going right into a board.

Really try hard to find a J-station (or check out Behringer's V-Amp); it sounds like what you need, and you can add switching to give you a bunch of sounds. *I love the GT2, but you'll only get one sound out of it at a time; not good for live.

If you can pony up $200, you might find a used POD or DG Stomp. *The DG Stomp is awesome for me, but it doesn't excel at really high gain stuff. *BUT, it has rudimentary switching built in so you don't have to buy another switch right away.

[gu1t4r]

Thanks for all the help!

Sorry it took so long for a reply.

I was not very specific when I wrote the name of the artists that has the sound that I like.
I’m looking for a sound that Petrucci got on Liquid Tension Experiment ex: Universal Mind
Does anybody know which amps he used?

Here is my little review of the amp modeling devices that I tried.
I got the boss amp factory from Musician Friend, played with it for a couple of days than sent it back.
It did not sound as good as I heard in the store. To make a tighter sound I had to back up the distortion and use the compressor from the RP100. By doing that I could not use the other effects like reverb etc without sound bad. The BOSS is very quiet. It has very nice clean or quasi-clean sounds. And the sound is very clear in your face. Not like the J-station that sounds distant.
I think the boss can be good for people that do not need a very tight sound.

I also tried the V-amp v1 at the store. It was VERY noisy. Maybe it had a faulty power supply. I like the modeling from the Boss better. The V-amp did not have that tight sound that I’m looking for, so I didn’t spend a lot of time with it.

Now I have a J-station that I got from Musician Friend. Is the best of all four.
The rectified is my favorite amp in the J-station and is the tighter sounding. When I shred lower in the neck I can hear the notes better than with the other amp modelers.
It’s not exactly what I wanted not tight enough. But is good for now. Any ideas are very much welcome.

(Edited by gu1t4r at 10:59 pm on Mar. 27, 2002)