Heavy pedal metal?

[IofHorus]

First off, I want to throw a band name out for anyone who loves heavy metal, death metal..just metal in general. TesseracT. Holy hamburglers! Check them out if you get a chance.

Anyhow, what I really want to ask is about pedals.
I am thinking about buying a multfx pedal and before I do I need some input from (hopefully) people who have already played on them.
The two I am looking at are: Zoom g7 and Digitech rp500.
How do they rate against each other? They both cost the same through AMS so price isn't the issue. I already have a nice amp, so I'm not buying this thing for live distortion sounds. It's going to be my "at home practice/ playtime toy"

[Jonboy79]

For a toy to play around at home with, either will do. Just do some searches on some forums and read some opinions. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending how you look at it you'll get a lot more info by using the search function on this and many other forums than posting. It's mostly due to the fact that there probably isn't really that many people who have used both pedals extensively enough to really give specific answers. I personally have played around with both brands and like the Digitech stuff a little more than the Zoom stuff.

[IofHorus]

Originally Posted by Jonboy79

For a toy to play around at home with, either will do. Just do some searches on some forums and read some opinions. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending how you look at it you'll get a lot more info by using the search function on this and many other forums than posting. It's mostly due to the fact that there probably isn't really that many people who have used both pedals extensively enough to really give specific answers. I personally have played around with both brands and like the Digitech stuff a little more than the Zoom stuff.

Thanks. I did try to search for "zoom" and "digitech" and both with "vs"
Nada.
I did check out some demo vids on youtube for both items. But.. since the demos are made by the people who make and sell the product, I doubt any of them will say anything truthful or useful about it. They both sound decent.

[Jonboy79]

Originally Posted by IofHorus

Thanks. I did try to search for "zoom" and "digitech" and both with "vs"
Nada.
I did check out some demo vids on youtube for both items. But.. since the demos are made by the people who make and sell the product, I doubt any of them will say anything truthful or useful about it. They both sound decent.

Did you search google for digitech and zoom forums? I was saying you should try reading up about each pedal seperately because I doubt very many people own both of those pedals.

[IofHorus]

Originally Posted by Jonboy79

Did you search google for digitech and zoom forums? I was saying you should try reading up about each pedal seperately because I doubt very many people own both of those pedals.

Yeah. I did. It was helpful, thanks.
After seeing some pros and rookies in action..oddly enough I think I'm going to get the Boss gt-10. lol. My ex guitar player now owns a studio and he uses a boss gt 8 to record rough drafts for his own stuff. I used that pedal when I recorded a solo cd a few years ago.It sounded sweet and smooth. The effects don't make much or any background noise through an amp head either. I liked that. It costs more, but oh well.
Thanks for the help.

[Igotsoul4u]

if you want a good review for anypiece of gear

DigiTech RP500: Harmony Central User Reviews

[Mortal Engines]

Honestly, I steer WAY clear of Digitech and Zoom products. I have bought 3 or 4 "all in one" digital guitar rackmounted processors and honestly, I hated every one of them. I own a Pod that gathers dust.... I have the GearBox Gold bundle too, and it is pretty good but, for some weird reason I think it sounds a little "too good"....They just don't sound real. I like grit and dirt in my signal. Maybe you ought to look at something like a rack mounted Sansamp or even the Sansamp Classic, or whatever. I use a Radial Tonebone Tri-mode and it is pretty awesome but, they have a British pedal as well which is supposed to be even "more metal" sounding. There are a couple of other possibilities as well. You know, most of the harcore thrash metal guys go for the straight into an overdriven Marshall or Mesa head and don't go near anything digital beyond the occasional single echo effect during a "dramatic" moment. I know that this isn't practical. I live in a condo and I can't even get a good sound out of my 50 watt Crate tube amp unless it is turned up to around 6 or 7 and that is WAY too loud for me (never mind my neighbors) most of the time. I just use my Tri-Mode run into a little 5 watt Fender Champion amp and that gets a surprisingly big sound when I turn it up and I haven't had a single complaint from the people next door. I am sure there are plenty of guys who love their Digitech and Zoom rigs and hell....they're probably way better guitarists than I am but, I am just not sold on those things.

[Shiny Turd]

I would get a pod, be it the pocket or the xt series. They can be had for little money on the second hand market if you decide on the pod xt live.

