Abaddon9112
Well-Known Member
Those were awesome! the x50 and MT-2 definitely had the sound I'm going for, the HM-2 not so much.
Dirt pedal for old-school black metal
- Thread starter Abaddon9112
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Those were awesome! the x50 and MT-2 definitely had the sound I'm going for, the HM-2 not so much.
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JakeAC5253
yay square waves
Thanks. My MT-2 used to be modded when I only had my Mesa cab, but now that I've got this Splawn cab, which is naturally much more BM, I reverted back to stock and I like it much better stock in fact.
iron blast
Northern Winds
Im fairly certain Emperor used a metal zone during this timeframe
iron blast
Northern Winds
the Phosphene 976 kvlt pedal will definitely get that nasal Darkthrone sounding distortion as another vote the Dragonfly Bm1 Black Metal pedal or Alter Ego Effectors Damnation pedals are also good choices
Cuddles
Active Member
I actually have one of those damnation pedals, its cool but really not my thing for the type of black metal I play. Will get your pretty close to that immortal-darkthrone like tone that your after. I think I will hold on to mine until they are sold out, might be worth something one day...
Abaddon9112
Well-Known Member
I'm really surprised this topic is so popular, considering I'm not inquiring about Axe-FX, Kemper, or BKP pickups 
In all honesty though, I've recently gotten some very useable recorded BM tones with my Zoom G2Nu multieffects pedal. Here's an example from a new song I'm working on. I used the 5150 model through some kinda nasal-sounding impulse with a good amount of reverb.
https://soundcloud.com/abaddon9112/black-metal-sample-no-bass
The Zoom is a great tool for recording, but I really prefer an analog pedal for playing through an amp. It just feels more natural.
In all honesty though, I've recently gotten some very useable recorded BM tones with my Zoom G2Nu multieffects pedal. Here's an example from a new song I'm working on. I used the 5150 model through some kinda nasal-sounding impulse with a good amount of reverb.
https://soundcloud.com/abaddon9112/black-metal-sample-no-bass
The Zoom is a great tool for recording, but I really prefer an analog pedal for playing through an amp. It just feels more natural.
groph
Well-Known Member
Please, people don't just say "get a crappy amp and boom," that's useless advice that doesn't take the question seriously at all. Yes, it's a "bad" guitar tone but it's still a tone.
I'm no expert whatsoever but I'm pretty sure the shitty tone comes mostly from low-fi recording techniques, of which I know jack shit about. I'm not sure if there's a pedal out there that would emulate that or not. Yeah, an MT-2 can give you a hissy "black metal, lol" tone but it won't be very authentic. An HM2 wouldn't be all that far off, I don't think. Yeah it's going to have that grindy Swedish death metal/grindcore kind of tone but it's not too far off and it's usable in black metal for sure.
Live, I'm sure these bands sounded different than on record and really, any high gain amp tone will work for that.
I'm no expert whatsoever but I'm pretty sure the shitty tone comes mostly from low-fi recording techniques, of which I know jack shit about. I'm not sure if there's a pedal out there that would emulate that or not. Yeah, an MT-2 can give you a hissy "black metal, lol" tone but it won't be very authentic. An HM2 wouldn't be all that far off, I don't think. Yeah it's going to have that grindy Swedish death metal/grindcore kind of tone but it's not too far off and it's usable in black metal for sure.
Live, I'm sure these bands sounded different than on record and really, any high gain amp tone will work for that.
Eric Christian
Banned
Interesting... considering the fact that Quorthon was basically the creator of Black Metal and he used an Ibanez Destroyer and a 20watt Yamaha practice amp to record the entire self titled Bathory album.
All_¥our_Bass
Deathly Chuuni
And Varg recorded Burzum with a Guitar > Fuzz > Mixer chain.
JakeAC5253
yay square waves
All_¥our_Bass;3345093 said:
Interesting! What fuzz? Fuzz Face?
morrowcosom
Well-Known Member
For black metal get a Dod death metal distortion or a Digitech death metal distortion, cut a lot of the bass out and cram a half-dead battery in it (or a plug it into a faulty electrical socket).
pv_seven
Member
Washburn Soloist distortion=Dragonfly BM-1
Morax
Trve Kvlt
I use both of these and can attest that they are amazing! The Kvlt is one of my favourite pieces of gear I own, it can do the old school stuff really well but also with a bit of tweaking an easily take care of some more modern "kvlt" stuff like Wolves in the Throne Room or Xasthur. The Kvlt has a ton of volume on tap so I find it difficult to use to its full potential if you're trying to switch it off and get a good clean tone
The Damnation is a pretty different sound, not so much the shrill, trve kvlt kind of sound, it's moreso just a really good high gain distortion.
Another recommendation, which I'm currently using as my main distortion is the ARC Effects Big Green Pi: It's a Russian Muff clone, not strictly Black Metal but it's extremely versatile and can handle just about any subgenre of black metal out there. I use it through a peavey XXX mixed with an Orange Rocker 30 for a great Agalloch/Woods of Ypres type sound.
From Vice's (awesome) One Man Metal documentary it looks like Xasthur records directly into a boss multitrack unit and Leviathan uses a pod.
Also, since I am a raving Mayhem fanboy, some of their tones:
I remember reading that the tone on DMDS was: Les Paul --> Tube Screamer --> Arion Metal Master --> Marshall Plexi with the channels jumped and at a fairly low volume for recording.
I know that Mayhem used a first generation pod with no mastering to record Ordo Ad Chao, which has a pretty raw sound to it.
On the last North American tour they used Blackstar HT 100s, no effects
coffinwisdom
Well-Known Member
Metal Zone is a good choice you can get them for real cheap used.
Pretty much any decent distortion pedal honestly. Lots of gain, scooped mids, turn up the treble. Healthy amount of reverb.
You might like a fuzz pedal more for atmospheric tremolo picking minor chord type stuff tho the breakup and just overall lo-fi nastiness really adds a lot.
You're good with anything quality. The tone is more in your settings and how it's recorded. Yeah they used shit gear back then but that doesn't mean you have to.
Pretty much any decent distortion pedal honestly. Lots of gain, scooped mids, turn up the treble. Healthy amount of reverb.
You might like a fuzz pedal more for atmospheric tremolo picking minor chord type stuff tho the breakup and just overall lo-fi nastiness really adds a lot.
You're good with anything quality. The tone is more in your settings and how it's recorded. Yeah they used shit gear back then but that doesn't mean you have to.
minorseventh
Well-Known Member
if a tone could ever be misanthropic, it would be a Danelectro fish and chips EQ + metal muff into a solid state peavey. brrrrrr freezing minor chords
greendog86
Well-Known Member
+1 for the metal zone
or the old boss HM2, also can do this kickass early swedish metal tone.
or the old boss HM2, also can do this kickass early swedish metal tone.
bamfrosty
Active Member
iron blast
Northern Winds
I own one its pretty solid. It is a tubescreamer based pedal. Artec and Washburn both have pedals that are cheaper with the same sound for way cheaper.
