Boss MT-2 Metal Zone

Some people say that the 4-band EQ on this thing is simple to use. I'd have to agree, but in the 10 years that I've had my MT-2, I found it very difficult to tweak them to get the sounds I want. I only really used about 3 or 4 settings all in all.

Custom Strat --> Boss OD-2 --> Marshall Shredmaster --> Boss MT-2 --> Digitech RP-100 --> Marshall VS65R. It can be noisy when cranked, especially with single coil pickups. To date, this is the meanest, loudest OD/Dist pedal I've ever used, even if I don't think there's enough presence (so-called "nasal" sound), and it can be a bit harsh. In certain instances, I find it great for playing lead up the fretboard, but rhythm sounds leave a little to be desired.

i think my pedal has a loose solder or something, but it's an easy fix. other than that, like other boss pedals, i wouldn't bother with a backup even if i could afford it.

After years of use, I just about gave up on this pedal as I didn't like its sound that time. Yet, just recently, I found myself coming back to it, and actually liking some of its sounds again. I believe this pedal is a nice addition to any collection of pedals, but I wouldn't recommend this as your sole od/dist pedal.

Very easy to use. This pedal has a four band equalizer built in.

It is not noisy at all. I tried out the digitech metal master before purchasing this and the digitech was noisier than anything. This sounds better than anything else out there for metal. It is a bit "nasal" as some reviews might mention. But it is great for classic metal and even new metal. I can nail Ozzy with Randy Rhoads (studio version) almost perfectly and it adds much added life to the old Dio stuff with Vivian Campbell. I even use it for Scorpions and Judas Priest. I use a Jackson DK2 guitar (alder with maple neck). These guitars sound a little thin for the low-end palm muting and rhythm. They are better on the high leads. However, I find that this has been rectified by the four band eq on the pedal. It can give you a different sound when you turn the low setting on the pedal to full. No effects pedal will cut through the mix on a bigger live venue. That's why the big artists don't use these things. But if you want a pedal for jamming in the apartment or studio, this is the pedal you want. The digitech metal master sounds very artificial and is extremely noisy. The Boss is better. If you're playing a larger venue, by a tube amp. Simple as that. Then use an Ibanez tube screamer 9 overdrive pedal. That will cut through the mix. That's what Zakk Wylde uses, I hear.

No problems here

Haven't needed it

Pretty easy to use. It may take a few minutes to find a usable tone depending on the amp you're using(30 watt solid state will greatly differ from 100 watt tube half stack), but the EQ makes this a very versatile pedal -- IF you're into metal.

I can't say it enough, if you're into METAL -- not blues, not classic rock, definitely NOT pop, this can be a great pedal. If not, look elsewhere. Just about any metal tone can be had with a bit of tweaking. Looking for SRV? EVH? Clapton? Forget it. Pantera? Metallica? Slayer? Step right up.

C'mon, it's a Boss. It's a friggin' tank. In a nuclear holocaust it would outlast the cockroaches.

Never dealt with them. Never had to.

I play about everything EXCEPT metal. I play an American Strat with a Duncan humbucker at the bridge. I got a Turbo-Rat instead which serves my purposes very nicely. I don't want to dog the metal zone though. VERY few manufacturers have the cojones to make a pedal which is strictly for metal, and to h*ll with everyone else. You want REAL metal? This is the pedal. I've tried others. They're all posers. My rating for this pedal is based on how well it does what it was built to do. In that regard you're gonna spend close to 2 grand for a tube half (at least) stack to get what this will do for usually less than a hundred.

If you can't figure this pedal out within the 1st 10 minutes it is definatey user error.

use a Schecter C-1 and Ibanez GAX70 Downshifter through a peavey transtube spreme amp and marshall cab. Distortion sound is the best i've heard for my taste. I play mostly hard-rock and i have tried several other distortion pedals that were not upto par with the MT-2. Recently i bought a Digitech GNX-2 and sold all of my pedals. After trying to get a similiar distortion sound out of the GNX2 (unsuccessfully), i went back to guitar center and bought back my metal-zone.

i think you could set a nuke off on top of this thing and it would be holding up a "ready for round 2!" sign when the smoke clears.

never spoke to the basturds

play mostly hear/hard rock and it's all i use and or need. have been playing guitar for 15+ years (damn i'm getting old). If i lost or someone lifted my MT-2 i would be at the store the next day when they open to buy another one.

With 6 knobs in total can seem a bit too much for a pedal, but its just common stuff. I dont know why some people are bitching about having a 4-band eq on a pedal? Being able to control more than just "tone" is very useful. So stop ur bitchin!! If u know how to control tone, then 4 knobs is NOT a problem. U dont even really need the manual, well, mebe for some sample tones. But just build from there.

I love what this thing can deliver. My style is either crunchy, chunky, thick, bitchin riffin distortion, or mellow, smooth, great soft tone overdrive. I am a Metallica and Steve Vai fan, and this pedal is the shit for either one(hell, for most of ur distortion needs). With the right setup(duh), this distortion will leave ur guitar happy for sounding and lookin good showing off some killer riffs from Seek and Destroy. Add some reverb and lessen the distortion, and u got some mellowed-out, I Know Your Here sound. I have a Crate Vintage Club 30 All-Tube, and the MT-2 makes this classic amp a crank machine, or produce rich, beautiful music. I use a strat with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge, and this pedal is a monster!!! I have had the Metal Zone for a couple months, and craved a Dual Rectifier: oh yea, I am satisfied... Even single-coils can rip like shit! This thing grinds equally with either solid-state and tube amps. And the EQ!!! U can get so many sound posibilities, from scooped shit, to thick/smooth and articulate. screw the DOD and the Digitech wanna-bes. DOD cant control gain, no treble frequency, and sounds worse than William Hung. And the Digitech? Cmon. U think just high and low control with a gay "I can morph and look like im worth more than 40 bux" knob and no gain control would make it as a GOOD distortion pedal? PPPPPPHHHHHHHHSSSSSSSS!!!!!! Metal Zone might be designed for metal, but it goes beyond "just metal". Never has it failed to give me a strong, solid sound, and the noise(which is almost not there) is something u cant control, so why whine about it?

The only thing I'm gonna say: If you dont know how rock-solid Boss quality is, I'll give u a quality, rock-solid kick in the ass!!!

Never filled out the warranty, but me not worried. No problems, not anytime soon, either.

I play anything, this delivers everything I play. I may have only been playing for almost a year, but i know a thing or two bout music. Screw "Im a tone-addict" people. What we musicians do is make and play music. If it sounds good, its worth it, and thats all that matters. Who cares if its all-tube full stack, or 15-watt bedroom amp. Good music is good music, and this lil box allows good music to be made. I would understand y someone would steal my MT-2. Course, id buy another one. Its the only stompbox i have, but most likely itll be the only ballsy distortion pedal ill own. Those other softer distortion pedals (like the DS-1) are nice to have, but if u want versatility, and/or something thatll grab you by the balls, this is a great pedal. If only it can also sound like a Big Muff, or a DS-1, this would be THE distortion pedal ever made. Hats off to Boss...

It's very easy to use if you take a look at the manual, and even if you don't do that it's easy to get good sounds out of it.

I use a Fender Stratocaster and a Marshall Valvestate combo with this pedal, and this pedal really gives me the distortions the amp can't. I can get all the distortions I want. I recommend that you use an eq pedal after the Metal Zone to make it sound better. This pedal gives you a lot of gain, but doesn't respond to your "attack", it just gives you a lot of distortion (which is ok to me). I gave it a 10 because it's perfect for me, if you want a violin-like sustain with some gain this is not the pedal to go for. It works great with solid-state amps and I guess if you have an all-tube 100 watt stack you wouldn't use this pedal, but for guitar players on a budget this is great.

Solid as a rock.

I'm giving it a 9 because my pedal came without a manual. It just had a small "brochure" with 3 suggested settings. I got the real manual 3 weeks later.

I don't play a specific genre of music, I like to play blues, classic rock and even some pop tunes. This pedal gives me the distortion I like, this doesn't need to be the sound other people like, it works for me and that's enough. I chose this pedal just because I loved it's tone and with an eq after it, it just sounds perfect (for me).

Aright, the features on this pedal have probably been posted a good 400 times on this, so I'm not even gonna bother with that...
You can get a good sound pretty damn easily from this thing, as long as you're not a complete imbecile. I've only had the thing for a day, and I've already copped some serious tones from it. Might not be as easy to use as, say, a Fuzz Face[or any other distortion with just 2 knobs] but you can't get as many sounds from a Fuzz Face as this thing; that's for damn sure.

I'm mostly playing a fat strat into this and a crybaby wah, using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. As soon as I got home, I played with this thing for a little over an hour, and found 6 very good settings, along with only one or two truly bad settings. Even the manufacturer's recommended settings weren't so bad, for the most part. The "Fuzz" setting is the only one I would ever consider using, though.
I've been able to cop a ton of distorted tones on this thing. I've gotten Hendrix on Purple Haze and Fire, Iommi on...pretty much every Sabbath song, Dimebag[again, on just about every Pantera song], Kerry King[same], and others.
Yes it's somewhat noisy, especially when I'm using the single coils, but what the hell do you expect? It's a distortion pedal; it's not exactly easy to find one of these that doesn't make any noise at all. If the noise pisses you off that badly, then get a damn supressor and stop whining.