Tesseract...I knew of them via the meshuggah forum, the guy ( Acle) is a great guitar player, he did many things with a old pod pro. The last news I had about the guy was that he was using a Engl head and cabinet for his recordings...

[IofHorus]

Originally Posted by Shiny Turd

I would get a pod, be it the pocket or the xt series. They can be had for little money on the second hand market if you decide on the pod xt live.

Tesseract...I knew of them via the meshuggah forum, the guy ( Acle) is a great guitar player, he did many things with a old pod pro. The last news I had about the guy was that he was using a Engl head and cabinet for his recordings...

I was really impressed with the 'concealing fate pt.1' song/demo..or whatever. I am also a huge Meshuggah fan.
I've always wondered, though; How do those 7+8 string guitars sound live? I have never seen meshuggah live. I saw Korn live and they sounded terrible. It could have been the sound guy, the venue, or a number of other things. Just mushy and cluster-f***ed. I don't own a 7 string, but I think it would be fun to mess around with someday.
Anywhoo, thanks for all the input about the pedals. I still have a few days until I go to Sam Ash and try out some of these things, but so far I'm leaning towards that Boss gt-10.thumbsup

[Joe Porto]

Originally Posted by IofHorus

I've always wondered, though; How do those 7+8 string guitars sound live?

I prefer a 6-string Baritone. The longer scale length (28") makes the low string (I tune it to an A) much more stable and articulate.

As far as the OP, I'd definitely would go Boss over Digitech. There are some nice all in ones with analog distortion, which I still prefer over the modeling stuff, not necessarily for tone, but for feel.

[IofHorus]

Originally Posted by Joe Porto

I prefer a 6-string Baritone. The longer scale length (28") makes the low string (I tune it to an A) much more stable and articulate.

As far as the OP, I'd definitely would go Boss over Digitech. There are some nice all in ones with analog distortion, which I still prefer over the modeling stuff, not necessarily for tone, but for feel.

WOW! You can get your 6 string down to A ?! lol. My guitar would sound like an old man fart if I tried that. Lucky you.
My old band tuned to drop B, and my more recent band tuned to drop C. I had serious troubles keeping my guitar in tune with the drop B tuning, even with heavier string sets. The drop C seemed almost natural for my guitar, though. Now I use standard tuning for the most part, though we did write two songs in drop D. I'm sure if I make the cut in the metal band I'm trying out for I'll have to make some serious decisions about tuning and which guitar to use.
Wow..this vicodin is strong. I forgot what we were threading about.

[Joe Porto]

Originally Posted by IofHorus

WOW! You can get your 6 string down to A ?! lol.

Well, it's a 6-string baritone, so it's got almost 3" more scale length than a standard electric. The low A is a .72 gauge string.

Long ago, I used to tune a whole step down on a standard electric. I found a .52 gauge string to be suited to that. For drop C, I'd recommend a .56 gauge, but you'd definitely have to file your nut for that. (I hope that last statement isn't misconstrued, what with the vicodin and all ).

[IofHorus]

Originally Posted by Joe Porto

Well, it's a 6-string baritone, so it's got almost 3" more scale length than a standard electric. The low A is a .72 gauge string.

Long ago, I used to tune a whole step down on a standard electric. I found a .52 gauge string to be suited to that. For drop C, I'd recommend a .56 gauge, but you'd definitely have to file your nut for that. (I hope that last statement isn't misconstrued, what with the vicodin and all ).

lol

[IofHorus]

I'm lost all over again.
I checked out everything: Digitech rp 500, POD x3 live, Zoom g7, boss gt-10, Vox tonelab..er whatever it was called..
I know I can't really judge a lot of them from the demos, considering the guitars they were playing on.
BUT..from what I heard and in my opinion the POD sounded too much like my crate..which is bad.
The zoom got bad reviews from buttons falling apart and such..

The digitech sounded too high pitched with not a lot of low end power behind it's metal tones.

The vox..don't know.. the demos were just terrible.
The boss sounds too much like their old school "metal zone" pedal. Too much loose bass and no tightness..

I'm hoping the music store will have most of these pedals for me to try out on Wed. Wish me luck!

[Mastering101]

Have you tried AMT Pedals AMT Electronics USA, LLC - Worldwide Home of AMT Electronics Brand Guitar Effect Pedals

Russian made some of the best pedals for distortion.. I have the Freak Guitar pedal and I have the SS-20 preamp pedal coming soon with effects loop ... Listen to the samples of the Distortion Station DT-2 very versatile pedal. I have one of those coming too with Cal sound pedal... I have 1 of the discontinued tube pedals the Tube Platinum These pedal are great, dynamic ,articulate under huge amounts of gain...They have a new tube preamp coming out soon SS-10....


