Metal sound at low Volumes on Mesa Express

[Slanderous666]

I recently purchased a Mesa Boogie express 5:25 which does everything I want amazingly with the exception of metal. I am looking for a metal sound at low volumes and I thought maybe a EH Metal muff with top boost would do the trick. I hear alot of people saying go for overdrive instead or boost pedals but I think more volume is required for these to be come effective. I also have read about EQ pedals that are apparently very good at adding to your sound. I really am against using too many effects and just letting the amp breath but I would really love some metal tones to complete this amp because it does everything else so well and with cleans that are like crystal. Any suggestions on pedals that might be helpful Distortion, OD or EQ? Thanks in advance.

Edit: Also any tricks with setting the amp up EQ and gain wise that might help me would be appreciated if anyone has any they would like to share.

 

[Axxis]

Well I have the 5:25 and it takes some playing around to get the right tone if you want heavy. One thing I notice a lot of hard/heavy players do when they first turn on the amp is leave the masterV low and crank the gain. Well this being my first tube amp I was doing that in the beginning but I've found that I get a fatter tone by doing the opposite. Get that master up to at least 12o'clock and barely dial in the gain to the volume you want. I sometimes even play with the master to 3-4o'clock and a little less distortion. THis saturates the power tubes I think and leads to a good full distorted sound. Also this little thing has quite a thump in bass. Most of the other amps I've owned I've kept the bass to max but that kinda throws this one into a 'muddy' zone that I don't care for. And to wrap things up the boss metal zone in the clean channel is really hardcore so if you can't get the tone you want on the burn channel then go for the pedal, lol. Hope this helps

 

[Slanderous666]

This helps alot, just the kind of info I was looking for. I was wondering if an OD pedal would be better than a distortion pedal?

 

[Axxis]

Well it's really just according to what you're wanting to sound like. OD is great for cleaner stuff. A lot of people like that old metallica 'clean' distortion with hetfields heavy chug,lol. I myself like the tone but am trying to find a more modern heavy sound. I have never owned a TS-9 myself but for that overdrive sound it is very popular. There are a lot of OD's out there but that's the one I'd try if i were you. Do you own a distortion pedal? I mean what I'm getting at is do you like the sounds you get from a distortion pedal opposed to OD? It's really just a matter of taste. What exactly are you going for?

 

[jdurso]

This helps alot, just the kind of info I was looking for. I was wondering if an OD pedal would be better than a distortion pedal?

i think for getting the metal out of the express you'll want a distortion pedal. The OD will just add a little more preamp cream and adding harmonics. the distortion pedal will getting.. well more distortion. For a recto type high gain i would try a MI Audio Tube Zone. From the clips i've heard on their site where thye put the tube zone in front of both a roland jc120 and a fender deluxe, it gets **** close to a recto. I know they call this pedal an OD but to me it adds more than just an OD flavor. Check it out: http://www.miaudio.com/TZ3.htm

 

[Slanderous666]

Well it's really just according to what you're wanting to sound like. OD is great for cleaner stuff. A lot of people like that old metallica 'clean' distortion with hetfields heavy chug,lol. I myself like the tone but am trying to find a more modern heavy sound. I have never owned a TS-9 myself but for that overdrive sound it is very popular. There are a lot of OD's out there but that's the one I'd try if i were you. Do you own a distortion pedal? I mean what I'm getting at is do you like the sounds you get from a distortion pedal opposed to OD? It's really just a matter of taste. What exactly are you going for?

I have neither I just hear alot of guitarists preaching that running a distortion pedal through a tube amp will instantly make it sound digital and OD is the only way to go for tubes. I wasnt really sure if this was true or not so I'm not sure if I should go with distortion or OD. From what I've seen OD are more for classic warm crunch and hard blues and distortion is more for NU METAL which is what I'm looking for. Im trying to keep the tube tone just add more gain so I'm not sure where to go.

