NPD: Modded Boss MT2 Metal zone

[DudeManBrother]

Apparently the Behringer HM300 is a pretty accurate clone of the HM2, theres a few videos comparing it and it fares well. It's pink though.

I may buy one to see if I can get a tone I like out of that kind of pedal. Some of the demos where the mids/high knob isn't on 10 sound pretty cool.

I've got one and it is a great clone of the HM2. Now that I have the Throne Torcher though it'll collect dust with my Taiwan HM2 I'm sure. But for $30 new it's worth messing with. Also, the EQ doesn't have to be dimed to get the chainsaw tone. You can get much better tones IMO running it more conservatively.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Apparently the Behringer HM300 is a pretty accurate clone of the HM2, theres a few videos comparing it and it fares well. It's pink though.

I may buy one to see if I can get a tone I like out of that kind of pedal. Some of the demos where the mids/high knob isn't on 10 sound pretty cool.

"It's a great, cheap alternative."
"Well? What's the problem?"
"IT'S PINK!"

 

[Shask]

Cheapskate!

Nah, I'm just messing with you. What mods would you do to it, though?

I actually want to try a stock one. I did Keeley mods to several Boss pedals 10-15 years ago (has it been that long???), and honestly, I kept feeling like I was liking the stock sounds better. Most of the pedal mods replace the caps with higher quality, so the sounds get clearer with more clarity. That sounds like a good thing, but I started feeling like they were losing their character. More clear and sterile instead of gritty and crunchy in their own imperfect way. Also, many times they up the cap values, so they get fatter, mushier, and not as clear and defined.

At one point I had 4 SD-1, all modded in different ways. I started to prefer the stock one after awhile, because it sounded imperfect.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I actually want to try a stock one. I did Keeley mods to several Boss pedals 10-15 years ago (has it been that long???), and honestly, I kept feeling like I was liking the stock sounds better. Most of the pedal mods replace the caps with higher quality, so the sounds get clearer with more clarity. That sounds like a good thing, but I started feeling like they were losing their character. More clear and sterile instead of gritty and crunchy in their own imperfect way. Also, many times they up the cap values, so they get fatter, mushier, and not as clear and defined.

At one point I had 4 SD-1, all modded in different ways. I started to prefer the stock one after awhile, because it sounded imperfect.

Ah cool. I kinda wish someone would take some of my pedals off my hands in exchange for an MT-2 [possibly clipping C25 and C35, though I'd test it out first before doing that], and an HM-2. I know the MT-2 makes a decent preamp, and I'm kinda curious how the HM-2 would fair either as a preamp, or using the HM-2 as a boost pedal in front of the MT-2 used as a preamp.

 

[Shask]

Apparently the Behringer HM300 is a pretty accurate clone of the HM2, theres a few videos comparing it and it fares well. It's pink though.

I may buy one to see if I can get a tone I like out of that kind of pedal. Some of the demos where the mids/high knob isn't on 10 sound pretty cool.

I plan on building a BYOC Swede eventually. Looks like a good clone.

I wish there was a cheap clone that was not plastic.... and pink, lol.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I plan on building a BYOC Swede eventually. Looks like a good clone.

I wish there was a cheap clone that was not plastic.... and pink, lol.

The Swede does look good, but having someone else build it for you costs almost as much as just buying a vintage HM-2.

 

[Shask]

The Swede does look good, but having someone else build it for you costs almost as much as just buying a vintage HM-2.

I can build the pedals easy, as far as electronics. It is the painting that is a PITA, lol. I have a box in my basement I have been trying to paint for a month for a Parametric EQ. Built the actual circuit board in an hour, still cant get the paint right after 6 weeks.

 

[Shask]

Ah cool. I kinda wish someone would take some of my pedals off my hands in exchange for an MT-2 [possibly clipping C25 and C35, though I'd test it out first before doing that], and an HM-2. I know the MT-2 makes a decent preamp, and I'm kinda curious how the HM-2 would fair either as a preamp, or using the HM-2 as a boost pedal in front of the MT-2 used as a preamp.

For high gain pedals, I plan on buying the Caline Red Devil sometime soon. It looks pretty interesting in videos.

 

[mnemonic]

I plan on building a BYOC Swede eventually. Looks like a good clone.

I wish there was a cheap clone that was not plastic.... and pink, lol.

Yeah, haha, they could have at least made it not pink.

The Arion Metal Master is supposed to be similar again, but less close from the videos I've watched. It's black, at least. But still plastic.

I can solder no problem, so maybe I should try building one. Or building some other pedal that I can't find a cheap clone of.

 

[mnemonic]

Got my computer working on Windows, and cubase still works, so I recorded some clips, why not.

https://soundcloud.com/theharshclimate/sets/some-clips

hopefully that link works.

1st clip is my recto patch unboosted as a baseline. Then boosted by the modded metalzone, settings in the picture (c25 and c35 clipped out is the only mod). Then just for fun, a clip boosted with my Bodenhamer bloody murder modded TS.

clips came out way more gained out than they sound through my poweramp and cab.


