schizoidasylum
Well-Known Member
Has anyone tried this monster?
Reviews? Comments? Thoughts?
Reviews? Comments? Thoughts?
Rivera Metal Shaman?
- Thread starter schizoidasylum
- Start date
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HeHasTheJazzHands
Well-Known Member
I'd say $300usd is a lot for a distortion pedal. 
I'd say wait for the new Blackstar HT-Metal or see about getting a Amptweaker Tightrock or Tightmetal.
I'd say wait for the new Blackstar HT-Metal or see about getting a Amptweaker Tightrock or Tightmetal.
Wookieslayer
OOOAAARWWWRR
I'd say $300usd is a lot for a distortion pedal.
I'd say wait for the new Blackstar HT-Metal or see about getting a Amptweaker Tightrock or Tightmetal.
Took the words right outta my mouth lol
HeHasTheJazzHands
Well-Known Member
I learned them from you, Obi-Wan.
EDIT: And judging from youtube videos I've heard of the Metal Shaman, I don't know if it was because it was... well... youtube, or it was because of crappy dialing, but it just sounded like a repackaged Metal Zone with extra knobs.
schizoidasylum
Well-Known Member
yeah its expensive....but does sound pretty darn good to me....does not sound like your average metal zone. Hope is along the lines of the Amptweaker Tight Metal. Anywyas I took the plunge and ordered it...hope im not dissapointed.
schizoidasylum
Well-Known Member
Well.....got the pedal and had a chance to demo it a little.
First impression reminded me of the tone Gary Holt from Exodus has in Exhibit B: the human condition. Very sarurated but defined with a very tight bass response. I think he used a Savage by Engl. The bass boost can be a little much but that depends on the amp and cabs and the desintegrate feature just melts everything.
The youtube clips are overly comrpessed and they do make this pedal sound like if were a Metal Zone pedal. To some extent it does come from Metal Zone like tone but it sounds very natural and amp like, it has uber gain. No bees in a jar here. This is for Metal only, be it thrash, death, black, whatever...its not for rock or blues etc....It sounds like it would cut through the mix with ease.
I placed it in line with the Tight Metal, the Digitech Tl2, Boss Metal Zone, Digitech Black 13, MXR Fullbore and the ZVex Box of Metal. It shines bright along these pedals and it definitely is more comparable with the Amptweaker than any other.
It takes boosting well with a tube screamer like pedal.
Great pedal from Rivera. Although they could have done better on the graphichs.
First impression reminded me of the tone Gary Holt from Exodus has in Exhibit B: the human condition. Very sarurated but defined with a very tight bass response. I think he used a Savage by Engl. The bass boost can be a little much but that depends on the amp and cabs and the desintegrate feature just melts everything.
The youtube clips are overly comrpessed and they do make this pedal sound like if were a Metal Zone pedal. To some extent it does come from Metal Zone like tone but it sounds very natural and amp like, it has uber gain. No bees in a jar here. This is for Metal only, be it thrash, death, black, whatever...its not for rock or blues etc....It sounds like it would cut through the mix with ease.
I placed it in line with the Tight Metal, the Digitech Tl2, Boss Metal Zone, Digitech Black 13, MXR Fullbore and the ZVex Box of Metal. It shines bright along these pedals and it definitely is more comparable with the Amptweaker than any other.
It takes boosting well with a tube screamer like pedal.
Great pedal from Rivera. Although they could have done better on the graphichs.
purpledc
Proud blacksheep
What amps are you guys running with these distortion pedals? The reason i ask is ive only ever used a boost and never understood why someone would want to get their main tone from a pedal if they have a decent enough amp.
schizoidasylum
Well-Known Member
Im running mine through a peavey Valveking 100 watts. It sounds much better than the amp gain, much quieter also. Amps are not always better than pedals and vice versa. Also, for me, tube amps are not the be all end all of tone.
Spinedriver
Well-Known Member
I agree to a certain extent but I think it's more due to the fact that 'metal' pedals are getting better & better every year. For the longest time the only 'high gain' pedals available were ones like the Metal Zone, (a bunch) from DOD like the American Metal, Supra Distortion, Thrash Attack, etc... Pro Co Rat, and a host of others that were very sterile and noisy. There's no way in hell it could compare to a cranked Marshall.
