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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
 Posted - 06/02/2008 : 07:54:16
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so... i think it's unlikely that i'll ever play in a band again... which means i'll probably never have an opportunity to play my amps loud in the near future (next couple of years).
this leads to the great hole in my pedal board. i need something that absolutely rips at low volumes with a bass-heavy pickup (currently playing a kramer focus w/ a super distortion pickup).
something i've noticed about many boss distortion pedals (mostly the "metal" themed ones) is that the majority of them sound great when your amp is cranked but pretty bad when you are playing at a volume suitable for an apartment at 1am. many of them have an artificial decay which gives a virtual noise gate like effect and murders sustain. they also have a tendency to fart out on the low e string and give a mushy thud instead of a crunch when faced with darker woods and pickups with a lot of low end. many of these pedals also clash with high gain tube amps if there's any significant input gain dialed on.
this is the one area where i've always felt dod/digitech and some of the ibanez soundtanks had a leg up vs. boss pedals. they can do the high gain type sound/dynamics at any volume (although in many cases they sound worse when cranked).
the HM-2 is probably the best super high gain pedal from boss's line for all volumes... but i need something 1 notch beyond that. something that will absolutely crunch on a doubled fifth chord palm mute but still sound like i'm playing a guitar that is made out of wood.
the end result is that i don't really know what will fill that role. the sad thing is that i've found some of the high gain overdrives seem to pull it off better. my SD-2 (on lead mode) and OD-2 (on turbo mode) as well as a few MIJ SD-1's seem to pull this off much better as they have a mid boost to drive the amp input and don't have a lot of artificial low end added by the pedal's EQ.
i guess i'm needing a recommendation in this regards as i haven't spent a lot of time with the newer boss pedals.
pedals i've tried in this vein:
MT-2 probably the front runner, but gets really buzzy and noise gates on me if the distortion drops below 1 o'clock, lot of volume loss if i cut the higs/lows at all.
HM-3 gets buzzy... too much low end, too scooped midrange, farts terribly on palm muted low E.
HM-2 not enough chunk to kick it over in the way i need it. suitable most of the time but a bit noisy... want something similar but with an extra testicle.
XT-2 liked its overall tone w/ distortion set low, but noise gated badly and wouldn't crunch. didn't care for it with the distortion set high.
PW-2 heh... had high hopes. my guitars = 2 les pauls, 2 sg's, 2 kramers w/ super distortions, and 2 strats. the strats were passable. couldn't get a usable tone at reasonable volumes to save my life w/ the other guitars. couldn't bear it unless i dialed the low end all the way down, but couldn't get jack for gain without having it up... was a lose/lose situation.
ones i'm curious on:
MD-2
ML-2
also looking for any recommendations/settings for other pedals to maybe pull off what i need.
distortion pedals currently at my disposal: OD-1, OD-2, OD-3, SD-1, SD-2, DS-1, DS-2, HM-2, HM-3, MT-T. the board it's going on has my OD-3, SD-2, and then (insert pedal i need). |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 10:10:08
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A short answer is ML-2, I think this pedal sounds fine at low amp-volumes. You can get really fat low end with this pedal. I usually don�t use this kind of distortion but ML-2 �do it� for me.
I also think that some fuzzes, of the Big Muff type, can sound quite good at low amp-volumes. DOD Classic Fuzz comes to mind.
MD-2, could work, I haven�t tried it that much, but the EQ is quite good on this pedal.
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 10:19:23
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thanks for the input.
i'm going to demo some at a local store soon.
i just got a 5 watt valve king which is serving as my primary amp until my forced apartment displacement is corrected and i can play my marshalls again. some of the pedals that i loved through the princeton 65 i was using sound godawful through the valve king.
the big thing is that i need something that won't fart when i palm mute my low E. guessing some of these numetal pedals that are voiced for playing metal on a 92 string guitar in dropped Z tuning may be able to pull that off.
boss's description of the MD-2 intrigues me, but i've heard that's not as high gain as it's made out to be. |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 10:27:04
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I have tried Peavey Valve King (if that�s what you use), this is not a very good amp in my opinion. The speaker leaves a lot to desire� Try to use it with something better, like a 12 or 2 x 12 cab.
Try replace the tubes with better ones, this could help also.
The fart out you experience have lot to do with the amp and speaker I think, don�t blame the pedals entirely.
You can maybe come around the amps shortcomings by using an EQ-pedal.
