My Metal Muff + Top Boost is going. What to get instead?

[Diego]

Even my cheap Marshall Jackhammer gets a better distorted sound. Here's why:

First, it's insanely picky to adjust.

Without the boost on, it doesn't have any high mids. With a low amount of boost, it's muddy.
Too much boost and it will stab your ears. There's a crossover point with that knob where the highs sound reasonable.
But it took me way too long to get there. And after endless tweaking, it still sounds flat.

And the absolute worst:

Dial the gain low-ish and it loses all clarity. I absolutely HATE this.
It masks and mushes the original signal and you're not getting it back.

Fine if you play Swedish Death Metal or something, but I don't and I like my sounds a bit more organic.

So I'm selling it and I need a replacement. What do you guys think about the Wampler SLOstortion?
It will be either that or the Triple Wreck. Thankfully I can try before buying.

[Phantasmagoria]

I have this pedal and the 'Hardwire Metal' and they're both amazing...

Price-wise, I think they're way more bang for the buck than you'll find elsewhere.. ($99.00 + free int'nl shipping on ebay)

[misterwhizzy]

I agree with the above that the SC-2 is a good pedal. I don't think the Hardwire Metal sounds good at all, but that was just from ten minutes of dorking with it at Guitar Center. But I think anything from Wampler will smoke anything from Digitech.

[saladin]

I dare say that a Boss Metal Zone sounds better then a Metal Muff.
Whats up with that top boost button? It makes the pedal sound
worse then it already does.

[Phantasmagoria]

I agree with the above that the SC-2 is a good pedal. I don't think the Hardwire Metal sounds good at all, but that was just from ten minutes of dorking with it at Guitar Center. But I think anything from Wampler will smoke anything from Digitech.

Well, everyone's taste being different, the Hardwire Metal sounds incredible to me ...lol...


....but it takes a little time/effort to find the sweet spot & make it sound the way you want it to. The additional sweep controls are very effective & the tight/loose switch makes a huge difference as well..

Here's a nice video by the same guy...




I'm a Digitech Hardwire fanboy now.... next up - their chorus & reverb pedals

[Diego]

Is it too much cork-sniffing that I wanna keep my signal line all analog?

[Phantasmagoria]

Hey, whatever floats your boat....

I have no idea (and don't care) what circuitry the Hardwire pedals use, but they sure as hell don't sound even remotely digital or cheap...quite the opposite....these things sound sweet!

But then you can't go wrong with the Wampler's either...( for an extra $200 or so..)

[Aceman]

nah - just depends why. If you have played a bunch of analog and digital pedals and just have an ear for analog, whatever. If it's because you personally believe that analog is actually always a superior choice - then you have issues.

Same as Duncans. I have an ear for them. I prefer them. But there are DiMarzio's that are the right tool for the job (Schenker tone, for example - that vowel sound).

I love the Metal Muff Top Boost - it's my favorite mega-gain pedal period. But I can see your issue.

[crguti]

I remember you said It's freakin' awesome...
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/s...ght=metal+muff

[Diego]

I was wrong. But I could be wrong, too. Aceman likes the Metal Muff. Empty Pockets likes his, too.
I usually write gear reviews in the middle of the honeymoon.
I gave mad praise to my Zvex Super Duper clone here a few days ago. God knows I might think it's **** next month for some reason.

I also bought a tube amp since I got my MM. Guess it sort of shifted my tonal expectations.

[Franknfilms]

Distortion is such a fickle thing for people, one mans great distortion is another mans absolute nightmare. The metal muff fell in the nightmare category for me. I've never liked a distortion pedal though. I feel like an amp with a good distortion channel and a variety of od pedals has a much better chance of success, even though this solution is not nearly as cheap as a distortion pedal.

[misterwhizzy]

Distortion is such a fickle thing for people, one mans great distortion is another mans absolute nightmare. The metal muff fell in the nightmare category for me. I've never liked a distortion pedal though. I feel like an amp with a good distortion channel and a variety of od pedals has a much better chance of success, even though this solution is not nearly as cheap as a distortion pedal.

Perluss Whun.

[ratherdashing]

I was wrong. But I could be wrong, too. Aceman likes the Metal Muff. Empty Pockets likes his, too.
I usually write gear reviews in the middle of the honeymoon.
I gave mad praise to my Zvex Super Duper clone here a few days ago. God knows I might think it's **** next month for some reason.

I also bought a tube amp since I got my MM. Guess it sort of shifted my tonal expectations.

It might just be that the MM doesn't like the new amp. It happens.

I had a ZVex Distortron. Here's how I felt about it:

through the Stiletto Ace: "OMGZ best pedal of all time! <3"

through the Mark V: (removes pedal from board, opens Trading Post ...)

[drpietrzak]

Pedals and amps (speakers) are fickle combinations. I have pedals I love with one amp-speaker and hate with another pairing. I have decided few pedals are bad - they just do not work with me and my set-up.

[korovamilkdud]

I once used the Maxon Rod 881 and I thought it was sweet. Kind of like the Ibie Tube King. Reezafratzitz seemed to have the same ballpark sound too.

If you want to Boss it, the Mega Distortion seems to please. I really liked the Turbo Distortion, nifty mid boost.


Just some of my old favs before I got the JSX.

[80's_Metal]

I have always loved the Digitech MEtal Master, it does a lot of pure metalic sounds very well.

Also, interestingly enough, the Metal Muff Nano Pocket sounds a truckload better than the top boost full sized pedal... not sure why, but its pretty nice.