Pedals - boost and where to go from here

[Tomo009]

Ok so my amp is an orange thunderverb 50, I currently have no boost or noise gate.

EDIT: Just realised I totally forgot to mention what I play. Well I play metal, basically any thrash, death metal, twisted version of either, everything in between etc.

Anyone know any pedals in particular that would fit well to boost and tighten the sound a little? I can get pretty good sounds straight from the amp, but its missing a little of that "directness".

Also need a noise gate as my effects are stating to create a bit of noise, I tried a BOSS NS-2 in store and noticed that it basically neutered the sound of anything put through it.

Also, this one i s a long shot, but I have a BOSS HM-2, I'm just having trouble taming it. Basically I struggle to get any definition like the brilliant sounds of just about any Sweedish death metal band that use it. Currently I'm actually running it through the amp on high gain with the pedals level and distortion rolled back a little and I can get some decent tones, but nowhere close to what I know its capable of. Running through a clean channel I just get plain fizz. If anyone has any experience with it.... which I doubt, it would be extremely helpful.

Any help is greatly appreciated, I'm still really sorting out a solid setup with my thunderverb 50.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Any TS style OD pedal will work as a great "boost", with the level set high, the gain almost at zero, and the tone about middle, it'll tighten your sound up pretty good, thanks to the filtering effect of this style of OD. Some great ones to look at are the Ibanez TS808, Ibanez TS9, Maxon OD808, BBE Green Screamer, and MXR Zakk Wylde OD. They're all pretty much slightly different flavors of the same dish.

As for a Noise Gate, the most transparent you're going to find is the Decimator series from ISP. Depending on your budget, and planned routing scheme, the Pro Rack G is probably the way to go. If that's too pricey (though it's worth it) then the G-String would be the next step down. There are also some great units from Rocktron and MXR but they'll color your sound just a pinch.

If you're getting a lot of noise from your pedals you should get a high quality all in one power supply designed to lower the noise caused by "dirty power". Also, ditch the cheap patch cables and custom cable your rig, it's actually cheaper than using pre-made cables, and looks cleaner and more professorial. Lastly, check to see which of your pedals aren't "true bypass". Quite often there are cheap and easy mods that can turn non-true bypass effects into true bypass.

 

[budda]

Try a TS808, BBE Green Screamer and anything else you can find into your amp, and see which you prefer.

What guitar are you using right now, and what cab?

 

[Soubi7string]

I prefer the Digitech Hardwire Tube OD

 

[emperor_black]

Cheapest and one of the best (IMO of course ) pedal is the Digitech Bad Monkey. Its an all analog pedal and is a very good replcation of the tube screamer. *cough* same green color.

The HM-2 is a distortion pedal. It goes in front of a Solid state amp and not in front of a tube amp. Well Cannibal corpse is known to use a Metal zone in front of a Dual rectifier but I'm not sure if they are boosting the clean channel or not.

In a distortion pedal the clipping occurs in the pedal itself and if you're trying to clip an already clipped signal by using it in front of the distorted channel, you have the perfect case of untamable fuzz! Use the bad monkey with gain near zero and level almost all the way up. Instant tube saturation heaven.

 

[thraxil]

Also, this one i s a long shot, but I have a BOSS HM-2, I'm just having trouble taming it. Basically I struggle to get any definition like the brilliant sounds of just about any Sweedish death metal band that use it. Currently I'm actually running it through the amp on high gain with the pedals level and distortion rolled back a little and I can get some decent tones, but nowhere close to what I know its capable of. Running through a clean channel I just get plain fizz. If anyone has any experience with it.... which I doubt, it would be extremely helpful.

The basic approach to the HM-2 for the Swedish death metal/Sunlight Studios sound is that you turn every knob on it all the way up and you run it into a solid state amp with a lot of headroom. A tube amp's clean channel will usually not have much headroom. It's expecting a signal level somewhere around what a guitar pickup puts out, which is pretty low, and is designed to do nice, interesting distortion when it gets a much hotter signal. That sounds great with an OD, giving you a nice crunch, but gets ugly with something like an HM-2, which is a huge signal booster.

The other thing to keep in mind is that it really is a very over the top sound, especially in person. What you hear on old Nihilist or Entombed recordings is guitar -> HM-2 -> solid state amp (Peavey Bandit, often) recorded with a microphone getting room tone, EQ'd, multi-tracked, and mixed with bass guitar (which provides the low end power) and drums. All that processing makes it sound very different than what you are going to hear when you're right there with it going straight from the speaker to your ears. "Untamable fizz" is... kind of the sound. On those old albums, they were going for "buzzsaw", not "defined." If you're only listening to the more modern recordings, most of those bands moved away from the original sound and are now mostly just using standard high gain tube amp + boost setups sometimes mixing in a track of HM-2 just enough to maintain that lineage.

 

[Forced Chaos]

Maxon 808 and an ISP Decimator G-String....you'll thank me later.

 

[priest_crucifix]

hi, well I'm new to 7 string guitars and i just wanted some help on picking one out , i play technical deathmetal such as necrophagist. i need a guitar that has emgs and can handle speed with a term bar , can u guys plz help i would really appreciate it , thanx again

 

[Tomo009]

Ok so some more things I seemingly completely failed to mention. I usually use an LTD H-1001, but also sometimes a Shecter Omen-7 and soon probably an ESP 8-string as well. I also use a stock Orange 4x12 cab.