However, in the past few years, Line 6 has come along, Digitech has upped their game and a number of companies are making high gain pedals with tubes in them (ie: Rivera, Blackstar, etc...). So using a pedal is a much more viable option now that it was 10 years ago mainly because of the quality.
would be great to hear some clips if you have the time!...are you still lovin the pedal and how would you compare it to the amptweaker?
schizoidasylum
Well-Known Member
very different than the tightmetal.
the metal shaman has more of that razor sharp tone , but with tons of chunck. the high control must be kept at 12 max or below. the tight metal does sound more amplike, but at loud volumes both pedals shine equally. When you have anough head room both these pedals provide any metal tone you want.
If I can compare th two I would say that the tight metal is a better value for its 100 bucks cheaper, plus the loop feature. the great thing about the tight metal is that when you go straight into the return of any amp it will give you an incredible metal tone, consistent, so it svery practical and reliable. its got that tube sag that makes it very realistic. for me this pedal can replace any expensive metal head. thats a great thing considering that gear in metal shows suffer any prediacament.
the metal shaman will do the same but it sounds more pedal like than the tight metal, but not anything near a metal zone. its not as dynamic as the tight metal, but if your looking for a tight metal tone that has not much dynamics but has uber gain that cuts trough anything, the the metal shaman might be it. this pedal does that Pantera sound in spades. tight, focused and razor sharp, sounds huge.
both have usable noise gates.
Im keeping both.
I have many other metal pedals including:
Zoom Tri Metal
Digitech TL2
Maxon SM9 SM
Digitech Black 13
Boss Metal Zone
None of these even come close to power that the Metal Shaman and the Tight metal dish out.
Also both sound better than any digital imitations Ive heard.
the metal shaman has more of that razor sharp tone , but with tons of chunck. the high control must be kept at 12 max or below. the tight metal does sound more amplike, but at loud volumes both pedals shine equally. When you have anough head room both these pedals provide any metal tone you want.
If I can compare th two I would say that the tight metal is a better value for its 100 bucks cheaper, plus the loop feature. the great thing about the tight metal is that when you go straight into the return of any amp it will give you an incredible metal tone, consistent, so it svery practical and reliable. its got that tube sag that makes it very realistic. for me this pedal can replace any expensive metal head. thats a great thing considering that gear in metal shows suffer any prediacament.
the metal shaman will do the same but it sounds more pedal like than the tight metal, but not anything near a metal zone. its not as dynamic as the tight metal, but if your looking for a tight metal tone that has not much dynamics but has uber gain that cuts trough anything, the the metal shaman might be it. this pedal does that Pantera sound in spades. tight, focused and razor sharp, sounds huge.
both have usable noise gates.
Im keeping both.
I have many other metal pedals including:
Zoom Tri Metal
Digitech TL2
Maxon SM9 SM
Digitech Black 13
Boss Metal Zone
None of these even come close to power that the Metal Shaman and the Tight metal dish out.
Also both sound better than any digital imitations Ive heard.
Thanks schizoid. I actually already have the tightrock on order as I love the sidechain idea and from the clips I hear it is in pretty similar territory to tightmetal and more versatile. We'll see when it arrives. Are you running on 9V or 18V ?
Have been watching various comparison videos by Kayzer & Mr Excane, I like the sound of a few other pedals too besides the Shaman, like the Weehbo Morbid Drive, Okko dominator, Wampler Triple Wreck and Dr Scientist the Elements..But its never the same as playing it yourself unfortunately.
Have been watching various comparison videos by Kayzer & Mr Excane, I like the sound of a few other pedals too besides the Shaman, like the Weehbo Morbid Drive, Okko dominator, Wampler Triple Wreck and Dr Scientist the Elements..But its never the same as playing it yourself unfortunately.
schizoidasylum
Well-Known Member
I have the tight rock also.
It is similar to the tight metal. The tight rock will go from a nice clean rock crunch to metal, but it wont push as far as the tight metal. I havent used the tight rock live yet but it sounds like it would cut throught the mix better tahn the tight metal. the tight metal is definitely gear for metal only and the tight rock from classic rock, hard rock and metal tones.
I like running 9 volts beacuse I got more chunck in the palm mutes that way.
18 volts is nice but the sound is tighter and less bouncy.
It is similar to the tight metal. The tight rock will go from a nice clean rock crunch to metal, but it wont push as far as the tight metal. I havent used the tight rock live yet but it sounds like it would cut throught the mix better tahn the tight metal. the tight metal is definitely gear for metal only and the tight rock from classic rock, hard rock and metal tones.
I like running 9 volts beacuse I got more chunck in the palm mutes that way.
18 volts is nice but the sound is tighter and less bouncy.