 

[Slanderous666]

This helps alot, just the kind of info I was looking for. I was wondering if an OD pedal would be better than a distortion pedal?

i think for getting the metal out of the express you'll want a distortion pedal. The OD will just add a little more preamp cream and adding harmonics. the distortion pedal will getting.. well more distortion. For a recto type high gain i would try a MI Audio Tube Zone. From the clips i've heard on their site where thye put the tube zone in front of both a roland jc120 and a fender deluxe, it gets **** close to a recto. I know they call this pedal an OD but to me it adds more than just an OD flavor. Check it out: http://www.miaudio.com/TZ3.htm

I think I'll go distortion pedal after all. I like the sound but 200$ is abit much. I was thinking of just something like a metal muff with top boost. Runs for about 90$ and provides alot of distortion. My only fear is if this will make me express sound digital?:S

 

[Don]

My Express 5:50 takes distortion pedals really well.
It doesn't sound digital at all with them, though it does sound like the pedal so a crappy pedal will equal a crappy sound.

 

[Slanderous666]

My Express 5:50 takes distortion pedals really well.
It doesn't sound digital at all with them, though it does sound like the pedal so a crappy pedal will equal a crappy sound.

I was looking at the Metal muff as mentioned before or maybe a Boss ML-2 Metal core which is suppose to be superior to the Boss MT-2 Metal zone. If anyone has any experience with these pedals I'd love to hear their opinions.

 

[Axxis]

I've never used the muff but I own the Boss Metal Core. Was my staple pedal until I bought the 5:25. It's a really hardcore new age metal sound and is probably what you're looking for. I still use it in the clean channel of the Express. Recently however I've been using a boss GE-7 eq to dial in the burn mode exactly how I want it to sound. IMHO using the eq with burn mode keeps more of the quality tube warmth than using the Metal Core but the core is about as heavy and hard as it gets so it just depends on what you're looking for.

 

[Slanderous666]

I've never used the muff but I own the Boss Metal Core. Was my staple pedal until I bought the 5:25. It's a really hardcore new age metal sound and is probably what you're looking for. I still use it in the clean channel of the Express. Recently however I've been using a boss GE-7 eq to dial in the burn mode exactly how I want it to sound. IMHO using the eq with burn mode keeps more of the quality tube warmth than using the Metal Core but the core is about as heavy and hard as it gets so it just depends on what you're looking for.

Ah it's awesome to get some first hand experience. I was afraid the pedal would kill the warmth as such. So an EQ pedal on the burn channel would let me get some thrash tones possibly? Alot of people I've talked to say an OD pedal would work just as well. If you have any experience with those I'd love to hear it.

 

[Mullenski]

Coupla lessons learned (and still learning) with my 5:25 --

Most interactive tone controls ever, especially the treble.

Roll back the tone pot on your guitar a whole bunch (bridge pickup especially) then gain and amp treble on the burn channel to taste.

 

[jdurso]

This helps alot, just the kind of info I was looking for. I was wondering if an OD pedal would be better than a distortion pedal?

i think for getting the metal out of the express you'll want a distortion pedal. The OD will just add a little more preamp cream and adding harmonics. the distortion pedal will getting.. well more distortion. For a recto type high gain i would try a MI Audio Tube Zone. From the clips i've heard on their site where thye put the tube zone in front of both a roland jc120 and a fender deluxe, it gets **** close to a recto. I know they call this pedal an OD but to me it adds more than just an OD flavor. Check it out: http://www.miaudio.com/TZ3.htm

I think I'll go distortion pedal after all. I like the sound but 200$ is abit much. I was thinking of just something like a metal muff with top boost. Runs for about 90$ and provides alot of distortion. My only fear is if this will make me express sound digital?:S

well keep in mind thats just the price on the site and i've seen them on HC between 120-170. at the end of the day though, the extra $50-100 will be the different between a good tone and a great tone. I'm not saying the Tube Zone is THE answer but sometimes you have to spend a little more money to get the tone your chasing. Also consider the better (most times translates to more expensive) pedals out there will sound way more organic than your run of the mill boss or digitech pedal. I guess what i'm saying is you get what you pay for.

if i were you I would try every distortion pedal you can get your hands on to really compare and contrast. thats what i did when looking for an OD and I ended up with the Fulltone OCD which was a little more expensive than some other alternatives but i would pay double what i paid to get the additional tone i have now. Again its just my .02 because it is your money after all.

 

[Slanderous666]

Mullenski I will definitely experiment more with my treble thanks for the heads up. I guess the question is still Distortion or OD for more gain?