My budget doesn't really matter, because even if I am unable to buy things now, I will save up. I have this compulsive hate of spending money on "lesser" than what I want only to go back and spend more later to get what I originally wanted.

Seems there a lot of options for boost, I guess I'm going to have to do some testing there, shouldn't be too difficult.

As for a Noise Gate, the most transparent you're going to find is the Decimator series from ISP. Depending on your budget, and planned routing scheme, the Pro Rack G is probably the way to go. If that's too pricey (though it's worth it) then the G-String would be the next step down. There are also some great units from Rocktron and MXR but they'll color your sound just a pinch.

I've heard a lot of good things about the ISP decimator so I guess that would be the way to go?

"Untamable fizz" is... kind of the sound. On those old albums, they were going for "buzzsaw", not "defined."

Maybe my definition wasn't very clear. Defined was maybe not the correct word to use. Buzzsaw is exactly what I am aiming for, but I mean I am getting literal fizz overpowering the extremely characteristic sound of the pedal. I've tried it through solid states with similar effects as well, Ive found the best sound comes from fully saturated tubes and brand new strings. But that lasts half a day at best.

If you're getting a lot of noise from your pedals you should get a high quality all in one power supply designed to lower the noise caused by "dirty power". Also, ditch the cheap patch cables and custom cable your rig, it's actually cheaper than using pre-made cables, and looks cleaner and more professorial. Lastly, check to see which of your pedals aren't "true bypass". Quite often there are cheap and easy mods that can turn non-true bypass effects into true bypass.

Hmm that's an interesting thought actually. Come to think of it I do get a little less noise when using a daisy chain instead of powering each individually. Te odd thing is though, when I tried them one pedal at a time, the only one which made no noise whatsoever was the HM-2, I'm not actually sure but I would have guessed it to not be true bypass. At first I was sure it must have been what was causing the noise. It's not a ridiculous amount of noise at any rate, it just a bit of hum and static, becomes unnoticeable when I play.


Thanks for all the replies so far guys

 

[Forced Chaos]

Ok so some more things I seemingly completely failed to mention. I usually use an LTD H-1001, but also sometimes a Shecter Omen-7 and soon probably an ESP 8-string as well. I also use a stock Orange 4x12 cab.

My budget doesn't really matter, because even if I am unable to buy things now, I will save up. I have this compulsive hate of spending money on "lesser" than what I want only to go back and spend more later to get what I originally wanted.

Seems there a lot of options for boost, I guess I'm going to have to do some testing there, shouldn't be too difficult.


I've heard a lot of good things about the ISP decimator so I guess that would be the way to go?


Maybe my definition wasn't very clear. Defined was maybe not the correct word to use. Buzzsaw is exactly what I am aiming for, but I mean I am getting literal fizz overpowering the extremely characteristic sound of the pedal. I've tried it through solid states with similar effects as well, Ive found the best sound comes from fully saturated tubes and brand new strings. But that lasts half a day at best.


Hmm that's an interesting thought actually. Come to think of it I do get a little less noise when using a daisy chain instead of powering each individually. Te odd thing is though, when I tried them one pedal at a time, the only one which made no noise whatsoever was the HM-2, I'm not actually sure but I would have guessed it to not be true bypass. At first I was sure it must have been what was causing the noise. It's not a ridiculous amount of noise at any rate, it just a bit of hum and static, becomes unnoticeable when I play.


Thanks for all the replies so far guys

Shit man from the sounds of it you'd jive really good with a high gain solid state rig like the Randall Warhead, X2, Ampeg VH140C, Marshall 8100, etc. They have that tight, razor sharp, dry, machine-like tone. Buy one of them, throw a Sonic Maximizer in the effects loop, and boost the front end with an OD or a decent pedal EQ like the MXR 108 and you'd be golden.

 

[Tomo009]

Shit man from the sounds of it you'd jive really good with a high gain solid state rig like the Randall Warhead, X2, Ampeg VH140C, Marshall 8100, etc. They have that tight, razor sharp, dry, machine-like tone. Buy one of them, throw a Sonic Maximizer in the effects loop, and boost the front end with an OD or a decent pedal EQ like the MXR 108 and you'd be golden.

I still don't think I've explained myself all that well, I absolutely detest that "dry razor sharp" solid state sound. That isn't really quite what the HM-2 sounds liek either, it is more of an extreme buzz quality i guess, sounds like a chainsaw when you play fast. I don't use it on its own either, I would double track with an amp distorted track. I really love that sort of presence and fullness that tubes give as well. I don't use the HM-2 all the time either. The HM-2 tone I'm searching for is similar to this.

You can hear that fizz sound, but on all these recordings, the sound of the actual guitar is far more prominenet and the fizz becomes ambience. For me, that sound actually overpowers the guitar no matter how I set everything up. Even worse on solid state amps, also the "ballsyness" is completely lost on solid states as well.

 

[Forced Chaos]

Ok I see exactly what you mean now by listening to that. Def sounds like maybe 2 different guitar tones doubled. Did you search what gear they play?

 

[Tomo009]

Ok I see exactly what you mean now by listening to that. Def sounds like maybe 2 different guitar tones doubled. Did you search what gear they play?

They do that now but I doubt they did back then. Haha, I have tried, but it isn't easy to find what a band used to record an album in the 80s. At least with my google-fu

EDIT: I did manage to find out that they now use Marshall JCMs and sometimes 5150s live. So it could be the same on the record even, maybe they don't even double track in the way that Bloodbath do.