I love my metal zone. I mostly use it as a preamp pedal and run it into the effects return either on my katana or bugera 50 watt tube head. It really is a versatile pedal if you're willing to spend the time tweaking your sound. Once you get it right where you want it leave it alone. Built like a tank too.

@clementmorin4962

6 күн бұрын

Also love my MetalZone ! for me the best distortion pedal of the 90s, must be run in the return of your amp, or in the input with verry low treble on the amp's preamp :)

@clementmorin4962

6 күн бұрын

I also use it as a boost with my Bugera 6262, Engl Powerball or JCM2000, like Cannibal Corpse guys))

Thanks for the review Elmo 🙏✌️❤️🎵🎼🎶

A great video by you as always.

I've been hearing a lot about these pedals lately, professor. They seem to be the talk of the Internet again. And I have to agree, honestly. The Metal Zone does have definition that the other two are lacking. However, it's a bit...generic? It doesn't sound bad IMO. It's just a bit ordinary. (Sometimes you need that.) The side-by-side comparison was something I've been wanting since these resurfaced on KZread, so I very much appreciate today's video. Thank you!

MT-2 such a nice pedal with proper use - it has an incredible EQ - you can emulate even a Marshallesque tone out of it. There is an easy mod for Metal Zone - you need to cut pair of capacitors and it starts to sound with not that wah-locked tone but more opening, wider. I have got a clone from a behringer to test it and it was so nice so i left it in pedalboard as main over/dist. I would say even with comparing with recta it sounds ok (but recta was better of course ). Really nice pedal with shittin tone and a lot of problem for newbie and without them at all for more experinced person.

Ola Englund was able to make the Metal Zone sound pretty damn good by putting it in the effects loop of an amp. If you put it in front, it will sound like ass.

@dannyllerenatv8635

Ай бұрын

You can run it in the front end, but it will take more time to play with the EQ. Country and blues folks love it funny enough, very versatile at low gain levels.

I've got the Metal Zone Waza Craft, and it absolutely kicks metal a$$! Great videos btw👍🤘

Thanks for this comparo. The Metal Zone actually sounded all right in front of the Marshall. It had a lot of "ong," which I like. Taming all that distortion might be the hard part. Or maybe taming all that ice-pick high end would be the hard part. But it might be worth it.

High gain distortion tends to require that the mids are scooped so much that they barely register at all in the guitar sound. Well of course that is what the metal heads desire - but it is a very limited (though powerful) guitar soundscape. One budget high gain pedal I would like to recommend is the Fat Ox by Metal Ox. I don't know if these are still available but it is a nice sounding distortion pedal with a three band eq. So if you aren't going all out for gain, then it can give some very nice mid tones - hence the name I think - Fat Ox!

turn the distortion down on on the metal zone.....it has an amazing eq

@Alfredo78666

4 ай бұрын

And don't forget to turn the volume all the way down to zero

Fun video, Elmo. I never cared much for the HM-2 as the bottom end is so loose and lacking punch. In my opinion, the MT-2 is the most useable; however, it sounds best in the FX loop but the output volume can be a bit quiet for band applications. I have no personal experience with the ML-2; however, I do have the BOSS ST-2 Power Stack, which was released at the same time as the Metal Core, and it's probably my favorite distortion pedal. It's extremely versatile delivering a smooth sound from crunch to high gain and delivers really nice harmonics. I would enjoy seeing you cover this pedal in the future as well as some of the other more obscure BOSS distortion pedals like the MD-2 Mega Distortion. Anyway, cheers!

Living in North America I'd not heard of Swedish Death Metal. I guess it means I should take greater care when I use my Husquvarna chain saw. Thanks Elmo

@MrPolevaulter

4 ай бұрын

:D

@michaelkarlsson5966

4 ай бұрын

early 90s Entombed, Dismember, Grave, Carnage, Unleashed and even the first Darkthrone album (eventhough they are from Norway and quickly switched to black metal). Swedish Death Metal was (is?) a well known genre in the extreme metal world. Maybe you are not into extreme metal or you are abit younger? Anyway, you've got something to dig into now 🙂👍

@KarstenJohansson

4 ай бұрын

They sound similar.