GuitarEffectsPedals.com: AMT Electronics guitar pedals!

[IofHorus]

Originally Posted by effectsnut

Have you tried AMT Pedals AMT Electronics USA, LLC - Worldwide Home of AMT Electronics Brand Guitar Effect Pedals

Russian made some of the best pedals for distortion.. I have the Freak Guitar pedal and I have the SS-20 preamp pedal coming soon with effects loop ... Listen to the samples of the Distortion Station DT-2 very versatile pedal. I have one of those coming too with Cal sound pedal... I have 1 of the discontinued tube pedals the Tube Platinum These pedal are great, dynamic ,articulate under huge amounts of gain...They have a new tube preamp coming out soon SS-10....


GuitarEffectsPedals.com: AMT Electronics guitar pedals!

Thanks. I am really looking for an all-in-one package, but at this point I don't even know what dog means. :S If they have those pedals at the music store I'm going to tomorrow, I'll check them out.
Thanks again, everyone.

[Shiny Turd]

Originally Posted by IofHorus

I'm lost all over again.
I checked out everything: Digitech rp 500, POD x3 live, Zoom g7, boss gt-10, Vox tonelab..er whatever it was called..
I know I can't really judge a lot of them from the demos, considering the guitars they were playing on.
BUT..from what I heard and in my opinion the POD sounded too much like my crate..which is bad.
The zoom got bad reviews from buttons falling apart and such..

The digitech sounded too high pitched with not a lot of low end power behind it's metal tones.

The vox..don't know.. the demos were just terrible.
The boss sounds too much like their old school "metal zone" pedal. Too much loose bass and no tightness..

I'm hoping the music store will have most of these pedals for me to try out on Wed. Wish me luck!

About the pod and the tonelab...they never sounded like a crate to me ( I own both), however, you have to tweak them, the pod x3 in particular since it has so many parameters to fiddle with...

Besides, meshuggah used ( I believe they still do) line 6's vetta amplifiers since nothing ( nothing was actually a pod pro).

For the tightness...it's a player issue really, less distortion and more pick attack, along with huge strings ( I used 13-56's for drop C tuning)

[Mastering101]

Originally Posted by IofHorus

Thanks. I am really looking for an all-in-one package, but at this point I don't even know what dog means. :S If they have those pedals at the music store I'm going to tomorrow, I'll check them out.
Thanks again, everyone.

I dont think you can find good distortion in a all in one box. Heres a high quality
analog pedal unit Carl Martin quattro ...analog rules in my book

******//www.guitareffectspedals.com/quattro.jpg

[IofHorus]

So after going to a few stores to check out every pedal I wanted..
It comes down to this:
Boss Gt-10 Vs. Vox Tonelab.
It's going to be a battle to the death!!..or at least to my purchase. After hearing the pedals in person rather than on the net, I was pretty impressed with both of them. I'm a little scared of having a tube in my pedal though. Not sure..Marketing ploy? Will the tube be easily replaced if it goes out? I couldn't really hear any difference, but I was only there for about 20 minutes.
The gt 10 is so friggin' complex it makes me want to buy it for the mere fact that I'll be busy with settings and such for weeks. One week to go. I think Boss is pulling in the lead!

[IofHorus]

WOW! I have owned the Boss GT-10 for about a week now and I AM BLOWN AWAY. This thing rocks. I knew the effects were going to be great, but I had no idea how fantastic the distortions/tones were going to be. It took a little tweaking, but my crappy half stack sounds awesome now. I got the GT-10 hooked up to my pc.. got Cool Edit pro running with it.. maaan. I am so happy.
Anyone looking for a pedal, be it for distortions, effects...anything really.. get the GT-10.

[TEMAS]

For a multi distortion fx unit, the Line 6 DM-4 is pretty good and has some really usable heavy distortion sounds, including a pretty decent Boss MT-2 emulation.

I currently use the Righteous Tones 'Fang' pedal for thick, smooth, creamy, long sustain, high gain distortion. A great pedal and a real bargain at $75 new. Unfortunately I think they've gone out of business.

[octatonic]

Keeley modded Metal Zone is the business for that sort of tone.
I have one and use it quite a bit.