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 16:13:48
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| I particularly like the parametric EQ in the MT-2 & would love to try the Peavey JSX Mini Colossal. |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 16:24:47
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Goran:
i agree about my valve king. the ones i have played all sound kinda like the speakers are blown. mine has had the speaker replaced with a jensen (i don't believe those were stock) but it still has that semi-cardboard type sound. it is, however, an upgrade from the princeton 65 i was playing and i got this amp for ~$150 and traded in towards it.
quote:
The fart out you experience have lot to do with the amp and speaker I think, don�t blame the pedals entirely.
with many of these, they fart out even through my marshalls. if i crank the input gain on my marshalls the distortion waves seem to meet up just perfectly with a few of those pedals that it sounds pootastic.
prob i'm having with some of my modded pedals through this amp is that it sounds... like the diodes... in a manner like when beer has over-powering hops in its flavor. yes, it's still beer but it tastes like you are drinking liquid hops.
i'm not sure, i think overall i'm unhappy with my pickups right now in my main guitars and it could be bleeding over. |
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August West
Bronze Member
USA
137 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 22:32:30
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| I can only say was does NOT work at low volumes - a combination of a BD-2 and DS-2. I can't get a lot of serious distortion at low volumes (of course "low volumes" is a subjective thing, but let's say low practice volumes). |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 23:35:22
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low volumes for me is lower than low volumes for most.
majority of my playing happens after 1am. in my apartment i have thin ceilings/walls. when i'm at my gf's, her 8-year old is asleep in the next room.
my MIJ ds-2 is currently the heaviest distortion i have on my "at my gf's" pedalboard so you can see what i'm needing.
gonna take my guitar up to the evil empire and give an ML-2 and MD-2 a whirl to see if any can handle it. |
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leonard d rock
Silver Member
Philippines
301 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2008 : 02:02:39
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hi zentropa, guys. i'm in the same boat as you are, i'm past the loud amp on stage gig. my gigs are now moderate volume, however, most of the time i'm just in my music room playing at night. i agree with you that some ibanez soundtanks sound good at high gain and low volume. the boss overdrives "sing" better at higher volumes imho. now since you mention the hm-2, why not mod it by adding/changing one of the clipping diodes in d8 or d9 with a LED to make the bass a little bit more defined for palm muted riffs, or a 1n4001/5 for more gain. thats what i did to mine. hope this helps.
mabuhay!
LRD |
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Big Boss Man
Gold Member
USA
564 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2008 : 02:16:22
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| I think you're expecting too much out of a pedal. I use a Line 6 POD for super quiet playing. Even just a 5 watt amp is going to be loud enough to disturb other people if you are in an apartment. |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2008 : 03:24:44
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LDR:
thanks for the tips. as a rule, i won't mod any MIJ stuff but if i stumble across an MIT HM-2 i may give it a whirl. i always had lots of noise/feedback problems with MIT ones though, but i will keep it in mind. i'm sure a small adjustment here and there (or maybe even increasing the value on the low pass filter to roll off more low end to get it to quit farting?) might add the extra testicle i'm looking for.
BBM:
it's actually a fairly specialized situation. about 2/3 of my distortion pedals are enough to kick over a palm mute on my les pauls, i just don't have the hand strength right now to play them.
debating swapping out the Super D's on my kramers but i like em as a whole, just having trouble getting a pedal to do it as my 5-watt is definitely too loud to open up on to get the tone to "free up". |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2008 : 06:58:26
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Big Boss Man mentioned POD, it will work I suppose, but me for one don�t like to play with earphones.
But you can use a POD (or something like it) as a preamp, this could give an acceptable sound on very low volumes. It�s worth a try�
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2008 : 04:42:46
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well...
did some demos at guitar center tonight.
mega distortion = no go. actually, the bass boost that was supposed to be idealized for more bass had to be cut all the way in order to even come close for this.
the metal-core ended up doing it and doesn't sound as bad as the other times i've played it. had a chance to mess with it a bit and it sounds like a steroid addicted tube screamer and fuzz face had a torrid love affair and resulted this.
not in love with it, but it does the crunch i need at low volumes. |
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Progger
Copper Member
USA
36 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2008 : 18:45:02
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| If you have an eq, such as GE-6 or GE-7, you could try it after a box such as your XT-2 or even SD-1. I use an old blue 10 band MXR, but the Bosses could handle the trick well enough. |
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PaulH
Gold Member
535 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2008 : 19:49:43
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| Headphones??? |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2008 : 20:06:09
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got it all working out w/ the ML-2.
needed something that would have tons of gain and be able to suck out the bass without losing gain (like what happens on an MT-2).
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Low volume heavy distortion...
