Need advice for best mesa or boogie for deathmetal

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Gday, my name is Paul and I joined these forums today. I am from Australia and I am planning on buying my first Mesa/Boogie. I play in a death metal band and I play an Ibanez rg 7620 7 string with Seymour Duncan Invader humbuckers. I am really keen on the RoadKing as I would not mind the subtle sounds that it is said to produce, but will buy something else as I am 95% after that all illusive bonecrushing brutal sound. My favourite guitar tones and sounds are from Cannibal Corpses KILL and I love Exodus guitar sounds from FABULOUS DISASTER and onwards. This is my final stop in forums and thought I would ask the MESA/BOOGIE community about which amp they think will suit my needs best without all the Mesa putdown from other Peavey, Marshall, Bogner amp lovers out there. I will end up purchasing a MESA/BOOGIE, its just a matter of which one. If anyone out there can help with my decision, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

First thing, thankyou to everybody that is helping me out right now. I can not believe the amount of info that has come in the last 20 hours. This is the advice I have been looking for. What a great board, thankyou all again.
Now to answer a few questions. The style I play involves some very intericate picking patterns at quick speed, and a lot of fast chugging and rang out chords. A cross between Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, Suffocation, Carcass and Nile. I am currently running through a LINE 6 Spider II 112 and to be quite honest, for its money, it is the best combo amp in its price range for a plug and play death-heavy metal sound available. As with anything non-tube it has a very sterile sound with hissy highs, and not so tight bottom. I tried the Spider II hd 150 out and it had the same sound as I get through the 75 watter, only louder of course and a tad more fuller in the end. I almost get the chug sound I am after, (think EXODUS chug sound) but it lacks that valve body that you get with a decent all valve head (Ala Cannibal Corpse KILL full bodied sound). My other question is, can the roadking be set up to imitate a cross between a REC and a MARK IIII. From what everyone has posted, this sounds like the two together could end up being the holy grail. While I am here I will post my gear so far.
1. 2 boss metalzones
2. A DIME distortion pedal (the green one)
3. A Boss GL-100 Guitar driver (rack unit)
4. BBE Sonic maximizer 482
5. A ross parametric eq (rack unit)
6. Planning on buying 2 Rocktron Super Cs Hush racks. ( Apparently Dime had 2 of these and he placed them either side of the gain to create a vacuum. Hence the tightness of his tone). I am a big fan of Dimes sound, minus the sizzling bacon top end!
I think with the right Mesa, I certainly will come very close or maybe surpass the tone that I am after. Does anyone else here use some of the gear that I have mentioned here with their Mesas and if so could you let me know what bands are similar to the tones that they are getting, thanks again everyone.
 
hmmm...i'm not familiar with death metal, but my first guess would be a mark4. these are the amps used by lamb of god (not sure which metal they classify into). nontheless, the mark4 has loads of liquidy gain. it is very tight and can be as aggressive or as smooth as you want it to be. some bands that have used the mark4 are metallica, dream theater, chevelle, and lamb of god, among others. if my guess is correct, death metal has lots of speed, in which case a rectifier of any sorts is not your cup of tea because of its lack of tightness; that amp can be difficult to EQ for speed metal.
 
Pat from Cannibal uses a Triple Rectifier with a Boss Metal Zone in front for a clean EQ boost and EMG's are a must for that tone. Rob uses the same, but his is a Dual Recto. Both are the older two channel versions.

Gary Holt from Exodus uses a Marshall JCM800 (2203 I'm pretty sure) with (count 'em) TWO Boss Super Overdrives in front for clean boost. I think he said his Marshall was only slightly modified (the 'bright' resistor on the input or treble pot was removed?)

The older Dual Recto two channel heads will give you the tone you're after. Good Luck!
 
if your kind of death metal is similar to some speed metal you could consider also a MarkIV Head + 4x12" Recto Cab. Mark series amps have got great overdrive but great notes' definition at the same time.
If you're style is slower and all you want is deep and crushing powerchords i would go with a Recto. But the Road King II costs a lot... so, if you don't mind spending all that money, buy it. Otherwise go for a Dual Recto if you play 95% death metal. Or maybe go with a Roadster, which has got the same distortion channels of the RK II and the Dual Recto, but better cleans than this last one.
 
i`m useing a 3 ch. triple w/ an mxr wylde overdive as a clean boost. i also use a rg 7620, but replaced the p ups w/ emg 707`s and added the emg pa-2. "BRUTAL" is all i`ve got to say!
 
A friend of mine plays Death Metal, www.sadistmotherfolkart.com. A 1-man-band with attitude.

He is using a DC-3, crappy BC Rich guitars, EMG pickups and some effects in his computer.


His tones are really great, especially live, where he can crank the amp a bit. The EQ really gets his tone where he wants it (V shape on the sliders) and the EL84's add some serious cut through the mix. The DC amps have some serious gain and focus and are a bit cheaper than the Marks.
 
Monsta-Tone said:
A friend of mine plays Death Metal, www.sadistmotherfolkart.com. A 1-man-band with attitude.

He is using a DC-3, crappy BC Rich guitars, EMG pickups and some effects in his computer.


