Any metal bands that actually use a clean amp and pedals?

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Axe-Man

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I've been tossing up whether to get a dedicated 'metal' amp like a 5150 etc for some modern metal sounds as up until now I have just been using pedals for that modern gain tone.

I like decent cleans and using a pedal is pretty handy for this as you can have a good clean amp sound and kick in a drive. Often I've found that higher gain amps can have average cleans but then I guess you sacrifice the high gain sounds as it's solid state distortion.

I'm using an Okko Dominator and Wampler Triple Wreck atm which are pretty decent pedals.

I've never heard a really high gain modern style amp in person (owned a Dual Recto and it wasn't 'that' high gain IMHO...sounded almost vintage to me even on the diode rectifier) so I really don't know.

Can it be done with pedals or is it no comparison?
 
Here's a link to Michael Wagener's studio site.

http://www.michaelwagener.com/html/ww.html

He has recorded some of the best metal tones of all time imho. If you look on his instrument page, there's a list of quite a few amps, but I don't see a bunch of pedals listed. I have never heard anyone get what I consider great metal tone with a clean amp and pedals. YMMV.
 
Fender twin and proco rat. Great metal tones from a clean amp.
 
I definitely get what you are saying.

Alot of guys use Marshalls with TS's and I was wondering if there were any bands that did this just with a clean amp and some brutal style of dist pedal...likely they don't but thought I'd ask anyway.

Michael's site does say 'Lots of stomp boxes and pedals' but I doubt he needs high gain pedals when he has 30 MTS modules and other amps like Engl's etc.

Thinking more from a normal guitarist perspective. I'd love a modern high gainer but they frequently aren't the most versitile units or they cost a bomb over here (Aus).
 
It would be hard to get around the tone suck at gig volumes.
 
Been looking for that pedal all my life. Haven't found it yet.
 
For me there is no comparison. Amp for distortion all day. I started out using a Boss HM-2 and a Big Muff in my youth and was able to get decent tone but I had to really dig for it. I went from pedals and a solid state amp to a Rivera K100 and it was like a revelation. Discovering the importance of mids was a quantum leap for me tonally. I highly recommend a good tube amp distortion over any pedal any day.

Not to say that pedals don't have their place. My other guitarist uses several pedals in a GCX like a Timmy, Zendrive SE, Lunar Module, Eternity, and even a Katana clean boost thru an AC30CC. Stacking pedals can yield interesting results. I still cannot recommend utilizing a pedal as the sole means for distortion in a rig.
 
Amptweaker's TightMetal distortion pedal might do the trick. It made an impression at last January's NAMM. See killertone's comments and demo here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=87725


Here's the same video demo on YouTube:




Looks like James Brown (Amptweaker) has a new pedal (TightRock) introduced at this summer's NAMM which might be more suitable for those wanting something a little less brutal than the TightMetal. The website www.amptweaker.com has some video demos.
 
metalsoup":bqq49v6i said:
Amptweaker's TightMetal distortion pedal might do the trick. It made an impression at last January's NAMM. See killertone's comments and demo here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=87725


Here's the same video demo on YouTube:




Looks like James Brown (Amptweaker) has a new pedal (TightRock) introduced at this summer's NAMM which might be more suitable for those wanting something a little less brutal than the TightMetal. The website http://www.amptweaker.com has some video demos.
Click to expand...

Yeah that is a pretty brutal pedal!

I've been close to buying something high gain for a while (well my Yeti is high gain but something 'modern') so I actually this arvo confirmed my order for a DAR Amps preamp so this should nail the high gain stuff for me. As I've already got a Yeti and a 50w poweramp the DAR pre should kick some serious butt with my existing gear.
 
I've been curious about the Yeti myself. How do you like it? Does it cover 70s and 80s rock and metal (AC/DC to Dokken) well? I'm looking to buy an amp to cover that type of Marshall tone, and the Yeti looks like it would deliver the goods for a nice price.
 
well there have been tons of bands playing metal with 800's and a pedal. A stock 800 will not get you that much gain like say an Uber or something. An OD or something similar is needed to get into metal territory. Then roll back your vol knob for pseudo-clean tones.

Speaking of Wagener I asked in his large thread about Wolf Hoffmanns tone on BTTW (which is my fave tone ever created) and he said it was pedals (MXR Distorion +) into Marshalls.
 
metalsoup":3etuh9yy said:
I've been curious about the Yeti myself. How do you like it? Does it cover 70s and 80s rock and metal (AC/DC to Dokken) well? I'm looking to buy an amp to cover that type of Marshall tone, and the Yeti looks like it would deliver the goods for a nice price.
Click to expand...

It's a surprisingly versatile amp. Anything from blues to rock to 80s metal.

