In my opinion the metal master's morph control can be used like a mids control, it's got the same type of princeples as a mids control, infact i think they just renamed the thing a morph control to make it seem better than it already is.

[QUOTE=daggerfall]Amp distortion is not better than pedals from my experience. Even the "cheap" mt-2 gives better distortion that the dist. on the amp on a marshall stack in my opinion. QUOTE]

you're joking right???
i don't know what marshall stacks you've been playing, but any tube marshall could easily waste the metalzone, hell i'd take the mg,avt,m4 distortion channels over the mt 2 any day.
you must play some crappy amps at low volumes alot.

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i beleive the morph control is used to change which pedal it is imitating.

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I'm not saying it doesn't but when you increase the morph you get a scooped kind of distortion and when you decrease it you get more of i trebly sound, the same as you would get by increasing/decreasing your mids.

Has anyone played the Line 6 distortion modler? Dm4 i think it is

well that shit rules, the heavey distortion on it sounds alot like a hi gain tube head to me, plus you can use the other channels for lead boost or what ever you want

I don't get why you don't just use a head? At least that comes with an preamp and a power amp. BTW, what kind of poweramp do you use?

\m/

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dist pedals r not better than tubes.your amp just sucks

I dont like to use distortion pedals...they piss me off. The ones ive used made me feel like i had no control over some of the crap i was playing. I mean no control as in killing the strings and muting and so on...

right now i'm using a peavey cs800 poweramp until i can afford a mesa simul class 2:90.
and one reason i find rack gear is better for me is flexibility. i can control my jmp 1, and tc electronic g major with one midi controller so i don't have to tap dance over a huge pedalboard.
a head is just a really simple rack(preamp+poweramp) in the same chasis.
but with a true rack rig you can mix and match different brands and types of gear. tuners noise suppressors,sonic maximizers, effects,preamp,poweramp,powerconditioner,eqs,compressors,filters, and so on. once i complete my rack it will be capable(hell it is now) of doing more than any head.

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you have a g major??? Man i heard those things kick ass

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Well, i like the mt2 metalzone best too. I have used also a big muff pi pedal, a zoom multi-distortion pedal, and distortion from a multi fx board from boss, but the multi stuff sounded horrible, and i didn't like the big muff because there was only one tone control.
I agree that amp distortion sounds way better than any pedal, but i'm still saving money to buy myself a good amp.

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yeah they do, when i get rich i'm gonna buy a g force which is like "the best" rack fx unit on the planet(at $1,500 u.s.a. dollars!). but the g major is fuckin awsome too but the pitch shifting as well as a couple other features arent as usable as the g force. but with a digitech whammy4,dunlop mr. crybaby/volume, and dan electro shift daddy. i wouldnt really need those features from a rack unit anyways.

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I was think of building up a rack rig. Do you have much trouble with troubleshooting problems? Personally I wouldnt have much in my rack, preamp, poweramp, eq, BBE sonic maximizer, and maybe an effects unit if my preamp didnt meet my needs(which it will since I'm basic in my sound). And do you have any suggestions of preamps? I already have my eyes on that Carvin all tube power amp.

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Not sure about preamps. They are personal in taste. I would just try as many as I could and decide.

Don't forget a power conditioner/protector and maybe a noise gate if the preamp doesn't have one. Plus a midi pedal bourd to control it all.