His tones are really great, especially live, where he can crank the amp a bit. The EQ really gets his tone where he wants it (V shape on the sliders) and the EL84's add some serious cut through the mix. The DC amps have some serious gain and focus and are a bit cheaper than the Marks.
i'm curious to hear it, but link doesn't work
 
slayercannibalsuffohead said:
Gday, my name is Paul and I joined these forums today. I am from Australia and I am planning on buying my first Mesa/Boogie. I play in a death metal band and I play an Ibanez rg 7620 7 string with Seymour Duncan Invader humbuckers. I am really keen on the RoadKing as I would not mind the subtle sounds that it is said to produce, but will buy something else as I am 95% after that all illusive bonecrushing brutal sound. My favourite guitar tones and sounds are from Cannibal Corpses KILL and I love Exodus guitar sounds from FABULOUS DISASTER and onwards. This is my final stop in forums and thought I would ask the MESA/BOOGIE community about which amp they think will suit my needs best without all the Mesa putdown from other Peavey, Marshall, Bogner amp lovers out there. I will end up purchasing a MESA/BOOGIE, its just a matter of which one. If anyone out there can help with my decision, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Cannibal Corpse used to run a Boss Metalzone setup as a clean boost (distortion on 0) into a Rectifier.

Back when I had a Rectifier I tried it and it was instant Death Metal tone.
 
What amp are you currently playing death metal on? What is it that you would like to improve upon? There are several ways to get there. It just depends upon what you want to buy because you can get there pretty easily with just about any decent high gain amp. It just depends upon the pedals and other outboard gear that you want to use. If you like the RoadKing and can afford it get it. Just be sure to try out several amps before making your decision because these amps are not cheap. Read the manuals as you are testing the amps too or even get settings for them to try out so that you are not sitting in the dark.

You might try going to a rehearsal studio that rents out gear and have them set you up with one of each of the amps that you are considering. That way you can A/B as necessary if you do not have a local M/B dealer.

You really can't go wrong with any of the high gain amps because in the end you will be adding something to make it get to your ideal sound.
 
Lurch said:
Pat from Cannibal uses a Triple Rectifier with a Boss Metal Zone in front for a clean EQ boost and EMG's are a must for that tone. Rob uses the same, but his is a Dual Recto. Both are the older two channel versions.

Hmm. Pat had a 3ch on the last tour, IIRC. Otherwise, yes, that's exactly what you want. ;)
 
Hmm. Pat had a 3ch on the last tour, IIRC. Otherwise, yes, that's exactly what you want.

I was the guitar tech for Cannibal for the first week on the last tour (filled in for BabyFace while he was out of the country) and I can tell you that they do not use (or like) the 3 channel model. They would only use one if their amps failed or if nothing else was available (they lease gear when touring in other countries and sometimes they don't have a wide variety of gear).

Maybe you confused his use of a Triple Rectifier with a triple channel?

Also, I'm not saying that the 3 channel amps are bad, just different. They don't like wasting time trying to 'find' their sound on a different amp. They'd rather just stick to the sound they've come to depend on. 8)
 
First thing, thankyou to everybody that is helping me out right now. I can not believe the amount of info that has come in the last 20 hours. This is the advice I have been looking for. What a great board, thankyou all again.
Now to answer a few questions. The style I play involves some very intericate picking patterns at quick speed, and a lot of fast chugging and rang out chords. A cross between Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, Suffocation, Carcass and Nile. I am currently running through a LINE 6 Spider II 112 and to be quite honest, for its money, it is the best combo amp in its price range for a plug and play death-heavy metal sound available. As with anything non-tube it has a very sterile sound with hissy highs, and not so tight bottom. I tried the Spider II hd 150 out and it had the same sound as I get through the 75 watter, only louder of course and a tad more fuller in the end. I almost get the chug sound I am after, (think EXODUS chug sound) but it lacks that valve body that you get with a decent all valve head (Ala Cannibal Corpse KILL full bodied sound). My other question is, can the roadking be set up to imitate a cross between a REC and a MARK IIII. From what everyone has posted, this sounds like the two together could end up being the holy grail. While I am here I will post my gear so far.
1. 2 boss metalzones
2. A DIME distortion pedal (the green one)
3. A Boss GL-100 Guitar driver (rack unit)
4. BBE Sonic maximizer 482
5. A ross parametric eq (rack unit)
6. Planning on buying 2 Rocktron Super Cs Hush racks. ( Apparently Dime had 2 of these and he placed them either side of the gain to create a vacuum. Hence the tightness of his tone). I am a big fan of Dimes sound, minus the sizzling bacon top end!
I think with the right Mesa, I certainly will come very close or maybe surpass the tone that I am after. Does anyone else here use some of the gear that I have mentioned here with their Mesas and if so could you let me know what bands are similar to the tones that they are getting, thanks again everyone.
 
Another note on the Cannibal KILL album is that they mixed a track of Engl Powerball in there. Pat didn't really like it for rhythm's (said it was great for leads though) so it's low in the mix, but it is there. The Powerball was Erik Rutan's (Hate Eternal/Morbid Angel) and he thought it might tighten up the mix.
 
So the Cannibal tone is just the MT2 Metalzone with mids scooped/distortion at 0 through the dirty channel of a rectifier?
That's it?

For their live sound yes. EMG-81 also (707 on the 7-string) and either a Decimator or a Boss NS2 for a noise gate.

Pat and Rob use slightly different settings on the Zone and the amp.

BTW this setup is the staple of a lot of Florida death metal bands- Malevolent Creation, Diabolic, Unholy Ghost, Deicide, Six Feet Under, etc.
 
Why does it make you sound like Shadows Fall or something?
 
I've had a line 6 hd147 for about a year, :oops: a ton of FX and no tone.
I just got a dual rec last week, a ton of tone and no Fx :lol: Im gonna have to dig up my metalzone and try that though.
 
hey dude i am in Australia to and i right now have a Dual recto for sale..IT's Brand new,very little use and cheap..


the sound you would want channel 3 with a ts-9 and el34's on the modern...



Anyway PM me if you are intrested..

Tom
 

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