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View Full Version : Boss MT-2 Metal Zone


PonyOne
03-22-2005, 03:34 PM
http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/com/MT-2/images/top_M.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/tristan_s/bossmt2.jpg
Price:
$60 at Mars Music in 2001; seems to go $80-100 nowadays

Pros:
-more versatile than you'd think
-great metal tone and added sustain
-durable

Cons:
-battery vampire (sucks em dry, it does.)
-mids can be difficult to balance
-it costs $100 nowadays???

Review:
This pedal is a ubiquitous standby of hard-rockers the world over. It's been employed by such varied artists as Danzig, The Allman Brothers and Blur (Graham Coxon used it on most of their self-titled album as well as much of "13") not to mention it's been onstage with thousands upon thousands smaller local bands over the years.
Although it's obviously geared more toward hard rock and metal, it can get more than just those tones. No, you'll never be getting kudos at a jazz club or a coffee house filled with hippies with it, but, with the right settings, guitar and amp, you can get bluesrock tones out of it and with the gain way down it gives you a nice, aggressive overdrive.
it has six knobs (the two inner knobs are concentric): Level, Low/High, Mid/Mid Frequency, and Gain. Level is the actual output of the preamp; if you want to get screaming mad loud distortion, you'd up the level. gain dictates how distorted it is; if you put the gain at 50% and the level at 25%, it will be less distorted than if the gain was at 50% and the level was at 50%. So even with these two knobs you can get a pretty good variety of tones.

These pedals are really popular with people who play with scooped mids (midrange lowered quite a bit relative to the highs/lows) because it really likes highs (you can get that metal solo screech) and lows (you can definitely get that mean, low grind here too). Not only can you adjust the level of the midrange, but you can also adjust the frequency to the amp, guitar, and size of the room you're in. This is a neat tool, it allows you to really affect the voice of your sound. It can be the difference between a modern, progressive distortion and a warm, older-sounding bitey overdrive. If you or your band wants to have a rythm guitarist (more midrange) and then wants the other guitarist to do a simple E/A string riff in the verses with some soloing in the choruses or some highs here and there, you may want to consider this pedal for the latter. it will really bring your highs and lows out. If you're the only guitarist and you want a good balance of low/mid/high, this will do it too; just up the mids a bit and mess with the fequency.

The only thing I'll say... I found out the hard way, if you leave the cables in the pedal for "just a little while" (like long enough to make/eat a quick dinner) you may come back to a dead battery. an A/C adaptor is a good investment with this bad boy.

It works much better with humbuckers than single coils; with my Strat's stock singles, it can whine if not in parallel. works just fine with P90's and other overwound singles for the most part, and sounds great with a high-output humbucker like a DiMarzio SuperDistortion or ToneZone. Not a replacement for a JCM or a Dual Recto, but, works great in front of an amp with a decent tone.

Summary:
A great little pedal that most guitarists will find a use for. Wide range of harder distortions, and capable of bringing your guitar "out of the mix" if you keep getting lost in the rythm section.

PRSplaya
03-23-2005, 01:22 PM
Great review Pony! I've been looking for a good excuse to get one of these, and well, this review was the icing that toped the cake. Just bought one off ebay about an hour ago :rolleyes:

PonyOne
03-24-2005, 01:00 AM
haha, good to hear... you'll definitely find her useful. good to know my reviews are being put to good use :) how much did you pay, out of curiosity? i saw the MSRP had gone up to $159 (????!!!!!!) and was amazed that the standard going did in fact seem to be around $99.

PRSplaya
03-24-2005, 07:16 AM
I gave $70 which includes shipping. I probably could have got it cheaper, but this one appeared to be mint and relatively softly used as apposed to the othere's which usually looked heavily used.

PonyOne
03-25-2005, 12:13 AM
well, when you get it, post a review up... maybe even in its own thread... it's good to have multiple viewpoints!

chucklivesoninmyheart
03-25-2005, 07:04 PM
You will LOVE it PRSPlaya.I shall give a short review.

Price:$79 usd at musiciansfriend.com new.Can be had for less on ebay.


Pro's:

*Built incredibly strong like most other boss gear.
*Easy to replace battery if needed
*Has good parameters and is a tweakers dream distortion stomp box
*Not limited to just metal tones

Con's:

*With no ideal sound in mind,it may take some tweaking to find your sound
*can create excessive noise,but what distortion pedal dosn't?

Review:I can count the most popular distortion boxes on one hand...one of them happens to be the mt-2 metalzone pedal by boss.It has your usual 'level' and 'gain' knobs,but what sets it apart are the eq controls.High,Low,Mid,and mid frequency knobs shape your sound.Maxing out all the knobs is fun and shows what kind of demon this pedal is,but control of it will lead to much greater satisfaction.

Before I had this peddle,I struggled with 'cutting through' without creating a 'piercing' high end.I also had a tough time keeping bottom end without having my notes lost in a sea of bassy mud.That was until I got the mt-2.This peddle helped create the most brutal 'useable' distortion I have ever heard.I was cutting through with thunderous bass,smooth highs and great clarity.The settings are very touch sensitive.In between the crushing metal sounds that can be had,there are softer,overdriven sounds that sing just as well.

I actually never found my ideal setting on my own.I had the drummer adjust the pedal as I stood at the other side of the room and vice-versa.We spent about ten minutes doing so and and hit the sweetest metal sound.We just looked at each other in amazment...it just ripped.Just a truly epic sound.

Summary:

Selling all my equipment since moving has been rough...I miss that box.Ive never heard anything touch it.I doubt there is a better distortion pedal that exists with as much gain,but more importantly,as much control as the MT-2.
Buy two...put one to work and the other under a bed or in a closet.It will be a classic someday.

PRSplaya
03-28-2005, 10:47 AM
I finally received it the other day, and so far haven't been very impressed. However, I've only spent about an hour and a half with it so far. I can tell the tones are in there, it's just a matter of finding them. One thing I don't like on it is the treble. It seems to be too high and piercing... causes ear fatigue pretty quickly. Anyway, I'll report back once I've had time to "properly" adjust it. In the mean time, any suggestions?

PRSplaya
04-26-2005, 11:05 AM
Ok, I've decided that I don't need this pedal anymore, because I've got way too much gear already. So, if you are interested, go over to the Gear For Sale thread in the Gear Discussion section.

leaf
05-25-2007, 06:38 PM
I just got mine on ebay for 15$ :D

Superhuman
05-26-2007, 07:26 AM
I have one and don't like it either. Horses for courses I guess. Sure you can get some HEAVY bottom end driven sounds but to my ear those tones are all bottom and no mid through high textures. I used to use one exclusively when I was in a death metal band a few years back and it kicked ass. Then again we werent going for beautiful tones just ass stomping distortion. It worked for the time but my ears have moved on since then and I have become very picky when it comes to creating a personal tone. My verdict, if you are starting out or just want a wall of distortion in your face tone, then this pedal is perfect. If you want something boutique then you won't find it there. Personal preference I guess.

Kostya (M)
04-05-2012, 09:01 AM
Recently I bought this thing. I am very pleased !!!
On this gear solo sounds just great! Price in Russia about $ 100.
It is possible to select the same sound as the band Metallica 80th !!!
I'm happy!