@daniellarson3068

4 ай бұрын

@@KarstenJohansson You made me laugh - Thanks

The MT2 sounded really nice on the Marshall. It sounds really different (and better IMHO) when connected to the effects loop. Don't know about the others in an actual room, but didn't like their sound in this video. Thanks!

Good review. It looks like you reacted to Boss distortion like I did back in the 90s. I hated them, still do. They're too fizzy and synthetic, with miserable EQ. I always prefered DOD pedals (some of those were terrible, too). Even delay, I didn't care for Boss. They made a great drum machine in the 90s. I always found Boss to sound terrible. ESPECIALLY any thing with "Metal" in the name. Fizzier and harsher than anything. Thanks for your thoughts, man.

Metal Zone is a great pedal, once dialed in. The only gripe I have with it, is the lack of note definition and balance when playing chords

LOL Elmo, and I think of Granfors Bruks and an axe obliterating a tree to the backdrop of my axe in my ear buds.

The metal zone gets a bad rap but makes a great preamp booster pedal with the level up and the dist down

@richardjones2811

3 ай бұрын

So it basically does the job of any overdrive at twice the price.

I think Metal Zone gets hate because it was so popular for many years, and people just like to hate on popular things. It's a great pedal.

Well done ... you did a great demo These pedals are "pre drop metal" and just shine with a six string top axe of their time like the JEM imho. Me liked the screaming upper mids of the MT-2, the more brutal lower mids of the Core. The HM-2 timbre is new to me ears and a little less "hard rocky" ... but that's a personal thing. The 7-string showed the limited usage for "modern metal" imho. ... there are more suitable "black" boxes out there Thanks a lot for sharing

Nice! But what do they sound like with a stratocaster? 🙂

@kipponi

4 ай бұрын

These pedals should be played with superstratos like Elmo did. Stratocaster was made 1954 when I think was not heavy metal music😂.

Nice. When is your collab with Ola Englund?

metal core and metal zone sounded about identical in the first take.

The Metal Core is actually more versatile than I thought. Definitely some decent hard/classic rock tones in there with a little EQ

Metal zone can do a great Black Sabbath sound

those pedals are good only as a pre amp so plugged in into the effects loop return

@gearViewmirror

4 ай бұрын

I have a Digitech Grunge pedal, should i try that through the fx loop? It has 2 outputs: one to amp, one to 'mixer'!? Your thoughts would be much appreciated!🙏🏼🎸🤘🏼

@krumple4skin548

4 ай бұрын

Some bands use the mt2 as a boost pedal

@gearViewmirror

4 ай бұрын

@@krumple4skin548 I can recommend the Behringer SF-300 Super Fuzz for 25.-.....it has a setting for boost only and it delivers!😃

@krissymf

Ай бұрын

Listen to blackened sky album by biffy clyro - all metalzone distortion

@krissymf

Ай бұрын

All metalzone through clean channel of Marshall in blackened sky. Check it out

Hi Elmo, My name is Lorenzo and I'm writing to you from Italy. I've been wanting to write to you for a long time to tell you that I really appreciate your reviews of pedals, amplifiers, and guitars. You are a great guitarist and you are also very funny. Often in your reviews you play some simply amazing guitar licks that sound like they were played by Malmsteen, given your speed and your knowledge of his style. Why don't you publish a series of videos where you teach each lick one at a time and explain how to play them, with tablature on the screen? I'm not one to give advice, but I think you could increase your number of subscribers a lot that way. I hope I've sparked your creativity with this idea. See you soon, Lorenzo

These pedals will sound best plugging them directly into the power amp section of the effects loop, bypassing the amps tone stack and preamp. Otherwise they make good door stops.