I've only had it for two days, so I can't say I know for damn sure, but it IS a Boss. My cousin once got really drunk and threw a Boss pedal out a 2nd-or-3rd-story window[hell if I know why]. The next day he went looking for it outside, and all that was wrong with it was one knob was kind of messed up. Can't say that about too many other companies' pedals.

If you play anything that uses heavy distortion, and you want at least a half-decent sound, this pedal will give you a serious run for your money.
If it were stolen, I'd call up some Albanians to find out who stole it, have them get rid of the bastard, and then take my pedal back. That's about how much I like this thing right now.
Before I bought this I was mostly using amp distortion or the distortion from my old-ass Digitech RP6[just about everything but the distortion is pretty good], and I was just sick of being unable get heavy distortion at a low volume that DIDN'T sound like ass.
I bought this thing, and now my RP6 will probably be collecting dust until I decide I need chorus or a phaser.

This pedal is versatile - to a point. But that versatility makes it hard to dial in the right tone you want. For the rest - Distortion and Level controls, it's the parametric EQ that makes it complicated.

I'm using a large setup, and I've had the metalzone for about 18 months now.

I play a Vantage 118t -> Wireless -> Boss MT-2 -> Boss BF-2 Flanger -> KOD Chorus -> Boss TR-2 Tremolo -> Boss DD-2 Delay -> Boss EH-2 Enhancer.

That Enhancer is a must if you're using anything like the MetalZone! On the MT-2 you sometimes get a nice creamy distortion, but it sounds like the guy next door's playing it. The EH-2 will pull the sound back into your own practice place. Furthermore IT'S NOISY! It hisses like crazy when you turn the treble past 11 o'clock, and that's buggin me. Once again you *can* filter it out with the EH-2 but not very many people seem to have an EH-2...

The flexability of the pedal also leaves something to be desired. You can get metal distortion out of this, with many EQ options - but that's it. There was a guy here who said "I can get blues out of this!" - Please, email me and tell me how :D Because eevn with the distortion knob on '0', it is still a metal distortion and won't calm down to give you that not-so-over-the-top distortion. Treat it that way. I use this for metal sounds and screaming leads, but I borrowed a mate's DS-1 for a while and liked it a lot for it's milder, crunchier distortion. I bought one now for 30 euros, it should be arriving tomorrow.

So therefore, here's my advice: If you're after screaming creamy smooth distortion, the DS-1 is going to let you down bigtime, and you should consider the MT-2. If you want a crunchy distortion which will still go pretty good like classic rock, but no metallica sound, get a DS-1. If you want versatility - get both! They're both excellent pedals in their own rights, and they simply cannot be compared.

Well, let's say that I've gigged it a couple of times due to the lack of a good amp, and treated it roughly, and it still works. A couple of aesthetic damages but I like that :D

Never dealt with them.

I play a lot of things, from blues to rock to even metal. For rock and metal, this thing fits the bill. For blues and classic rock etc it is too shouty. As I said before, even with the distortion knob on '0' it still is to smooth and creamy and lacks dirt. But it gives you amazing sustain for leads and pinch and natural harmonics just jump out at you. It also gives a good compression for leads. You can also use it for that dark chug-chugga-chug-chugga-chug sound. So in the end, it's a decent pedal. As long as you keep in mind that it is a METALzone and that you might consider using a noisegate after it. For the rest, nice pedal!

The controls are very straight forward. I can get great overdrive and metal sounds. It is so flexible. You just have to dial to the sound that you are happy with.

I am using this through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I was using a Boss DS-1 but this pedal just makes the amp sound 10x better. It picks up the harmonics at low volume (even at bedroom level) where my DS-1 does not. I get a fat smooth overdrive to Metallica distortion with a change of the dial. Since the Fender has a very clean tone on the clean clean channel, it compliments the pedal very well. All my settings are at 12 o clock while my amp settings are 4 treble, 4 bass, 7 mid, and 6 presence. If I use the amp overdrive and set it to 3, I get a fatter mid range overdrive tone without sounding harsh even at high volume. I am playing with an Epiphone LP Standard (all stock). Very nice indeed.

I have had it for just a day so I don't know I cannot answer this question.

n/a

This is the best metal petal that I have ever had. I have used MXR Distortion Plus and Boss DS-1. Both are now retired. I play a lot of 80s hard rock raning from Ratt, Van Halen, and Queensryche. This pedal covers it all. If your amp has raspy or less then satisfactory overdrive or distortion, use the clean channel with this pedal and your amp will sing.

This pedal has 4 knobs and a 3 band Eq. It may look easy to use but it actually is really difficult to get a good sound out of it. You have to spend too much time testing different EQs

I'm using a peavy Rage amp (yes, I know it sucks - I've tried it in bigger amps too.) and an Epiphone Flying V goth. As I said before it's very hard to use, but when you get the right Eq you also get one of the best metal sound I've heard.

Many people complains that this pedal gives no tone, that's not true, I can get enough tone to get a good sound out of this, here's what I did to get the sound I was looking for:

Turn High really low : like 10:00 or so, the use plenty of lows (1:00) -- As for the mids, use a high frequ (12:00) so you can use it as highs and turn the mids volume up (10:00 / 11:00) . Using this config I've gotten a very good sound.

It looks like a tank, but do not mess up with the knobs.

This is a really nice pedal for Heavy Metal so it suits my style perfectly, but if you're not very patient don't get this. In this moment I couldn't live with metal zone distorsion, so I would bought another one If I loose this one for some reason.

Anyway test it with your current equipment since you can't get a perfect sound with every amps, in this way I would like it worked any amp.

Boss Stompbox - 4 knobs, 3 band EQ. would have got a 10, but there are so many tones you can reach from the equalizers that it takes a while to hear them all.

agile hornet----->boss mt2------>marshall 15 watt practice.
obviously noisy-its a distortion pedal, but surprisingly not as noisy as most ive heard.
The sound jumped out the pedal and kicked me in the ass! i like lots of mids, and i GOT lots of mids.
the distortion can go from bluesy to biting in the turn of a knob.
hell, theres distortion when you have the distortion knob turned to 0.
i would describe the distortion (the way i set it) as harsh and high end.
ill never need to buy another distortion pedal.

its a boss. made of metal, probably live longer than me. plastic knobs tho.

never dealt with the company; so 5

i play pantera, metallica, at the gates, stratovarius. whatever kind of metal, this will do. i also own a Boss ds2, and now that i have this, i dont think the ds2 will be getting much use. if it were stolen, i would devote my life to finding the guy and giving him another hole in his face... or i would just but a new one. if you play, blues, punk, metal, anything in between, you need this pedal. simple as that. only problems i have is that it sounds crappy with compression, and it eats batteries like a mofo. however, that is minor overall

Well... it is a pedal. Not too hard to use! :)

Ok, here is the big thing. People come on here and say this pedal is tinny, has a thin tone, etc, add infinium. I have found out why this is. Soild state technology.

Solid state: n. (soo-liyd stayte): A device specifically designed to make a guitar sound bad.

I have tried this pedal with numerous brands and sizes of solid state amps from manufacturers such as fender, marshall, crate and peavey. All of them sucked. I thought I would never find a good amp for this pedal, but then I stumbled upon the fender blues deville series of tube amps. Holy-shit.

Let me get it straight what I was looking for. I was looking to get an ultra high gain, feedback inducing, vai/satriani type tone with a nice metal edge to it. The Metal zone gives those properties, but it is the blues deville that truely smooths out the sound and brings out the best in the pedal. I have gotten the perfect tone. It is warm, full, and rich. It cuts through a full band like nothing else. The pedal itself allows you to dial in as much or as little bass responce as you want, and it is very exceptional. I can crank this setup as loud as I want and it stays crystal clear the whole way, without getting tinny or annoying.

The high and low EQ's are excellent, as are the parametric Mid and middle EQ's (a huge feature on the pedal). I can get almost any metal sound I want, I lean towards a more 80's metal sound with more of an edge to it. The Metal zone does it, no problem.

My guitar is a Godin SD, and any guitar with an exceptionally bright lead tone should sound awsome with this pedal and amp combo.

Its a boss... it has another 20 years left in it.

Never needed it....... see above, its a boss.

This pedal will shine when mixed with the right amp. If you TRUELY desire to have a great, awsome tone that your friends will drool over and will have people asking you how you did it, you will seek this pedal and a suitable amp. It beats all digital effects, and all other distortions I have seen. I am very choosy about my tone, it has to be very smooth and pleasing to the ear, and the Metal Zone/Deville combo delivers.

I have owned Marshalls, Crate, Fender. I have had the DOD death metal, DigiTech Metal Master, DigiTech Death Metal. I have played through Mesa Duel Rectifiers, and Peavey 5150s. The MT-2 rises above all of them. The manual it comes with helps you pull out some nice tones.