It takes a little bit of experimenting to get some of the sounds at first (master, 2 gain knobs, an era switch and 2 bright switches which also add gain) but they are easy to dial in once you get a handle on it.

I am using an Empress Para EQ pedal to really squeeze the most out of it with external pedals as I just love it. IMHO it's a killer amp. Sounds awesome when cranked and it has good headroom with cleans too.

I'm really gelling with the Plexi era atm as it's really warm yet defined. Love the clean tone. It's IMHO the best Marshall type amp I've personally tried (JCM800, JVM410H, SLP reissue, 70s SLP, Metropolous). I was so glad I took the chance on it and passed on the JVM and SLP reissue as it completely nailed those two particular amps that I tested. Loads of gain too.

Sounds good at very reasonable volumes but it really sounds great when let off the leash. The chupa is another amp that is very like the Yeti...prob a little more modern voiced with maybe a bit more bottom end as the yeti is suposedly a little tighter. The yeti is meant to more easily get vintage tones but it certainly didn't flub out when drowning out a drummer!
 
I've never played any pedal through a clean amp that sounded exactly like a high-gain amp. I really dug the Carl Martin Plexitone through blackface Twin, but at the end of the day it was no match for my XTC or other heads. Just something lacking there to my ears. I like what Mark Tremonti does with using Twins for the cleans, and Uberschalls/Rectos for the OD stuff.
 
Axe-Man":2sfn9oz1 said:
It's a surprisingly versatile amp. Anything from blues to rock to 80s metal....

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Click to expand...


Thanks for those insights on the Yeti! :thumbsup: It seems like it's just what I'm looking for. And that Empress ParaEQ pedal looks killer, too. I'll have to check out one of those. I definitely like the control that a parametric EQ affords. I've just spent a few minutes checking out amptweaker's website, and he's got some interesting and innovative pedals. One in particular that I was fascinated by is the TightBoost. It has several tone shaping options including tightening up the tone (low end) and creating a "parked wah" tone. Really some cool stuff. He has several videos illustrating the pedals that really help you see their potential.
 
Just to answer your question, there are a ton of black metal bands that record and gig with clean amps and shitty dist boxes. They are good for that style, but not much more IMO. Things will go downhill as the volume goes up if you are looking to get a "modern" metal tone out of a distortion pedal.
 
I'm currently using a Wampler Triple Wreck for my modern high gain sounds. I think it sounds very good. Better than expected. And, it holds up under gig volume (our band is loud too). Does it sound just like a 5150 or a recto? It's pretty darn close. And, I just dial it into a sound I like anyway to approximate that sound. A very tweakable pedal. It's kinda of funny because when you listen to a band you hear the amp and think, that's a deizel, Recto "Insert your favorite amp" or whatever, but most sound different than each other even if it is the same amp, depending on how they dial it in, pick attack, production etc. I say find a sound you like and go with it. If I was playing more of the modern stuff, I would pop and get an amp that gets that sound. As long as I am doing say 20%, the pedal is close enough for me. Best $180 I ever spent on a pedal. I really have been disapointed in dotortion pedals until I got this one.

Schaf
 
Axe-Man":1cn41fo8 said:
I've been tossing up whether to get a dedicated 'metal' amp like a 5150 etc for some modern metal sounds as up until now I have just been using pedals for that modern gain tone.

I like decent cleans and using a pedal is pretty handy for this as you can have a good clean amp sound and kick in a drive. Often I've found that higher gain amps can have average cleans but then I guess you sacrifice the high gain sounds as it's solid state distortion.

I'm using an Okko Dominator and Wampler Triple Wreck atm which are pretty decent pedals.

I've never heard a really high gain modern style amp in person (owned a Dual Recto and it wasn't 'that' high gain IMHO...sounded almost vintage to me even on the diode rectifier) so I really don't know.

Can it be done with pedals or is it no comparison?
Click to expand...

It can be done. You just need something big, round and tubey sounding to fill out the pedal tone imo.

Back in the 90's I ran a distortion pedal through an old tube P.A. head and 15" cabs. The warm neutral tube tone of the P.A. warmed up the pedal quite nicely, and wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be.

I had limited resources back then and had to make do. :lol: :LOL:
 
metalsoup":1uo33myg said:
Amptweaker's TightMetal distortion pedal might do the trick. It made an impression at last January's NAMM. See killertone's comments and demo here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=87725


Here's the same video demo on YouTube:




Looks like James Brown (Amptweaker) has a new pedal (TightRock) introduced at this summer's NAMM which might be more suitable for those wanting something a little less brutal than the TightMetal. The website http://www.amptweaker.com has some video demos.
Click to expand...
Does not sound bad! I'm still waiting for amptweaker to start tweaking amps again. :confused:
 
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