I have play for years with those, but not with the metal core and i want to buy it, what ever for me te best is the mxr fullbore metal

The Boss HM-2 was my first pedal in about 1986. I got it with a solid state amp, a Cort electric guitar and a chorus pedal too I think. I traded in a 1955 Gibson SJ acoustic to get that stuff. Doh! They saw me coming.

@kipponi

4 ай бұрын

You were so stupid😂.

That waza suits you well i think!

Mt2 likes lower tuned guitar like drop b anything lower than standard. But not really my taste

Elmo says metal doesn't define him. True, but metal can also never defy him.... I heard Gilmour starts each day with this video. It's sounds cut through the fog and the dew... I like metal core. Sometimes too much is just enough. Chainsaw X2. It's a one trick pony. If that pony's one trick was to vomit metal chunks of treble boost. But it's still a natural/organic sound- 'cause, ya know, Ponys come from nature... That reminds me, Gilmour+HM-2+EMG's= 0rganic, natural overdrive. That's talent... 👍

Waza Craft special feature: When Elmo has all three pedals engaged he becomes the 6th member of Children of Bodom

i figured it out !!!

@RulgertGhostalker

3 ай бұрын

in a world without sub-saharans there would be no "popular opinion." only the social cohesion we need. so who is expecting everyone to substitute their need for social cohesion, with an artificial "popular opinion" ? facts are facts, if they are facts, and nothing anyone thinks about them changes that. fact: subsaharans constantly strive to elevate popular opinion above factual matter, because that's where their bullshit finds power over people's reality.

The metal zone really shines as a boost in front of an already overdriven amp.

'That Pedal Show' did an interesting experiment with the infinitely tweakable Metal Zone: they got a bunch of really well known and much loved (non metal) overdrives and distortion pedal and - with patience - got the Metal zone to sound fairly close to each one of them. kzread.info/dash/bejne/gWWkl7aPZ8anj5M.html&ab_channel=ThatPedalShow

😀

🤘👽👽👽🎸

The effect loop is key,otherwise they sound like this desaster here

Release the bees!

On the Jet, I thought Metal Core was better,

They're all OK, but all three really sound "line level" rather than actual speaker amp sounding, and this makes them sound artificial.

@hermespadilla

4 ай бұрын

I agree. But apparently that's the case with most distortion pedals. Now I started to understand why most guitarists prefer overdrive pedals. I play electric violin, and for my purposes Distortion pedals translate better than overdrives on my instrument, but for guitar I do think they do sound artificial

Just want to say hi

@rodrigobelinchon2982

4 ай бұрын

hi !

metal zone is not a bad pedal i agree especially if used as preamp. hm-2 does only one thing swedish death metal, you have to use a crunch sound on amp and every pot dimed on hm-2. it's certain a strange sound but it was hystorical. metal core is horrible piece of crap. i must agree with you, there are a lot of pedals that are worse than metal zone. it's not brilliant but with his powerful eq is quite usable and decent.

Great sounding distortion pedals are incredibly simple in term of technology. Why Boss makes such pieces of gear, with such an incredible build quality, but that sound LIKE SHIT !

@rodrigobelinchon2982

4 ай бұрын

I bought a couple pieces of Boss gear when i was starting learning guitar, did not have much money, but saved , wanted to invest in good gear... never again. And i don´t sell them because i don´t want to feel like I am lying to the guy who buys them from me.

Review identical as mine

GIMME METAL CORE OR GIVE ME DEATH!

The Metal Zone can ALWAYS sound good if you are willing to Dial it in with your Amp and are willing to back off the Gain, as necessary, that is, if you are willing. Mostly petulant 'punks' and impatient IQ challenged teens dismiss the MZ as "unusable". I mean, "C'mon Man!", think: BOSS developed it and made it exactly the way it is for GOOD REASONS as you will find.

All sounds bad😎.

Naaa,,,, fullbore metal. 👍 Joke, !!

Impressive, you made them all suck.

They're all rubbish compared to the ST-2

you always have the worst opinions.

@MrPolevaulter

3 ай бұрын

Haha :D