I play a Gibson les paul studio for my main stage guitar, and for my main stage amp i use a b-52 lg100a head with a standard crate cab.
The pedal produces a little noise but if you have a noise gate than its all fixed. The distortion comming from this thing always sounds awesome. it has a tube like analog soundl. Not all digital like the digitech metal master. You can get any sound you want out of this thing. Atreyu smooth soundin gmetal to Van halen like crunch.

i can depend on this for sure

I play in a posthardcore/metal core band. And I think this pedal is awesome for the tones that I am trying to get out of it. I have been playing guitar about 5 years. I use a B-52 head out of a standard crate cab. with a gibson les paul studio. my pedals include the metal zone. mxr phase 90. boss digital reverb. boss digital delay. and boss noise surpresser. If it were stolen or lost I would DEFF get a new one ASAP I think it cranks better tones than that of a mesa duel rectifier.

I've had a hard time finding the best distortion setting this has to offer. Easy to use, but it definitely requires some tweaking time, which to me a distortion pedal shouldn't require.

Sound quality, or tone, is completely subjective, as everyone has unique tastes. To me good distortion has lots of bass and punch, but also has warmth and definition. I've never liked Dimebag Darrell's sound because it is way too scooped for my taste, and doesn't have any warmth. I also have never liked Slayer's sound, as it has way too many mids. My idols for heavy distortion are Zakk Wylde, Adam Jones, and James Hetfield. Check out the albums "1919 Eternal" "Lateralus" and "And Justice for All" for my versions of "perfect" distortion.

This pedal could not give me the distortion I wanted. I found that it was very fuzzy sounding, and was very "nasally" or "high pitched" in nature. It doesn't sound warm to me at all, and is pretty noisy. It also sounds compressed, which I don't like. However, the one thing that it does well is cut through the mix for solos. I'd recommend it for people who want a solid lead tone at a reasonable price. As for rhythm work, it has some chunk to it, but not nearly enough saturated gain or bass for me. I have only ever played these pedals through solid state amps (would you need one of these if you had a tube amp? hell no!).

I have a tube preamp now which has the exact sound that I am looking for, so I haven't tried any other pedals, but I have heard good things about the Zoom Tri-Metal/Hyper lead (don't get the multi effects units though, yeech!), Rocktron Metal Planet, and Visual Sound Jekyll&Hyde distortion pedals if anyone else is looking for alternatives. I'm curious to try the Digitech Metal Master though, as those seem to be showing up quite a bit nowadays...

I could probably get NASA to throw it into the atmosphere from space, and it would survive the fall back down to earth, making a nice huge crater. BOSS. Nuff said.

never dealt with 'em, but their website sucks

If you love Dimebag's tone, you'll be in heaven. If you have only been playing guitar for a couple of years, and are just starting to buy your own equipment, you'll love this pedal. However, if you are an experienced player anal about tone, stay away, unless you need a pedal to do leads. Personally, for a lot of guitarists just starting out, I'd recommend buying some of those cheaper amps that have decent enough built in distortion and buying an EQ pedal to tweak the sound to your liking. Nothing will ever beat a good tube amp for metal distortion, but as technology advances maybe we will get better options for those who can't afford them.

fairly easy to use, although i can see how people could get confused by the parametric mid controls. right off the bat i should say i only use this at home for practice and for learning songs.

using it through a peavey minx 110 bass amp, setup for best clean sound posible. i think this is very important because if you put distortion on top of distortion it does'nt tend to sound very good too square wavy. it's also important to remember that this is a distortion pedal not an overdrive so using it with a tube amp is probably not going to make it sound any better! try a tube screamer. ps as some wise man said no distortion pedal will sound perfect. oh ya it also goes without saying the better the guitar and pickups the better everything sounds

it's a boss nuff said!

never had to deal with them and i've owned a ton of boss pedals.

i play heavy metal and punk and this is a good match.
once again i should say i only use this at home, to play out i use a peavey all tube 60 watt with a tube screamer ts 808.
guitars are charvel jap model 3a and model 2.

Its hard to use because of the advanced EQ. no matter where i turn it, it sounds ugly. The only setting i liked was "hard rock" which is showed in the usere manual

I've tried this pedal through a washburn 20 watts, and now a JCM 800. it was ok when i runned it through the washburn, but when i tried with the marshall, i realized how dead this sound is. When the marshall gives me warm and soft distortion, this gives me soul-less creepy distortion that hurts my ears. im giving it a 3 because it sounded ok with playing palm muted power chords on the E and A string.

Most boss pedals are reliable

I play hard rock, classic rock etc. i dont play metal so i don't know why i bought this pedal. it doesnt fit my musical style at all. if it were stolen, i wouldnt give a damn. i still have my RAT.
Im so happy that a friend of mine bought it from me.

not too difficult to acheive a good sound, but needs to be tweaked when jamming with a band due to the ridiculous amounts of compression and gain. it's great that it has such good eq options, very few pedals offer that.

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR EVERYONE: the is NO perfect pedal. but at least this one is true to it's name. I own a ds-1 (old jap ane), a ds-2,a RAT, an me-50, i have OWNED quite a few dod pedals (nuff said), i work in a music store so i have played persitantly through marshall jcm 800's, and 2000's, mesas, peavey triple xxx, the whole bit. IF U ARE SOME STUCK UP BOUTIQUE FAN,DO NOT COMPLAIN BECAUSE YOU DONT NEED THIS PEDAL. but for those of us who have clean old fender tube amps and want them to become demonic once in a while THIS IS THE PEDAL. this is boss' best selling pedal ever FOR A REASON. no mxr dime shit will come close( he doesnt use that pedal or the dimebucker, his sound comes from his ridiculous cabinets and his bill lawrence L-500 pickup) dont complain because it is not perfect, and dont expect gold if u are plugging it into some crate garbage or any kind of small practice amp. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT PEDAL, I HAVE HAVE MINE SINCE 1992.

if you whip it at a wall, u might bend the level, of distortion knob. besides that, you can treat it like a slut for 12 years like i did and have no problem!!

i have never before had a pedal that made me feel as if i had gomitted a mortal sin by using it. AND I MEAN THAT IN A GOOD WAY. this is a great pedal and is true to it's name.

Its a Boss.....if you can use a pencil you can use this. But the manual explains everything anways.

Great metal setting for the player on a not so high budget. Great metallica sound can come from this, and any other metal sound. Of course it's not going to sound like you have a mesa boogie stack, but it comes quite close. I use a fender 65w amp with a b.c rich nj series warlock and an ibanex rg2550ex, great sound. Not strictly for metal, but don't look hear for mellow distortion settings.

It's a boss, throw it out a window, then throw bricks at it and it'll still work. (well maybe not....but who would be stupid enough to do that)

Had the pedal for a few months, but i can honestly not see anything going wrong with it. Heard good things about boss customer support though, so i'll give it an 8

Great value, the closest you will come to a great metal/rock/classic rock sound without spending thousands on amps (and guitars). I must point out the people further down the page bitching about the sound it gives .....of course pro's arent going to use this pedal as they have a near limitless budget, so if these guys can bitch on about how crap this sounds through their #3000 setup, why dont they buy a mesa stack and active emg's????? but for a player on a budget this is your key to a fantastic sound.

This pedal is "Trainable Approved". Any window-licker can make this sound at least decent.

Fender P-Bass into a Peavey Bass Amp. It can be a little overbearing at times, but that will become much clearer below.

I used to be mad metal. I was in the seventh grade in a Metallica cover band and at our first show ever, I dropped my Metal Zone on the floor. The distortion knob broke off while it was set on 10! This pedal was shunned and ignored for years.
Now I play alot more noisy kind of Fugazi/Sonic Youth kinda stuff. My Metal Zone has now become my "Feedback Machine"! Even with my amp volume and level very low this thing squeals like an eleven year old boy getting his first atomic wedgie. It is perfect for noise. I'm rating it 10 for reliability because it broke in the most beneficial way possible.

I've never spoken to the bastards.

If I lost this pedal, I would probably steal another one and break off that god damned distortion knob on 10 again.

Easy if you know what your doing. The manual comes with suggestains but they suck balls. It took me awhile to get a good sound. but thats only cuz im retarded

I use a Fender Sam ash custom strat and a Marshall MG250DFX amp. THis thing sounds awsome if you know how to get the right sound. I know it might not be the best out there but if your a teenager like my self that doesn't have any money, this is probably your best choice. The EQ on this thing has a huge range. You can get a sh*t load of different sounds out of this. The nobs are really sensitive so if you move them the slightest bit it "f"s up your sound

My only suggestain is that you don't drop it on the knobs like i did. its still useable but the distortion knob is tilted alittle. But you can drop it anywhere else and it'll be fine. You don't need a back up at all unless your a dumbass like myself. Oh yeah, after 3 years of use you might need to re-solder the output jack cuz it came loose. but thats no big deal

I've been playing for 4 years. I play punk (NOFX, Bad Religion punk not emo)and this pedal is perfect for it. Sounds awsome with Metal also. If it were lost or stolen i wouldn't have the money to replace cuz im a poor S.O.B. But if i did have money i would get something better and more expensive. I'm giving it a seven cuz you can probably get something better. But its still an awsome pedal

This pedal is awesome it is pretty easy to get a good sound out of it. The cool thing is is that thanks to the 3 band EQ you can really morph your distortion to sound like anything you want. Set all the knobs at 12oclock and then slowly move the knobs around to get a full understanding of how each knob works with your sound. The manual is ok..it gives you an idea of how to acheive a ceartain genre of distortion but you need to just take some time and really play around with the Metal Zone until you get the sound you want.

