The ESP Guitar Company

What kind of amp are you playing through that you even need a distortion pedal?

If you have a hi-gain amp then you don't really need a Dist. pedal. If you're playing through like a fender of something then I'd say go with the Boss Metal Core pedal, the name is gay, but I was playing it through a blues Jr. and It sounded tits.

I play through a Marshall MG15CD for bedroom practice. For band practice I play through the Marshall and a Line 6 Spyder II or my drummer's Peavey PA.

You shouldn't need distortion pedals.

If he doesnt use a distortion pedal then what do you use? Should the amp have a good enough distortion in itself or what? I've been wonderin this myself for sometime now, my amp has distortion but i dont like it, so i resort to pedals...unless theres a way to alter the amps distortion idk.

nd I have the metal master as well, i found one of the better sounds (if i can remember right) is to have the distortion settin on leik 6 or 7 (2 or 3 oclock position) the highs on 4 or 5 oclock position and the lows on 11 o clock or 2 o clock (somewhere around there). idk its not the best pedal :/

How does it compare to the Boss MT-2 metal zone?

My MG15 only has an overdrive option and it's just bad. The Spyder II's distortion is absolute shit and there's no way to switch the channels quickly on either amp.
Pedals offer a more customizable sound and you can switch easily.

Very bad idea with the metal core... A friend of mine has one and I used it on my Marshall(AVT50) as well as my friends Crate(not sure of the model right now) and above 3 or 4 on the volume it sounds like balls.

Well you didn't play it through a Fender did you? thats what I thought.

level is up all the way low and high are both in the 9 o'clock position and the morph i usually have at the 3 position. This is a direct recording, when i try to record with my Spider II (using the Metal master), the highs are killed and the mids are overpowering ,which is the nature of the spider II when you use disto pedals; and for this, feedback is an issue. Back to the Metal Master running direct, there is also 2 shelf rolloffs at 80 Hz and 8000 Hz, if you have a parametric EQ you can run that direct, however im not sure how that would sound, since i have not tried it, give that a try into a PA and see how that sounds.

I have also made a spider II patch which is better than the Metal Master in live and rehersal situations the settings are as follows (the numbers indicated are in clock positions not number of notches)

Rehersal without PA

Channel: Metal Green
Gain: 12 O'clock
Bass: 7
Mid: 1
High 2

Live or Mic'd PA
Channel: Metal Green
Bass: 11
Mid: Dimed
High: 11

I'm thinking of getting the metal master or the death metal pedal, which one do you's reckon is better? I want to get a As I Lay Dying tone like in the song "meaning in tragedy"

well my opinion lies on the Metal master the death metal is a cheaper pedal, and therfore it wont be as good.

yes, yesterday i went to the music store and tried them both out, i agree that metal master is better because of the morph effect, you can pretty much make it sound like the death metal pedal and even more