DigiTech X-Series Metal Master

Easy

I play an esp-100 with a dimebucker in the bridge into a randall rg75. Decent set-up.

First off this pedal was one of the noisiest pedals i have played through. All i heard was a bunch of humming. I'd turn down the low on the pedal and the hum would go away...but then i'd have no low end. This pedal has a shitload of gain on it. A mid scoop would have been nice. It sounded like someone left a wah pedal on over top of it. I played on it for about an hour and it really upset me it was that bad. It probably wouldnt be as bad if you through a noise gate in front of it but i'm reviewing this pedal as it is alone. I don't recommend this pedal. In fact i dont recommend any distortion pedal. Get a nice amp.

Well the 9volt didnt work and i've read about some of the footswitches not working right so i dont know.

Don't buy it. The only thing the morph knob is, is a contour knob. I cant stress how noisy it was. Even with the guitar turned down it was humming away. Maybe it was just my pedal? A bad one maybe. BUT IT SUCKED.

Very easy.. altho the manual book didn't help at all...

My gear i use is B.C. Rich bronze Warlock, A cheap Rogue 100watt amp and this pedal a digitech metal master pedal... This pedal is great.. i'm not dissin it at all but... it really doesn't have enuff distortion enuff gain.. and is to thin and doesn't really sound metal it sounds more punk or rockish... i'm gonna get a zoom tri-metal pedal cus that pedal is more me more BRUTAL... yeah by the way im in a band... i proboaly give this pedal to my rythem guitarist because i love the sound this pedal gives off but just not my taste.. oh yeah by the way... it totaly distroyed my amps standerd overdrive... then when i just plug my guitar into my amp without the pedal i get a really crappy noise as before i bought the pedal .. the overdrive was really amazin .. i didn't find that out till now.. but yeah it might be my cheap $200 100 watt amp

i maybe could use it live.. but i would have to mess with it for like 30 minutes before a show because the sound you had last night may not be the same sound in the mornin.. if you know what i mean it thens to witch around every once an a while.. but again it might just be my cheap amp...

uh no comment here

I play Metal .. stuff like Slayer, Hatebreed, Unearth, God forbid, Sepultura, Slipknot, Himsa, really heavy kind of stuff .. but it was really hard to play all of that stuff with this pedal.. but it did turn my cheap fuzzy radio pickin up 100 watt amp in soundin like a real $450.00 120 watt amp with real clean sound.. yeah again this pedal is just to thin for my taste.. but i do concider it for metal rythem guitarist... you kinda have to hear it for yourself

Four easy knobs, there's nothing to it.

With Jackson DXMG I'd give this pedal a 10, with JX10 a 9. Awesome pedal for the balls-to-the-wall-sound, it's a heavy metal pedal definitely. Do not go playing jazz with this thing. I like the nasal mid-range sound of this, suits my style perfectly. I use a separate P.A. system for the guitar and the emulated amp output works perfectly - I can go direct to board and yet sound street-credible. This pedal is one of the noisiest I've met, though (that's why a 9). Suggest you by a noise gate, too.

You couldn't break it even if you wanted to. It's metal inside, it's metal outside. I've had the pedal six months now, and if it got stolen or broken (unlikely) I'd get another one.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I play only and only metal and for that XMM is made for. I've played on/off for 18 years, everything from neo-classical to black metal and this pedal can do it all. I've had dozens of pedals from Boss and Zoom but this thing finally gave me the perfect sound. I still use my ancient Zoom 2020 with the XMM for delay, chorus & reverb.

Easy as pie to dial in tones. I was pretty curious to hear that it had no gain nob, but it is advertised as a "heavy metal pedal", so there you go.

For what it claims, the Metal Master-in my opinion-does what it sets out to do; it gives you metal. The morph nob is used to dial in the various "metal" settings. I find that setting the morph nob at the 12 O'clock position gives me my prefered tone. The pedal sounds pretty good to me on my rig (RG75 solid state amp), however I use an EQ booster (both GE-7, my back-up, and a MXR 10-band EQ) after the Metal Master to boost the signal and this is the real difference for me. I really cant understate how important an EQ pedal makes any distortion or overdrive pedal really come alive, and I've always used EQ in my signal chain just for that purpose alone. I've played the Metal Master without EQ and frankly it doesn't cut through enough, but throwing EQ in the chain makes it come alive. I also throw in a Digi-Delay to fatten up the tone and it works pretty well in that respect, too.

I work at a well known music store and I've seen these things sell like hot cakes, and because of my financial woes I decided to invest in one until I can assemble my dream rig. I'm an "accessories", thrice certified, so I'm familiar with a whole plethora of pedals and so on, and my personal-professional opinion on this subject is-since people really have gripes with this pedal or dont really understand the dynamics of pedal placement in a signal chain-you should really consider investing in an EQ pedal to boost the level and tone of this pedal, and you're really going to need some good pick-ups as well to complement the Metal Master. Many stock guitar pick-ups are muddy at high volumes when used with high gain (however, ESP does install decent stock humbucking pick-ups in their guitars for starters). I'll say it again: if you're going to invest in this pedal, get an EQ pedal and get some good humbucking pick-ups (at least for the bridge). Alone I'd give this pedal a 5, but throwing in good pick-ups and EQ, I'd give about an 8.5, and that's not too bad for a pedal. But after all this is my own opinion. Some people will curse this thing to hell & damnation to no end. Go with what you like.