I play a Squier Standard Stratocaster with Single Coils. Strat> Boss Tuner> Boss Metal Zone> Boss 7 band EQ> Boss Noise Supressor> Fender FMR212 100 watt combo amp. The Metal Zone was the first of my 4 Boss pedals and suprisingly even with single coils it does not produce that much hiss or hum. When it feedsback it's a nice warm sound not screeching. The sound has improved greatly thanks to my Noise Supressor and 7 band EQ they really help shape the sound. But the Metal Zone alone sounds great by itself as well.

I rely on this pedal heavily considering I always play with distortion on. I've used it on every single gig with my band for the last 6 months. It is a really nifty pedal. believe me it's way better than any Marshall or even Some low end Mesa's amp distortion. This little Black Box packs a punch and a whole lot of attitude. This pedal is great for almost all Genre's of music. I play Ska/Punk and Grindcore and Metal so the settings on mine suit each one perfectly. I want to show you guys my setings if your want a huge boost in sound and quality distortion. These settings fit most styles.

Level: 12:00
Distortion: 12:00
Low: 1:00
High: 5:00
Mid Freq: 1:00
Mid: 7:00

I play mostly Crack Rock Steady (i.e) Punk, Ska, Metal, Grindcore. I'm seventeen I've been playing for almost 3 years now. If it were stolen I would purchase a new one. I love how it has just killer crunch and suits all music. I compared it to a Sansamp, Proco Rat, DS-1, DS-2, and Hughes and Ketner, nothing even came close to the Versitality and Sound Quality.

It is very easy to get a decent sound with this. You can get that classic creeping death sound within seconds. 4 knobs easy to use don't listen to the people who say it takes ages to find a good sound.

Epiphone les paul gothic/Jackson dkmg w/emg 81/60 - dunlop 535q wah -Boss ds-1 - boss mt-2 - marshall mg100dfx.

This is a good metal effect you can basically get any metallica or metal sound you want but it can't do much else apart from metal. It does what it is suppose to do very well and that is metal you don't buy this pedal for mellow distortion. I would recomend getting another distortion pedal with this e.g. boss ds-1 or something like that. I can also get a very good paranoid sound out of it. The mid's knobs make the most difference in the distortion you can get about 4 different types of ditortion. don;t listen to the people who say this pedal is rubbish it plays metal well.

I would use this without a backup because boss make good strong poducts.

This makes a good live heavy sound but I recomend buying a more mellow distortion to go with it. For what it is spose to do it does very well.

It's so easy to use . The knobs speak for itself (if you know what mid,treble,bass etc is)

I have a Fender American Standard Strat, Les Paul Custom Gibson, Parker Fly De luxe. The key is you have to set your clean setting first then start the mixing of the MT-2 EQ from center (12 o'clock).Work your setting for the mid EQ & mid frequency going left , meaning minus not boosting. I never pass the 12 o'clock in my EQ's. I add low and always keep the high at center.This is the most amazing and versatile distortion I ever used. I have a Marshall JCM800, Mesa DC-5, JCM60 and I get anywhere from Metal to Classic Rock. My motto is know your gear. Stop buying and buying give the equipment a chance, there is a very important factor in setting a good sound and that is ear fatigue. If you you are setting your equipment for more than 45 minutes, take a break and come back. You will have good results. I thank Boss for MT-2 and of course the delay and chorus. Boss rules.

like what they say , It doesn't break.

N/A
It's almost indestructable (normal usage)

I play variety. But doing classic rock . I can get from BTO to Metallica easy.I am a Filipino musician. I've been playing since I was 16 years old professionally. If I count the gigs I've done you would say I'm lying. I play variety music and for a Filipino we have to be good musicians or elese we won't eat. This is my livelihood. I a m living in Okinawa now. I'm 47 and have been playing for 31 years. I have GP-100, ME-10, GP-16, just to name a few. If it were stolen, I would be very upset and envy the one who stole it. I will buy it again. I love everything about MT-2 . It helps me a lot, I cannot pull off a gig without it.People says negative things about this product do not know how to use it and should keep their opinion to themselves rather that attacking a very good gear. It shows how amateur and in-experienced they are. Know your gear and clean your ears.

So simple a child could use it and get an incredible sound without any trouble.But time spent on learning all the subtle nuances of the EQ section will introduce you to a whole kaleidoscope of incredibly amazing distortion effects.

I regard the Metalzone as much more than just a mere distortion pedal. It is quite simply the finest amplifier emulation device currently available. Mastering the EQ is the doorway to a whole world of distortion possibilities.You can dial in the sweetest, velvet-like, most delicately touch-responsive bluesy overdrive you've ever heard, or shudder in fear at the most terrifyingly extreme metal distortion you could possibly imagine! As well as all points in between. Astonishing versatility in such a small package. They must only have geniuses working at Boss! And it is a complete myth that an extra EQ pedal is needed to get the best from a Metalzone.You can use one if you wish of course, but why tamper with absolute perfection? There is more thunderous bottom end on tap than anyone could ever use. It is so gratiyfing to see that many others agree with me that you can easily get the sounds of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Pantera, Tool, etc. from the Metalzone. You can also get soloing sounds like Van Halen, Satriani , Vai, Malmsteen, Slash, SRV, Zakk Wylde.... The list just goes on and on. But beware! This pedal will turn any amp, even the humblest of practice amps into a mighty fire-breathing monster!!! I actually find it amusing that all these big rock stars spend many thousands of dollars on their hugely expensive Marshall, Randall, Mesa, Peavey and Diezel amplifiers. Imagine how foolish they would feel if only they knew that all those sounds are available from this one small, inexpensive box!! The Metalzone can be set to sound like an overdriven Marshall JCM800 stack with ease. Or if you prefer, it can be tweaked to sound EXACTLY like a triple rectifier! What other pedal can compete with this? Let me answer that simply.There is none! This is the only pedal you will ever need and I dont just mean distortion. Effects like phaser, chorus, delay, wah-wah etc, will suddenly seem like an childish irrelevance once you experience the magic of the Metalzone and have such brutal, bonecrushing versatility at your command!
I quake with laughter when I think of poor Hetfield and Hammet, Hanneman and King, Mustaine and Friedman, Dimebag Darrell, Max Cavalera, Scott Ian and the like, struggling to achieve the sound that will alwways elude them. Will they ever see the light I wonder?

It is an established fact that Boss pedals do not ever break down. Never. They are quite literally indestructible. Everyone knows this.

I can assure you you will never have any reason to call them. Unless of course you wish to congratulate them on their superior product!!

I have tried many varieties of distortion pedal over the years including every single one of those from Proco, DOD, Ibanez, MXR, Tech21, Guyatone, Danelectro, Digitech, Tonebone, Zoom and many, many others besides, and none of them can compare to the furious majesty of the all-conquering Metalzone in any way. I currently own three of them and my dream is to have about six or seven Metalzones all conected in a line, each at a different setting, to make the ultimate Overdrive/Distortion pedalboard. If you are serious about rock and metal guitar then you must own at least one Metalzone. You will sound like a god when you use one of these!!!

The reason I give no ratings is because they only go up to ten and the Metalzone is completely deserving of at least twice such a number of marks.

The Metal Zone is pretty easy to use. A level, 4-band EQ knobs, and Distortion level allowing you to have a soft growl or axe-wealding mania. The ease is in the style of music you play.

I use various guitars and basses with this and each kick some serious arse. There is only the hint of noise on my Strat because its about 10 years old and battered to death (so much so I repainted it). The effects are always strong, but then playing in small halls with hench amps, you will always get that effect. I personally have a little Peavey Microbass II for home use - till I get outside then hook up to a Fender Bassman 1200 amp with four 8x10 cabs attached. WARNING - this setup has brought down buildings in my area. Anything built before 1900 should NOT have this setup in. The sounds I particularly get are a crossbreed of MYRKSKOG, KAAMOS, CANNIBAL CORPSE and a host of other bands with distortion thrown together to get the true sound. All in all it cost me #15,000 to make it. But every last penny was worth it.

This pedal, when I bought it, was the subject of much awe and speculation at Jewson, my workplace. To give it a test of strength, Chris our driver, ran over it in a fully loaded 13-ton lorry...and it worked as well as it ever did before from new - this proved by playing Emperor's Curse You All Men! in the yard that afternoon. If I were ever to need a backup for this pedal it would only be another Metal Zone. I've had it for 10 months and it hasn't faltered once. The only let down is that it eats batteries like I eat burgers...by the dozen. One battery 9V will last you around a week on on/off use. On continuous, it's something like 25-30 hours (which considering I have a track twice that long doesn't help me) But BOSS have the answer with their adaptor, which will cost you #25.

I've never had to deal with anyone for this pedal, but I would think that the service would be excellent.