Also there is a clip of the modded metalzone run direct into an impulse (one of the stock ones in the Axe FX, the ML Recto Cab with the 57/121 if I recall correctly) for Spaced Out Ace.

It's okay, you don't have to go through all of that trouble.

too bad

 

[Shask]

Yeah, haha, they could have at least made it not pink.

The Arion Metal Master is supposed to be similar again, but less close from the videos I've watched. It's black, at least. But still plastic.

I can solder no problem, so maybe I should try building one. Or building some other pedal that I can't find a cheap clone of.

With the BYOC Swede you can order it with a powder coated and screen printed box for $10 extra or something. This would make it like a million times easier. Like I said above, been trying to paint a few, and it is such a PITA compared to the soldering.

Honestly, I was gonna build several clones for the hell of it. Then I found Caline. They offer clones of several pedals for like $25. I couldn't build them that cheap. I would rather upgrade those with better caps and such than spend more building from scratch. Joyo has some nice ones also. I have only been looking at clones that have metal cases, and through-hole parts so far.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Got my computer working on Windows, and cubase still works, so I recorded some clips, why not.

https://soundcloud.com/theharshclimate/sets/some-clips

hopefully that link works.

1st clip is my recto patch unboosted as a baseline. Then boosted by the modded metalzone, settings in the picture (c25 and c35 clipped out is the only mod). Then just for fun, a clip boosted with my Bodenhamer bloody murder modded TS.

clips came out way more gained out than they sound through my poweramp and cab.


Also there is a clip of the modded metalzone run direct into an impulse (one of the stock ones in the Axe FX, the ML Recto Cab with the 57/121 if I recall correctly) for Spaced Out Ace.

Very cool. Now if only I could find someone willing to trade me one, I'd be all set.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

How similar is a Rocktron Metal Planet to a Metal Zone?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

just unsoldered the c25/c35 caps to see how the mt2 sounds now. will report back after playing around with it.
Here's a gut shot of the modded mt2. I don't know what's been changed from stock.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

lasse lammert demos the mt2 as a boost for a jcm800

 

[macgruber]

^^^ if it was a blind demo of the last 30 seconds of that video, i would have sworn that was a 5150 and not a jcm800 with a mt-2.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

@Shask Thanks for mentioning Caline. The Red Devil sounds pretty cool in many demoes.

For the modders, do any of you know of mods or a way to take a stock Metal Zone and make it less compressed and more open, widen the upper mids for clarity, and tame some of the fizz? I actually find myself coming back to the MT2 time and time again because there's some type of character that I really like, but the pedal is about 75-80% and I can't seem to get it past about 90% to where I want with the right amp.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

@Shask Thanks for mentioning Caline. The Red Devil sounds pretty cool in many demoes.

For the modders, do any of you know of mods or a way to take a stock Metal Zone and make it less compressed and more open, widen the upper mids for clarity, and tame some of the fizz? I actually find myself coming back to the MT2 time and time again because there's some type of character that I really like, but the pedal is about 75-80% and I can't seem to get it past about 90% to where I want with the right amp.

I'd suggest using it as a preamp into a power amp.

 

[mnemonic]

@Shask Thanks for mentioning Caline. The Red Devil sounds pretty cool in many demoes.

For the modders, do any of you know of mods or a way to take a stock Metal Zone and make it less compressed and more open, widen the upper mids for clarity, and tame some of the fizz? I actually find myself coming back to the MT2 time and time again because there's some type of character that I really like, but the pedal is about 75-80% and I can't seem to get it past about 90% to where I want with the right amp.

Removing the C25 and C35 caps does make it a lot clearer sounding, I'd recommend that mod to anyone. That's about half of the boogie/Jcm mod.

You can make it less compressed by changing the clipping diodes (D3 and D4) to LED's or multiple diodes in series on each side (like two 1n4148's on each side). Or an LED on one side and a diode on the other for asymmetrical clipping.

From memory I have an LED on one side and a 1n4001 on the other, it's less compressed this way, I can get the distortion knob up higher before it clips so hard.

Make sure your diodes are facing the right way.

 

[Shask]

@Shask Thanks for mentioning Caline. The Red Devil sounds pretty cool in many demoes.

For the modders, do any of you know of mods or a way to take a stock Metal Zone and make it less compressed and more open, widen the upper mids for clarity, and tame some of the fizz? I actually find myself coming back to the MT2 time and time again because there's some type of character that I really like, but the pedal is about 75-80% and I can't seem to get it past about 90% to where I want with the right amp.

Caline makes some interesting stuff! I bought close to 20 of them after this was posted I am usually not a fan of high gain distortion pedals, but the Red Devil is one of the best I have played. It is darker and chunkier and takes a very high treble setting to get fizzy/fuzzy. I find most high gain pedals to be very fizzy/fuzzy with weak lows.