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i don't have any trouble shooting problems. i just plug everything in and leave it like that, show up for a gig, plug into my pedalboard, hook up my cabs, turn on my powerconditioner, watch my rack light up(looks sci-fi ) adjust my volume, tune my guitar, and then help the rest of my band get there shit up.
some things like my ibanez msp 1000(compressor/15 band graphic eq/notch filter) don't even need to be on. so if it did malfunction my rig would still work but my sound would change a little because it wouldnt be going through the eq/comp/notch part, but nothing crucial. none of my shit has ever really crapped out on me.
the only thing that has been pissing me off lately is my midibuddy controller, but thats because some dumbass(me ) knocked over a can of orange soda on it and now it's starting to get pissy with me.

i have a bbe 462 sonic maximizer and the way it helps my setup is absolutely amazing, it tightens up my lows and helps me cut through the mix better without turning up my amp. i recommend one to everybody with or without a rack.

a power conditioner is always smart to have especially if you have alot of things in your rack, i got my furman rackrider with lights brand new for $60. but they have all sorts of fancy ones with voltage meters,tuners, ect. that will cost more, but i just needed the basic power conditioner. the lights are always good to have on dark stages and shit.

as for a preamp, it depends on what sound you want. you don't seem like the kind of guy that digs the mesa sound, but you might be suprised with some of the preamp shit they got.
some people hate valve midi preamps like the ada mp-1,marshall jmp-1, mesa triaxis, h&k access, ect. because they arent 100% tube. so you just got to decide what you want in that area, tube,valve, s.s.(analog), or digital

alot depends on how much you're willing to spend. the best preamp buy for the money imo is the ada mp-1, you could snag one off ebay for under $150, and the mp-1's were practically made to be modded. but they still sound great stock.
if you go to www.adadepot.com they have a bunch of mods/schematics available. so if you're interested in the mp-1 you should check that site out.

heres an mp-1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3726255561&rd=1

i've gone through several preamps to try and find the right tone and each time i find something better for me. first a mesa vtwin(rack), then i got stuck on an mp-1... then the bogner/hafler triple giant came along(i still have, and i'm selling), and now i'm in love with my jmp-1.

one thing with digital/valve/midi preamps like the mp-1 and jmp-1 is they have a battery that needs to be replaced every few years so you can store and save your presets. no biggy though.

some people also get pedals rackmounted in drawers like noise suppressors,tone boosters,eq's, and so on. and they just leave them on.

some good tube poweramps especially for the price are the peavey classics. i myself am going for the mesa simul class 2:90 because it is really powerful(i can use one side and keep the other for a backup),simul class(class A and class A/B running simultaniously),only two rack spaces,stereo,and it has few more cool options.
heres a 100w tube carvin poweramp.. not bad but you could do better for the price range.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3726370390&rd=1
mesa 2:50
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3727070698&rd=1

2:90 like what i want
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3727070808&rd=1

an oldschool simulclass 2/95
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3726678509&rd=1

peavey classic 60/60 & 50/50
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3726868982&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3727361989&rd=1

and this is just fucking awsome, i think def said he wanted one of these....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3726921816&rd=1

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Yeah i have a lee jackson perfect connection preamp and power amp and the distortion on the preamp kills anything else ive ever played in person. The only prob is the eq on mine does absolutely nothing (except for treble which its just a pot and cap and the mid shift which is very useful), dont know if its supposed to be like that or its just broken. I dont have a cab yet but ive played the poweramp through one and it sounded pretty damn awesome. All i need is a cab, furman power unit, and im thinking about getting a rocktron xpression because its pretty cheap and seems to do everything i would need.

As far as distortion pedals go every guitar guy uses at least one basically according to guitargeek.com. i guess they just feed that into their super expensive killer amps. A good pedal that noone has mentioned is the seymour duncan pickup booster, just adds gain without changing tone at all. I havent used it but ive read reviews and it does exactly what its supposed to. So that way you can get crazy output out of a strat or somethin.

I use the DOD Death Metal on my bass, sounds good to me. But, that's my opinion.

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I want some of what this guy is smoking.
Does anyone here have any of the Boss HM's? What is your guys opinion over the MT-2?

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Hm is basically one tone... very trebly. Mt-2 has mroe variety of tones, they both sound like ass and are a waste of money

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MT-2 hands down.

QUESTION: I heard that the MXR is a good pedal, but none of the local stores have them to try, so I ask you is it good or not?

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