I play Ultimate Metal - this being the next step on from Extreme Metal and not stopping at any particular point. It matches well on it's own but does lack in the right feel. When connected to other pedals it has THE effect. It is perfect for Death Metal where growl is wanted, the Old School stuff like KAAMOS. To lose it would probably kill me but then they'd make another one. It really is the mutts nuts and there aren't too many people I know who have complained when using it. It is a good rugged pedal that takes some serious shit - like a good solid rock, it doesn't give way. I would compare it to my other pedals, DOD Death Metal, Digitech Metal Master, Danelectro Black Licorice, BOSS Mega Distortion, Danelectro T-Bone, Marshall Jackhammer and so on... but they only tell part of the story. The full part is when they are connected all together with my custom built 250-band EQ and put through my Octave Drop (also by BOSS) pedal. Then it comes into it's own as a murder weapon. If anything could be added to the MT-2, I'd hope it would be an Octave Drop/Prop to lift up or down an Octave or two when needed, but you cant have everything. This pedal is THE music I play. Branded by locals as pure Satanity, (they know little of such music) it is the very soul of metal and me.

Very simple to use. There is no mystery as some would have it.See previous reviews.

I want to correct the simple-minded presuppositions of the review a couple down from this by godmachine(about his twentieth review of this pedal on this board by my reckoning)that if you don't like the Metal Zone it's either your fault or you don't like metal. This is pure, patronising juvenile ignorance.It is possible, after all, to love metal, to play metal, to know exactly how to use the Metal Zone and still hate the sounds it makes.How many gigging musicians use the MT-2 as opposed to those who only play by themselves at home? The answer is: very few indeed, as we all know. A couple of years ago to prove the point I compared a borrowed MT-2 to some other pedals. Zoom Hyperlead, Tonebone Hot British, Sansamp GT-2 (My own pedals) plus Digitech Metal Master,Danelectro Fabtone, Zoom Trimetal(all borrowed). Every one of those pedals sounded incredibly better than the MT-2 no matter how it was set, and that was through a Marshall AVT20/Marshall DSL 401/Fender Hot Rod Deluxe combos and also through my stage rig of Marshall JCM 8000 2203Zakk Wylde Edition head with two Mesa Recto 4x12 cabs. I used quality instruments by Jackson, Gibson and ESP as well as my main gig axes which are two Fender Strats loaded with EMG actives. Hell I even used the MT-2 on a couple of songs one night just to give it an even chance and the other guys in the band made me promise not to use it again.Not ever. Thin, weak and fizzy with a constricted, nasal honk in the mids which always dominates the sound is the best way to describe it.I've been playing for over twenty years, I love listening to metal, I love playing metal yet I loathe the Metal zone, and that puts me in a LOT of good company. As I say, few gigging players use one and VERY few full time pros would even go near one. Now why do you suppose that is? Because they hate metal even though they play it and they're too stupid to figure out a few simple controls? Or because the MT-2sounds just plain awful? Figure it out for yourself. That should take, ohh... half a second or so.

No quibbles about Boss reliability.

I'd say don't let other people's failures to recognize the Metal Zone's considerable shortcomings to persuade you to buy one of these. But if you absolutely must try one don't buy new. You can easily pick them up used for 30-40 bucks, so no need to cry if you lose yours "Jerbaldo". Incidentally. nice to see you're playing a decent guitar these days. Strats rule!

As with all BOSS equipment, it's user-friendly. The difference in the mid controls throws you at first, but it's basically easy if you know a little about equalization. simple and straight forward, the knobs don't confuse you.

Best ever. I use it on my Marshall half stack, and it's one of the best distortions I've heard in a long time. I've had a danalectro, DOD, and Ibanez, and they don't have the diversity or quality that the BOSS does. you can turn the bass and mid way down with the high freq. really boosted to get those screaming wacky solos, or turn the bass way up with the mid about 3/4 to get some nu-metal. everything a bit down sounds like 70's rock....it's all in one pedal. you can make it sound like just about any type of rock around.

just like every BOSS pedal. the stomping can be tweaked by using the little screw at the bottom-front. this allows you to activate it by tapping it or stomping it. I did have a problem with the small rubber o-ring that controls that, and I had to have it replaced to make it adjust again, but other than that, I've never had it go bad on me. I've only had it for about 4 years, though. I've never needed a backup, and I don't think I will for awhile.

I haven't used it yet. haven't had the need.

I play a cross between deftones, A perfect circle, and Alice in chains. the BOSS metalzone goes between all of these. I've been playing for about 5 years now on my Marshall half stack, and if my metalzone got stolen, I think I'd cry. It's way to diverse and powerful to lose, no drawbacks. It's awesome how you can adjust the tone with a small equalizer. and no matter how small that equalizer is, it make a big difference in the sound quality coming out.
Compared to my DOD and Ibanez, the BOSS blows them away. As I said, diverse and powerful.

The tone knobs are easily misused leaving users thinking the tone of their guitar is too altered when using this pedal. After 10 years of using this pedal I still feel it is important to leave all the tone knobs straight up to start with and then very gently boost bass or treble and only cut mids if tone alteration is attempted.

For the love of God make sure your clean tone is sweet before stepping on the Metalzone. Failure to this can only lead to utter frustration.

I use the Metalzone with a 1978 Marshall JMP 50 watt head and a Marshall 4x12 cabinet loaded with 30 year old 25 watt celestions. Yep, with out the Metalzone my tone is sweeeeet. My guitar is a 2000 Fender Stratocaster American Series. Yup, a $1500 amp and a $600 guitar but I have the ultimate tone.

I have tried dozens of overdrive and distortion pedals. TS-1s, SD-1s, DS-1s, HM-2s, OS-2s, OD-1s, Proco Rats, vintage Big Muffs, DOD preamps, DOD Malmsteen, DOD Grunge, MXR Distortion Plus, Digitech rack units, ART rack units, Jeckly and Hyde, Marshall Shredmaster and Governor, Morley, Dan Electro, modified Marshalls. Shit, I own 5 vintage Marshall half stacks. I've had Mike Morin, Lee Jackson, Bob Risson, Jose Arredondo and Mark Cameron mod my Marshalls. I've been looking for the ultimate tone since 1979. Thats 25 frikkin years kids!

So what do I like? Actually, I like almost everything....but what do I do I use everyday? On a Marshall half stack I use the Metalzone or a Boss SD-1. The SD-1 with the Marshall overdriven is very cool! The Metalzone on a clean running Marshall is also very very cool. It's hard for me to choose.

On a little Fender amp I use a Boss DS-1 or the stock overdrive.

The Metalzone on my Marshall half stacks is just frikin awesome. Megadeth, Judas Priest, White Zombie, Alice in Chains, Tool, Pearl Jam, etc are all easily replicated.

So don't let other people failures keep you from hearing this pedal used properly. It's tighter and punchier than any other pedal out there. It has the hardest hitting bottom of any pedal I've heard in the last 25 years.

If you are using a solid state amplifier you might try running a Boss CE-3 Compressor/Sustainer ahead of the Metalzone. At very low volume I have found this to be really cool.

I've bben playing since 1969. I love Metal and Grunge. I play in a band and do a show every Sunday.

If you don't like the Metalzone you either are using it wrong or hate Heavy Metal. Period!

My friend got a Keeley modded metalzone and loves it. I heard it over the phone and it sounded pretty wicked. I'll have to send him one for myself.

Later,

I do not own one of these (almost did though), but I have tried it out on many occasions and have heard many, many people play through it (from 1000$ BCRich warlocks and my ESP LTD EC-100, to a Squire Affinity series Tele), so I thought it'd be time to give my two cents. For ease of use, it's a mixed bag. If you have a good guitar (not necessarily a good amp as it tends to sound relatively good in some of the shittiest ones), it's very, very easy to get a useable tone. I've seen this in only a few cases so far. If you guitar costs less than 300$, you'll have a hard time getting good settings out of this (that is, if you know what you're listening for). The mid EQ is a real blessing if your guitar is fairly decent. I think it's the only reason this pedal *might* be worth looking into. Then, however, I find it extremely ironic that people go out and buy a GE-7 to boost up their otherwise bland MT-2s. People (by the way), if you're gonna buy a second EQ (and not as a boost), then by all means get a cheaper metal pedal, or even just a powerful normal-sounding distortion you can then transform it into something much better than just an MT-2, without losing 250$ to Boss. If you can't get a sound out of your Metal Zone with a semi-parametric EQ, bring it back. If you EQ it too much after, it'll come out artificial, will not cut through, and/or will be extremely noisy and will lose its original definition. That's why people say the MT-2's EQ is 'perfect'. It's as much EQ-ing as the pedal can take without being excessive. The only time I heard this combination sound really good was with a local nintendocore band. Their sound was incredibly trebly, artificial and noisy, but it's nintendo music, so it was perfect for it... Otherwise, only get an EQ if you really need a boost, and even then, their may be better choices for that. Trust me, I've tried it, and even though it may initially sound spectacular, wait 'til you get in a band (and yes, I own a GE-7).