Just a note on this: get rid of the battery and use an ac adaptor. It will save you time and a headache. It's also worth coating the inside of the footswitches moving parts with a little lubricating oil to keep the on/off switching consistent.

Haven't dealt with them.

I like it. I'm an old school fellow, not much into nu-metal or punk, so you know where I'm comming from. It works for me and that's fine. Can dial up anything from Black Sabbath (in conjuction with my guitars' tone nobs) to Slayer, classic heavy to modern heavy can be achieved-you just got to know the tricks.

Very easy nothing hard at all, 3 of the basic knobs and the morph knob.

Ok, here is my hook up:
schecter hotrod '39 --> Metal Master --> Dunlop Crybaby original --> Peavey Studio pro 112
ive tried tons of distortions, this is one of the best (nothing close to a mesa boogie though) it has an awesome crunch, but at some settings it gets way to mucky.

well so far, yes. i have and i will again, just make sure that you got a power supply because ,like all x-series pedals, it eats batteries. Metal casing, built like a tank and ive never had a problum with it.

never had to talk to them, shows how reliable it is.

well i play in a thrash metal band, so natural we play metal. this pedal is great for the job. i played for about 3-4 years now adn i said the other stuff i own. if it was stolen id buy a new one mostly because of the morph knob and the great crunch it gives off.

I've found so many sounds i've liked through this pedal. Play with the knobs a little bit, and the volume and tone on the guitar, and get some cool sounds. easy to find a cool sound

I play this with an Ibanez AX220qm, a dunlop crybaby wah, and a marshall VS265. The sound quality is good, just a little trouble projecting, which is easily fixed by boosting the volume.

BATTERIES IN THIS THING SUCK. can only get about an hour out of a battery. plus, it broke on me during one of my band's gigs...way to piss me off...

They are great, when i broke my pedal, they sent me replacement switches free.

I play all styles of music, mostly classic metal, some grunge and punk, some modern metal, no nu-metal though..., and it works well for me, as long as it would be more reliable. If it were stolen, I'd buy a new one.

Quite easy. A few knobs and a pedal.

It sounds okay, but doesn't project out or get through any onstage noise. Really it's got a decent sound, I would consider using it for studio work, but not for live stuff.

It's built like a tank (like all X-series) but it sucks batteries down like crazy. I've go through almost an entire battery for each hour of operation, and when the battery dies, it makes this funky, clicking sound, really annoying.

Never spoke with them.

I play everything, from blues to metal to punk, and this work okay for metal, and decently for punk. As I said, it just doesn't punch through any type of noise. I'm going to trade it in, as soon as I decide on a replacement. If someone stole it, I'd probably find them, thank them, then warn them of how crappy it really is.

very easy, nothing else to say

IM using a Jackson KV-2 USA, with a tech 21 amp and a mesaboogie amp one time and I think that IT's good for a crapy guitar and a crapy amp, it's just for practicing ... by the way use it just to play alone because when you use it with a band the sound don't pass trough, it's like a noisy bee or a chainsaw... it miss middle frequency !!! If you want a VERY GOOD DISTORTION, BUY A MESA BOOGIE RECTIFIER (DOUBLE,TRIPLE,etc.) and buy a BOSS DS-1 FOR A BOOST IN YOUR SOLOS THAT'S IT !!!!!!

I've been playing the guitar for 8 years. Im playing metal,death,rock,blues and jazz and this effect box is CRAPY!!! But I have to say that this one is better than the METAL ZONE !

amazingly easy to set up, i like the low a little more than half way up, and the high almost all the way up, with the morph anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 they way up

i love it, im using a peavey mace amp and a DeArmand guitar with stock pickups, i can get any sound i want out of this pedal, from sabbath to anthrax to slayer its nuts. i play alot of thrash metal and crust punk its perfect for it. ive tried this pedal with an epiphone explorer and its sounds amazin also.

im not sure if i would use it at a show without at a power cord seeing as how it sucks the life out of the batteries.

very helpful, something went wrong with it, im not sure what though, no power went to it with a battery or power chord. i called them up, they said i could send it in to them, or take it to the place i bought it and they would arrange to have it fixed for free.

like i said i play alot of thrash metal (anthrax, slayer, nuclear assault etc..) its perfect for it. ive been playing for around 5 years, i havent really tried many other pedals because im broke, i have a dod supra distortion and this blows it away, ive used boss distortions and dod heavy metal and i love this. i love everything about it, strong as a fucking tank, the morph knob is nuts. if this was stolen, i would track whoever stole it down and beat them sensless with it because it is so god damn strong, if i couldnt find them i would definitly buy another.

This is probably the best digital distortion pedal I have ever used. Its lacking in one thing, clarity. Now dont get me wrong, this pedal is very clear but what i mean is its very hard to set your amp up so it doesnt sound mushy. Massive crunch and bass. The morph knob is a miracle. Never had so many sounds in one pedal.

Perfect reliablilty, cept you cant ever use a battery with it, drains it in no time flat

Never dealt with em

Great pedal, heavily recommended.