I need a pedal for Metal - I think.

[BigPants]

Hey,

I don't usually play Metal but it's my brother-in-laws 21st birthday later in the summer and I want to surprise him by playing a couple of his favourite tracks. He likes CKY in particular.

Now - I have no idea where to start looking for a metal pedal? Do I need something to drop an octave as well? I did look at the Danelectro Black range but they get mixed reviews.

My gear consists of a Marshall Vintage Modern 50W Amp, Les Paul Standard and USA Strat with SD Hot Rails in the bridge position.

Any ideas where to start?

 

[theGhost]

the best place to start is your price range...

 

[deathbyska76]

problem with most people that are starting to play metal is that they use TOO MUCH GAIN. the guitar turns into mush. << Thats coming from the engineer side of me.

Try to stay away from anything that says METAL right on it (IMHO), so for example, you think the ZVex Box of Metal might do it for you? Instead try the Zvex Box of Rock, and run a slight boost into it. with lots of compression. things like that. many people go out and buy 'metal pedals' to try and cop that metal sound from their favorite slayer album etc... without realizing that they were able to get that tone with big stack amplifiers, lots of outboard processing for his guitar rig, and a lot of studio processing and editing.

I think you would probably do just fine with a decent mid-high gain distortion pedal.... but just try a bunch out, and dont go TOO high gain.

 

[theGhost]

problem with most people that are starting to play metal is that they use TOO MUCH GAIN. the guitar turns into mush. << Thats coming from the engineer side of me.

Try to stay away from anything that says METAL right on it (IMHO), so for example, you think the ZVex Box of Metal might do it for you? Instead try the Zvex Box of Rock, and run a slight boost into it. with lots of compression. things like that. many people go out and buy 'metal pedals' to try and cop that metal sound from their favorite slayer album etc... without realizing that they were able to get that tone with big stack amplifiers, lots of outboard processing for his guitar rig, and a lot of studio processing and editing.

I think you would probably do just fine with a decent mid-high gain distortion pedal.... but just try a bunch out, and dont go TOO high gain.

I would definitely agree with these sentiments. Generally I find that any pedal that is created for "the brootz" pretty much blows. they have way too much gain, are grainy, fizzy, undefined, and generally terrible. MXR Full Bore Metal? Yuck. Digitech TL-2? No thanks. Metal Muff? Not a chance. Even the Zvex Box of Metal I have no interest in.

That said, I actually just bought a HBE "Full Metal Jacket", but what's funny is that it sounds way better and has a lot less gain with way more clarity than their "Doomsday Device". Heck, even their "Big D" can get you into the metal territory for sure.

 

[Moe45673]

My Hot British into a scooped mids EQ gave me a metal sound that rivalled my bandmates Rectifier Trem-o-verb. In my opinion I was better, but then again I'm biased

But yeah, it ain't gain. If it's just for this one gig, though, I'd recommend any good mid-hi gain pedal with a decent EQ after it with scooped mids, and turn the gain knob up until just before it oversaturates and turns to mush. I do this by strumming all open strings while I turn the knob.... trust me you'll hear it the mush when it happens.

Another good option is the Marshall Jackhammer. That has an OD and Dist setting and the dist. setting sucks. The OD setting, though, sounds amazing and you can get as hi gain as you want with it. Coupled with the built in EQ knobs, this pedal can do it, do it well, and for under 100 bucks. I bought mine way back when for 40 bucks on guitargeek!

 

[jeff h]

Keeley Metal Zone.
http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=16

 

[Jahn]

RAT.

 

[bynt]

I'd be interested in checking out Duncan's Metal Tube pedal.

 

[ben_allison]

 

[Cap'nMayhem]

It seems to me that CKY uses an octave down a lot so that may be something else to get. Maybe it's just my crappy computer speakers but their tone is fairly mushy anyhow. The best metal pedal IMO is the Menatone None More Black but it's $250 new and you didn't mention a price range. I'm not a metal player normally either but have a blast with mine. So I guess you need to ask yourself, How much use will I get out of whatever I buy?

 

[dorfmeister]

You just need one of these:

 

[Reckedtrek]

Barber Dirty Bomb.

It gets into the heavier range of things (maybe not quite as heavy as some listed above, but heavy enough for what you've mentioned) and also does mid gain well too. Versatile EQ, note clarity, TB, hand made. $99

 

[killtheidols]

metalmuff... not my favorite.. not super expensive.. still good

but i agree... push a "Rock " pedal to a metal sound... the vintage modern is a one channel right? you may add some little dirt there and make it over the top with another dist pedal on top of it... ive done that with some amps which the clean channel is to bassy and muddy... and with pedals it just gets worse

and what a good brother in law you are haha i dont have sisters and my brothers like a diff kind of music so im not sure how it would be in my case

 

[musica23]

My gear consists of a Marshall Vintage Modern 50W Amp, Les Paul Standard and USA Strat with SD Hot Rails in the bridge position.

Any ideas where to start?

I'd start with your amp! I've got a 50W Vintage Modern that puts out some pretty good tones in that vein. But if that's not enough, I'd go along with Barber's Dirty Bomb (excellent and ya can't beat the price) or Hardwire Metal Distortion (same approximate price: $100). I figure if you don't play much metal you won't wanna shell out too much. If ya wanna go even lower, try the Danelectro Cool Cat Metal 1...a steal at about $40, and well worth it!

 

[xntrick]

Barber Dirty Bomb.

It gets into the heavier range of things (maybe not quite as heavy as some listed above, but heavy enough for what you've mentioned) and also does mid gain well too. Versatile EQ, note clarity, TB, hand made. $99

+1 one for this if you have a tube amp

 

[Mike Hunt]

Just boost with your VM with a decent overdrive

 

[fuzz_factor]

Just boost with your VM with a decent overdrive

That's what I was thinking. I bet your amp sounds great. You might just need to goose it a bit to get a little more gain and compression.

 

[Hendro]

Barber Dirty Bomb.

It gets into the heavier range of things (maybe not quite as heavy as some listed above, but heavy enough for what you've mentioned) and also does mid gain well too. Versatile EQ, note clarity, TB, hand made. $99

+1 for the Dirty Bomb, great pedal

 

[cthroatgtr]

If you normally don't play metal I wouldn't spend too much. Just go pick up a Boss DS-1 or SD-1. I have for years used an SD-1 into a Rivera Knucklehead and have played some pretty heavy stuff. The DS-1 works well too and I think you can get one for about $40. If you like it you can get it modded by Keeley for a little more. Most metal excluding the extreme death metal is really just a little extra kick. Zakk Wylde for years just played an SD-1 into a Marshall. Vai, Satch, Gary Moore have all used DS-1 before with good success. The real difference is the SD-1 is more mid-based and the DS-1 is a little more open.

 

[RobJStanley]

the MXR FullBore Metal sounds like a really good pedal, lots of knobs to get the right tone.

Hopefully i'll be picking one of these up soon.

Oh and i love CKY too!