Again, a mixed bag. I think my main complain with this pedal is that it always comes out slighty fizzy/fuzzy at the least. I used to believe otherwise, but I think that the companies who 'remove' the gain level knobs from their metal pedals are the ones who are on the right track. I own a Digitech Metal Master (which I would recommend over this any time, despite its slighty higher price) that doesn't have a Dist. knob, but the gain is set exactly so there's NEVER any fuzzyness in the sound. I had the same experience with other pedals. Anytime I hear somebody play with this (including me), it always comes out fizzy because there's not way to set the Dist. on that sweet, smooth spot. To me, at least, since this is intended for metal, Boss should've found that right setting and left it there (then maybe replace the knob with something original, like a presence knob maybe? anybody seen one of these on a pedal lately?). My friend went live with his 1000$ BC-Rich and I'm sorry to say his sound was horrible, fuzzy, and blended right in with the drums; and since his sound at low volumes was fairly good, I'm tempted to think this works better off-stage (or when it's processing silence...). The pedal's character also has that nasal quality to it, like everybody says, as well as trebly. You can turn the treble down, but then you can't hear yourself play in a band situation. This does make it very attractive to people who are constantly tremolo-picking, though, because it articulates each stroke with precision and makes for good harmonics. Although this usually depends on the amp, I can say that this one is at least better than the new MD-2, but not as good as the DOD FX86 death metal pedal. Once you get past the noisyness (you'll need a noise gate eventually anyway, unless you're lucky enough to find a silent high gain pedal, apparently like the discontinued Zoom Tri-metal that I haven't tried yet) and the 'wildness' of its sound and learn to control it, I think the FX86 provides a much stronger 'feel' than the MT-2, and is cheaper. The Danelectro Fabtone is also better than this to an extent. Really, the only redeeming factor in this pedal is the EQ (which makes it fairly versatile), but what's the point when the pedal's character lacks punch overall (or maybe a better way to describe it would be to say that it does have punch, but in all the wrong places).

Never seen one of these break. Excellent in this category and as good or better than any other metal pedal as far as I can tell. Unfortunately, it seems sad that these would be the only pedals remaining after a nuclear holocaust because those poor mutants would never know the joys of a real metal sound.

I've been playing for 3-3.5 years. I'm glad I never bought this. It's sad that I was lured into purchasing the MD-2 instead, which ended up being worse, but I eventually got a Digitech XMM which beats anything Boss makes. Most Boss pedals I've listened to, even in their own demos, simply sound too fuzzy to me. This one is no exception. The only time this *might* sound truly good would be with an expensive guitar and amp, but then, what's the point of buying a cheap pedal? I laugh at the person who put an MT-2 in front of a Mesa Boogie down there. I laugh even harder at the person who wanted to put two of these in-line. What a waste. Trust me, if your current equipment sucks, even though your ears may tempt you to get this as a cheap fix, save your money and get a better guitar and amp. I've been through the experience of buying pedals as substitutes for better gear, and sometimes it paid off, but only temporarily. In the long run, you'll only lose dough. I bought an MD-2 and a GE-7. 250$ canadian. I sold my MD-2 for half-price two years later and I stopped using my GE-7 because it drowns my sound (it's not a bad pedal, I just don't need it). Once you do have decent gear (say at least 1200$ canadian for a guitar and amp), if you still need a metal pedal, don't just settle for this. DEMAND good tone. It's your money. I've always believed that if you settle for less, you end up like the rest. Limiting it to my own experience, I'd recommend a MetalMaster or a Fabtone over this, again, anytime, anywhere. Maybe even an FX86 if it goes well with your rig (it's not the crap some people say it is, but it remains imperfect). But don't just take my word for it. Get your new shit, and test the pedals through that specific gear BEFORE buying. Don't just get something because you've been convinced that you need it.

It took me a really long time to get the sound i liked out of this pedal, but once i did get the sound i will never forget how cool it was. Well worth the effort put into it. It's just so versatile, not only did i find my sound, i figured out tons of other sounds i could get out of it. It was time well spent.

Like i said, once i found my sound i couldnt be happier with this pedal. I run a washburn X 50 into a rogue gs-100r. My amp isnt what i would call good. But the metal zone takes care of that for me. The total versatile tones you can get with this pedal are incredable. With this pedal i have played, tool, pantara, zeppelin, metallica and many more and the distortion is extreamely accurate to those bands sounds. It amazes the hell out of me.

i have been gigging and practicing with this pedal for over a year and brought a backup everytime and never needed one, this pedal is almost impossible to destroy, like all boss pedals. Every boss pedal i have ever owned is still running today.

never dealt with them

For my sound and style of music this pedal fits me perfectly. I have been playing for about 6 years and play everything except country. This pedal is for me. After you find yourself a sound with this pedal their is no turning back. If it were lost or stolen i would def. buy another one. However i would buy it new instead of used. I would like to buy a digitech metal zone so i could compare the two. If anyone has done so, e mail me and tell me what you think.

I had a Boss metal zone that i bought for myself for my birthday on May, 9 2003. I owned it for about 5 months when i realized i had plenty of time to find a good sound with it and it wasn't happening. at the time i played it through a 70's yamaha solid state 15'' guitar combo and the amp sounded beautiful for solid state, and a 99 fender american tele. I traded in my metal zone and got a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde overdrive/distortion and i still own it to this day and have played it on many amps and it is amazing.

This thing is garbage. Boss makes some amazing pedals for decent prices, but this is definitely not one of them. its noisy, there is no bridge in between a thin sound and a muddy sound. its one of the other, and i'm not looking for either one of those tones and i can't imagine anyone else seeking that tone out.

if you like the sound of this pedal, by all means get one. Boss certainly makes their pedals to last a lifetime and i would always consider a boss pedal if i couldn't afford one with higher sound quality

never dealt with boss.

i play emo/indie rock and jazz. It would be a great addition to a pedal rig for a metalhead that has no idea what good tone is. however i did tour with this, and it gave my amp distortion. even though it wasn't very good distortion it did the job while i was in between gear so i think this is worthy of a 6

It's not easy to get a good sound out of this thing. Actually, I wonder if that's possible at all. Let's try another question; is it easy to get the designated sound out of this pedal? Oh ok, yes quite easy.

Used this with a Fender strat + and mainly on different Marshall amps. Combined with other pedals, but they don't really matter.
I have to agree with other reviews that the sound of this pedal is not ok. There's no bass response, there's just an overall unpleasant sounding mid and high range. You can't hear the character of the original guitar signal; it?s like a blanket over my otherwise nice guitar sound.
Furthermore, I think this pedal is highly overrated. Ok, so you get a cheap box that produces distortion. Please don't let the price fool you. If you really want a great sound, get something else. Thank you.

O yes it is reliable but I wouldn?t gig with it. Actually, I sold it.

No, didn?t.

I really don't like this pedal. Played it to long as well, wish I got rid of it years ago, but it stood with me. Damn those reliable Bosspedals.

It is easy, but it needs some time to find the good sound.

After reading some reviews, it is obvious that the pedal depends a lot of the amp. Some settings suggested by other reviewers didn't work for me, but after testing some time, I found a good Thrash configuration.
I have a Behringer GM110 (30 Watts) and my settings are:

LEVEL: 12:00
LOW: 2:00
HIGH: 12:00
MID-FREQUENCY: 1:00
MID: 8:00 (Not the minimum, a little up)
DISTORTION: 3:00

You can find some different sounds that are good too with other settings. If you use other amp, this settings will not work for you.

I give it an eight because it is a little bit noisy. I suppose that it will be great with a Noise Gate.

Very reliably. It seems very rough.

Never needed.

When I bought it I thought it would sound bad. My amp has only one channel, so I wanted something that allow me to change dist / clean. I was very surprised with it and I recommend it. But give it an opportunity and try different sounds until you find the good one.

I bought this thing back in 2000.

Well, the only difficulty that it might show is the fact that it has a parametric mid eq section, which is really easy to control once you understand what's going on there. Then there's your typical high, low, gain, volume, blah blah. The manual has some really crappy 'recommended' settings, but it's useful on explaining the pedal's functions. Your typical distortion pedal with a few extra whistles.

I used to run this thing from my Ibanez RG1550 (Dimarzio loaded) with D'addario 10-52 strings tuned to E to my Peavey Bandit 112, only with a Boss GE7 in the way (great unit, by the way)

To be honest, this black box sounds like crap. And no, I have NO EXPERIENCE with tube amps. I've never played anything but SS amps. And I don't have 2 grand to put on a Marshall. But I do have a discerning ear...

This pedal sounds very thin! The bass is either BOOMY or it just isn't there. The highs are the most horrible buzz I've ever listened to come from a distortion pedal, you gotta put em low (like 10 o' clock) and pump the highs from the amp if u don't wanna get your ears pierced. The mid EQ section is, well... deader than dead. It lacks warmth and presence. It has a fizzy 'trademark' tone that you just CAN'T get rid of.

Cranking the gain is a really bad idea, it will bring tons of hum and your tone will be mush. 3/4 AT MOST.

I hate the fact that it compresses the signal.

I hate almost everything about this pedal. The tone is horrible to my ears.

Well, it has never failed on me... it seems dependable but I wouldn't gig with this thing. I hate it THAT much.

Never.

