Half way between HM-2 style pedal and Rat style pedal?

[Moltar]

Long post ahead...

I have been using on and off a few HM-2 style pedals as a boost with a few different Orange heads, and I had been blending them with the dry signal either with the blend knob on some of the pedals, or on ones without a blend knob I had been using a separate One Control blender pedal. I then run them into a decent crunch level of gain on my amp.

I was using them in a way that used a decent bit of the pedal distortion, but without the extreme EQ settings that get that chainsaw sound. I more just was using them for the textured midrange and the crunchy way they break up in the low end. I had been using a Lone Wolf LHW Deluxe for a while(sold it cause the builder is nuts), replaced it with a Wren and Cuff Hangman and the One Control blender I had mentioned for blending in dry signal, and now I also have a custom made Dunwich HM-2 with a built in blend knob.

I love the sound I get from them for death metal set up this way by keeping the EQ lower, and blending them into the dry signal, I can get a really interesting textured crunchy midrange that was somewhat similar to a Proco Rat style pedal but with its own thing going on as well.

My problem I have found with all these HM-2 type pedals I have used is that they really aren't very harmonically active at all. Especially trying to get harmonics on higher strings and definitely unwound strings... extremely hard unless you hit them 100% perfectly.

When I plug on of my Rat style pedals in or even the actual Rat reissue that I have, it suddenly comes to life harmonically.

I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions of a pedal that is somewhere in between the two? Chunky and textured midrange/bass but actually harmonically active like a Rat. Or even just a harmonically active HM-2 style pedal.

Thanks.

 

[Bearitone]

The Throat Locust from Earthbound Audio sounds really versatile from the one demo of it that’s up on YouTube, and he’ll throw a clean blend on one if you want. It’s an HM-2 style pedal.

If you want an LM-308 sound like a rat maybe check out his Iron Pig (the latest version). I believe it comes stock with a clean blend and tons of clipping options (other than just the lm-308)

EDIT: I was wrong, the latest version doesn't have an LM-308 chip.

 

[Beheroth]

Have you tried boosting it with an OD ? that might do the trick.
Other than that have look at what boutique guys making HM2 clones are making, maybe they're making what you are looking for.
Dunn Effects is working on a Harmonic Percolator with an HM2 EQ : https://www.instagram.com/p/BettBvdDhWO/?taken-by=dunneffects
Dunwich Amp on the Judas, a parallel op amp distortion and transistor fuzz that are blended together into a HM2 EQ : https://www.instagram.com/p/Berba2-g5i2/?hl=fr&taken-by=dunwichamps
Since you already have a dunwich custom HM2, i suggest you contact him and see what he can do for you, maybe a RAT with a HM2 EQ ...

 

[KailM]

^^^Like he said, maybe try boosting the pedal with an OD set to "clean boost."

I do this with my HM-2 into the front end of a 6505. The HM-2 is a very difficult pedal to dial/control. I run its distortion at zero, usually. And the best results have been with the amp gain set far below normal. When I started boosting it with an OD, that's when I finally got the response I wanted. It became a lot tighter and punchier, and the pedal didn't totally overwhelm the tone. So it pretty much has the 6505 tone and response, with some chainsaw gnarl mixed in.

 

[Moltar]

These are all great suggestions thanks guys. I think I might try a few of them soon. Going to try boosting the volume running into the HM-2 style pedals(Wren and Cuff Hangman, and Dunwich custom HM2 with blend knob) and see what happens. Though I am worried about noise and feedback at high volume as by themselves they were always a bitch to keep in check. Even with a noise gate there is always some screech if I'm not careful or if some settings are even a hair too high.

I'm also going to try running my Rat as I use it now with full volume and maybe 1/4 on the gain and try putting the HM-2 style pedals after it with unity volume and as neutral sounding EQ as I can get it, and then just try blending the HM2 distortion back into the signal before going into the amp. Might have to bring down the Rat gain a bit to compensate but that's ok as a lot of what I love about the Rat sound is when the level is on full it breaks up in a chewy cool chunky way.

I also might look into those pedals from Dunn effects and Dunwich as they look neat but would need more info. Going to try the aforementioned fixes first though.

 

[Shask]

Yeah, I was gonna suggest boosting the HM2 with the Rat. I built a Rat clone recently, and I really like it as a boost with the volume and filter on nearly max, and the gain at 8-9 oclock. It gives a nice crunchy saturation to the sound that is different than a typical Tubescreamer boost.

 

[dunwichamps]

Might be interesting to build a RAT but with the EQ from a HM2. That would be a nasty sounding pedal.

 

[Moltar]

I haven't had the opportunity to try any of these ideas still(been sick), but what would be an awesome pedal(for me at least) would be a full featured Dunwich Volt, or other Rat style pedal with a section that lets you blend in JUST the gain circuit of the HM2. That would be cool I think for me as I was always after the HM2 gain buzz rather than the insane EQ settings.

Anyway Ill get back to you guys when I test these few various ideas here in the thread.