Well, I play stuff from Hard Rock to Black Metal, and honestly Black Metal is the only thing it can do 'decently'. If stolen, I'd regret I hadn't sold it b4 and then buy something else. NOT a MT-2. There are tons of better distortion units out there, in my opinion. It CAN'T nail Metallica, Megadeth, Faith no More, Death, Judas Priest... it flat out sucks. The only tone it can EMULATE halfway decently is Dimebag Darrell's tone (Pantera) and I don't like his tone, for starters...

I truly dislike this unit. I can't stand it, not even for bedroom practice. The only good thing is that it seems very dependable. Besides that, I think I'll be selling this thing really soon and buying a decent unit really soon...

I don't recommend this pedal.

Real easy, just listen and dial in your tone, see comments about the sound.

I wanted a pedal to give me a heavy/heavy metal sound because I play through smaller tube amps that dont have that kind of distortion build into them. I wanted this as a pedal that I would only occasionally use. After bringing it home and playing with it for a few minutes, I threw it in a box were it stayed for a few years. The pedal sounded bad, figured I would never use it. Recently I got it out and played with it some more. I got a useable sound out of it. It has a bad nasal quality that is built in an I can't get rid of it. If it wasn't for that feature, it would be a good pedal. The tone adjustments have a good sweep, can get a variety of sounds. Good level of distortion.

Built well, should last.

Never had to deal with them.

I would not buy another one, will look elsewhere. I play mainly classic rock, blues, but needed something were I could occasionally hit the bottom hard.

May be confusing to beginners but no problems for experienced guitarists who have used stompers before.

Like many guitarists I bought one of these years ago as a newbie and soon outgrew it's lack of real guts or versatility.The most honest way I can describe the sound of this unit is to tell you that it gives a bland and fizzy "me too" kind of distortion. It's not exactly awful but it doesn't have a lot of distinctive character either. The midrange is definitely thin and pinched like a stuck wah pedal which the EQ section cant ever get rid ofbut if you can live with that it's reasonably punchy for palm mutes. Just dont crank the distortion up to high or it becomes mushy.Also it definitely sounds better at low volumes than high ones. All round though its probably the best choice for anyone who just wants a cheap, reliable distortion pedal with a generalized sound for wanking around in your bedroom at low volumes and never plans to gig or jam with friends. It just can't cut through a band mix. It's a million miles away from that gutsy all-tube Marshall sound that so many big name players go for, so don't be deceived into thinking you'll be getting anything of that calibre for your hundred dollars. Some of the reviews here are way over the top and obviously by inexperienced players who just never heard a good distorted guitar sound in real life.Zakk wylde and the Slayer guys manage to get a killer sound out of their Marshall rigs and they don't use a Metal Zone.In fact I can't think of any name metal player who uses one of these units for their main sound.It does sound better with an GE-7 Equaliser but still not that great.

Itis dependable being a Boss but I sold mine six months after I got it. I'd NEVER use one on a gig because of the thin midrange sound and its inability to cut through in a band situation.

It says at the top of the review submission page that "superficial, glowing reviews will not get published" yet this board is full of 'em and that's disappointing.Very,very few products even of the finest quality deserve a 10 rating for sound. I'm not saying the Metal Zone is totally awful.If you never plan to leave the bedroom arena you'll be ok with it. All i'm saying is don't be misled by all the over the top reviews on this board and DON'T expect miracles.

It is easy to use once you know what each knob does, messing about in the shop I was struggling a bit.

I don't know where to start. I had my parent's get me this for my birthday as I wanted to replace my cheapo overdrive pedal and reckoned with all the EQ control I would be able to get a good sound, maybe even better than my cheap one. Wrong. I use a Jaguar into an old Peavey Musician 100W amp and I could not eradicate the nasally, boxy sound of this pedal no matter what I did. I tried different guitars, humbuckers and single coils, messed with the amplifier EQ and drive settings and an hour later gave up, almost in tears. I plugged my cheap overdrive in and it brought a smile back to my face. Everyone I spoke to before raved about them but everyone who heard it agreed that it was horrible.

I have had to use it in three gigs while I wait to get it exchanged, obviously it sounded crap in all three but the battery compartment popped open in the third gig. I almost destroyed the battery wires stomping on it in this state. Rubbish.

I really wish now I'd just replaced my cheap pedal with a new cheap pedal, now I'm stuck with #70 credit in a music shop. If it were stolen I would feel sorry for the poor sod who would have to endure it's nasally whining.

Straightforward on/off stomp box with gain and EQ. The Parametric EQ is not well explained in the manual and will take novices a while to tweak the EQ just right.

Awesome is the only word to describe this, i have a jackson with EMG-hz humbuckers and i can nail the tone for any metal band. The most impressive thing with the pedal is its outstanding clarity and low noise compared to my amp distortion and most if not all of the digital line6/COSM distortiongs i have tried.

Some people wil undoubtably compare this to a tube amp. If had money to buy a dual recto i would and this would be THE ultimate metal sound. However this pedal only cost #70 new!!! a bargain. No it doesnt sound quite like having a real tube amp. But its the best metal sound short of buying a 5150 or Recto. For metal this pedal blows anything marshall every made out of the water. Most of their JCM heads are too weak to get a nice chunky muted metal sound. I recently bought a boss multi effects ME-50 with all digital distortions in it, it wasnt even close to having a true analogue pedal.
One of my favourite features about this is the parametric EQ, it can transform your sound from dimebag darrel to some mid heavy 80s in seconds. Unlike some EQ's on amps turning the knobs makes a HUGE different to the sound coming out. Although i have seen people abuse the EQ and as a result get some auwful sounds from the pedal.

it built like an aeroplanes black box. i dont think i could break it if i tried.

never had to deal with them.

This pedal is perfect for my sound, and currently owns the metal distortion market.
If you want to sound like any metal band this box of tricks will do it for you.

Easy to use even FOR idiots. level, distortion, high, low, all self expalnatory. Middle cuts or boosts the mids.mid freq. sets the turnover point for that. There's no mysterious black art about it as some clowns want to make out.

This is a weak distortion by any standards. I play metal& gig usually twice a week most weeks so I know what I need and it aint one of these.the mids have a honky nasal tone which makes the pedal sound like shit. Tweakin the mids wont get rid of it either.A total waste of bux. It couldn't pulverize dried up dog turd (sounds like it though)

Boss are usually v.reliable. this pedal can easily be killed though. put it next to a Danelectro Liquid Metal and its gonna die of shame.

Dont waste time and money on this overated POS. get a Dano Liquid Metal or an H& K Warp Factor,better yet get a Boss MD2 Megadistortion+ eq pedal for a pretty good take on that brutal menacing boogie recto sound.

Easy to use for most. I'm sure idiots might find it hard to use.

Gear:
ESP Lynch Skulls/Snakes, Clapton Strat, Ibanez s1625fb
TC Electronic G-Major
MT-2
Tube Screamer-modified
Digitech envelope filter
BBE 482
Mesa Studio Pre
Mesa 20/20
Mesa 4x12 cabs x 2

Don't use all at once of course, but that's a sum of the gear I use most.

The MT-2 sounds great before the g-major and through the 482 to the 20/20. Very amp dependent though....sounds terrible using a ss pos (which is what most of the bad reviewers are using). I like it better than what I can get from the studio pre playing my s1625.

So far so good.

Never dealt with. When I've played my gear to death, I don't bitch at the mfg, just buy a new one.

For instrumental progressive rock, I can't find a better alternative, especially in the price range.

From all the stompboxes this was the one that gave me more trouble due to that mid frequency knob. It can definitely screw up your tone if set unproperly.

If we don't consider that mid frequency problem once you found the proper setting this one pulverizes everything else out there. I tried many distortion pedals but no one even came close to this. When the MT2 is on it's best it becomes untouchable. When i use it with a rented amp it becomes my main distortion unit and with the distortion just under the half it delivers so much gain when other units need to reach at least 3/4 of they're setting. While if use my Flextone i just turn the distortion to zero and the you go, i got an amazing drive boost. Too bad it will take some ages unless you are lucky to find a great sound

Well the only thing about boss pedals is that, at least in my experience they are not the most solid ones. You'd better stick some gaffa tape on it and write down your knob setting because if you miss the pedal and hit the knobs or just have them touched while moving your pedalboard bye bye setting. And on the MT2 that's a big no. And thate is that awful plastic ring in the pedal/battery compartment that might get broken easily and i noticed that everytime it happens the pedal has a hard time getting activated. I would recomend a spare one around

never dealt with them

Well if you are a metal player you'd better get it, especially if for some reason you gotta use a stompbox for distortion. I already talked about it's structural flaws, but hell...if you want metal distortion this is the only way. I tried the Warp distortion and it wasn't going anywhere, the digitech one...god awful, the ibanez classic metal got close but not enough and the smashbox was way too cheap sounding.

I don't want to say much about the Metal Zone:
--If you want to sound like early Metallica or Pantera buy this pedal
--If not, buy a Pro-Co Rat II.... I have both, and each is suited for different sounds.

Try these settings for the "Master of Puppets" Metallica sound:
LEVEL:12:00 o'clock
LOW:5:00
HIGH: 11:00
MID-FREQUENCY: 9:00
MID: 7:00
DISTORTION: 5:00

I have been playing since 1985...you will not find a cheaper way to sound this heavy.

Cheers, Donald
Auckland, New Zealand

The ease of use on this pedal is somewhat straight forward but you really need to tweak it to get an amazing tone. Once i had the EQ set up i was having trouble with volumes. I usually like a little boost in volume when i hit my pedal...but i found that if you turned the volume knob on the pedal past about 3 o'clock my amp feeds back a lot at high volumes. Later i realized that you can cut down on a little distortion and turn the EQ up a bit and it looses the feedback and works perfectly. To sum it up...it took me about 2 weeks before i got the tone i love out of it

absolutly amazing. This is by far the best distortion box out there in my opinion...i love the tone im getting and it sounds extreamly brutal :)

Boss seems to make all their pedals to be built like bricks...

have yet to deal with them...hope i never do

I play in a hardcore screamo band (influences: As I Lay Dying, Across Five Aprils, Thursday, Finch) It works perfectly for what im doing...perfect tones. My dad plays in a oldies rock band and even though this thing seems to have more of a brutal sound he managed to get a really nice cruch/ overdrive kind of sound out of it...so the versatility is somewhat there too.
anyway i love this pedal. a must.

It's incredibly easy to use, once you have the hang of the equalizer. Im still a teen and I've figured out various tones such as the Kirk Hammet style all the way down to Toni Iommi. It can also emulate other distortion pedals such as Jimi Hendrix type tones if you just boost the lows a bit and turn down the Dist. very good pedal.

Although there have been many complaints about noise, i tend to be able to avoid it and still get a great sound. Maybe switching pickups on your guitar could help but i've never had a problem and ive had this thing for over a year.

It's very dependable, mine has never had any problems. It eats batteries pretty quickly but i use an adaptor with a daisy chain to all my other pedals. Saves a lot of cash.

Well, ive never needed customer support because its pretty simple. But with the 5 year warranty to it i doubt i ever will.

I play everything from metal to soft blues and this can emulate pretty much any sound in between, but is more useful towards the heavier sounds of course. Ive got a Fender Strat and a Gibson Les Paul into > Dunlop Crybaby Wah-Wah > MT-2 Metal Zone > DS-1 Distortion > BF-3 Flanger > CE-2 Chorus Ensemble > Fender Frontman 212 combo amplifier. The sound is perfect though i do get much much feedback. I compared it to other distortion pedals before buying it but i found this to be the best most flexible pedal and for the extra money is more than worth it. It certainly helps me get every tone i desire for the most part. I would defenitely buy this pedal, It's great. And i aggree you defenitely need your fucking mids.

LIKE MANY REVIEWS SAY YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITH IT. ALOT. IT CAN SOUND SO DIFFERENT WITH JUST LITTLE TWEAKS

THERE ARE A LOT OF BAD REVIEWS ON THIS BUT TRUST ME IT ROCKS,LIKE I SAID YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITH IT THE KEY IS NOT TO GET CARRIED AWAY PUT EVERYTHING TO 12 AND TWEEK A LITTLE HERE AND THERE. ONE HINT USE YOUR MIDS DO NOT SCOOP THEM I HATE WHEN DIPSHITS SAY THAT.YOU NEED MIDS TO ROCK HARD THEY CUT THROUGH. THIS IS NOT THE THE END ALL ANSWER TO DIST. BUT IT IS CLOSE. YOU CAN REALLY DIAL IN A GREAT THRASH HARD ROCK SOUND.

ITS A BOSS PLEASE.

LIKE I SAID ITS A BOSS YOU WILL NOT NEED IT BUT I HAVE FOUND THEM TO BE VERY GOOD

IF YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR A GREAT METAL PEDAL OR SOUND GET THIS PEDAL YOU WILL HAVE TO PLAY WITH IT A LOT BUT ONCE YOU FIND IT'S SWEET SPOT WITH YOUR SET UP YOU'LL SLEEP WITH IT AT NIGHT. I WOULD REPLACE IT IF BROKE OR STOLLEN

The pedal is real easy to use. A retard with drool coming out of his mouth could easily figure out how to get a good sound out of it. I bought it used, I didn't need a manual.

I use a Fender Mxican Strat with various mods into a CS-3>DS-1>Ibanez Turbo Tube Screamer>MT-2>PH-2>BF-2>CE-5>DD-3, then into a Marshall VS100 combo. I love Boss pedals like crack. This pedal is very noisy, just like all of the other Boss distortion pedals. I hate the noise. I don't know if it is the guitar or what. It was normal for a long time, now it makes a hideous noise. Great other than the noise.

It's Boss. I would rely on my Boss pedals more than anything else in my life. Including my family, car, girlfriend, or anything else. All of the pedals I have work perfectly. No back-up necessary.

Never dealt with Boss, no need. I am curious about the Keeley mods, though.

I play lots of rock music, some blues, and some harder rock. I also dabble in jazz. I have been playing for about 6 years. I had a DOD Grunge for years, and this sounds much less annoying. It certainly helps me make music. Deosn't get a 10 beacuse of all the damn noise.

This pedal is a pain in the butt. In my opinion, there are too many ways to tweak the sound, and only a few settings that are actually useable.

I use this pedal with a fender 12" chorus amp, and a peavey 110 amp- with a fender strat w/ emg 81 pickup in the bridge. I think the distortion and tone could use alot of help. The only way I can get decent sounding distortion out of this pedal is if i turn the mids all the way down on my amp.

I guess it is dependable, but i'm not sure, cause i've only had it for a month. One thing i am sure of, this pedal eats batteries pretty quick

I guess this pedal is suitable for personal jamming, but it is extremely hard to hear with a drummer, as opposed to my dod grunge, which was perfectly audible- cutting right through the mix. I play mostly metal, like slayerish type stuff, and i must say, the dod grunge is a much better choice, in my opinion. Not only is it easier to use than the boss, but its also cheaper, and gives a much more tubey, high quality distortion.

It's easy to use .
My first reflexe will be to scoop ythe mids and fool aroubd with the med freq.
-and it sounds great just like this I just d'ont like these two in one dials but orelse the pedal would be 2 times as big.

It's good for killer metal like some metllica and especially pantera.
But first of all you got to know it's transistor so the sound soun's more like a buzzsam than a hot tube distortion.
It's not to polyvalent cause there is now play you can play blues or jazz with this( even by turning the gain all the way down cause he sound stink's)
I recomand using it with a humbucker cause with a single coil it's sound like playing threw a very very bad noise reducter ( and the noise is still there )
so this pedal is for trah or metal and for this it's sound good.

It's boss so It's good I use a lot of boss pedals and they never broke

I never dealt with em' exept I went on the web sit and the mltimedia demos ar EXELLENT!!!

Great for metal an easy and cheap way to get randyroads killing sound metallica's ride the litening sound and dimbag's trademark chainsaw sound!!!
Cheap and Good!!!
Just no good for everything thatdoesn't enter in the metall zone...

Bought it yesterday. It took about 20 minuites of tweaking
to get a good sound out of it. 2 stage knobs takes a little
squinting and getting used to. Unlike my other effects, I dont
expect to touch the knobs once it's on the floor.

I play mostly blues using a homemade strat into a Boss Blues Driver,
then into a nice old MusicMan 210-65. Lately my band's been getting requests from the teens at weddings, and stuff, to play some FooFighters, and the like. Well, a Blues Driver into a MusicMan
just wont do the Hi Gain thing. So I picked up a Boss MT-2.

Nice stomp box. There's a Mitsubishi car ad, in B, that has a nice Recto crunch to it. I fiddled with the MT-2 until I got it to sound
as close to the guitar in that Mitsubishi ad as possible.

After about 15 ~ 20 minuites I got it pretty close. Not right on,
but close enough to have seved me from spending $1,000 on a Mesa.

And that makes me happy.

I have other Boss Stomp Boxes, and other than slurping down batteries
I've not had any breakdown's. However, I use a Boss Chorus and
the control pots are getting wobbely. It is over 10 years old.

Never needed any. Have visited the BOSUS.COM website looking for specs
(more specifically mA current consumption figures so I can decide on a Boss PSA-120 - 20mA - power supply, or take a chance on the 1 Spot power supply - 800 mA so I can stop buying batteries), But these kinds of specs are nowhere to be found on their site.

Overall, I only have it for a day and found one setting I like.
But that one sound will do the job I need, to be somewhat current
and make a living, at 1/10 of what the real thing costs.
It's a good tool, and I'm pleased.

i give it a nine because it's kinda hard to find your sound (i spent about 3-5 minutes) But when u do find the sound ROCK ON! But my amp stinks, so it was kind of weird cause in the store every sound worked good with the amp and on my amp sometimes they stink
I guess you just have to have a good clean sound

I use this with a schecter c-1plus (awesome guitar) and a marshall mg10cd amp (the clean sound is BAD!) It actually doesn't have bad noise problems!!!! The effect is AWESOME!!!! I can get a good distortion sound, but it's mainly for metal. But if you turn the volume on your guitar down the mt-2 still kinda sounds the same (only complaint!)

very dependable

I play in a metal/ industrial/ classic rock/ southern rock band this pedal is AWESOME for any kind of metal, it is very clear, it is NOT a thin sounding distortion pedal(for all u people who take the lows out!) Best distortion pedal u can find!!