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.

Not hard to get a good sound out of this at all. The Morph feature gives you everything from a punk sound to heavy, almost rectified sound. That little "X" knob on all their pedals in this series definitely is the coolest feature. I keep mine at about 2 o' clock.

Little noisy, but that's why I have my Noise Suppresor pedal hooked up. This thing has MASSIVE balls and I can see why so many people are using it now (i.e. Murderdolls, Disturbed, etc.). Go see the "X-series demo" page on www.digitech.com and you'll see what I mean. I use a combination of Boss (mainly), Digitech (X series only), and Ibanez (Tone Lok only) pedals on my board. I use this pedal and a Boss Metal Zone, but the Metal Zone is actually my "rhythm distoriton," since it's not as ballsy.

I've used this pedal for over a year and gig quite frequently. No probs here. I even had a Boss pedal and this one is still kickin

Haven't dealt with them. One thing I will give them a 10 on is the fact that they aren't trying to "turn a buck" from their manuals. They have their manuals posted on the website unlike Boss who expect you to buy replacement manuals.

This pedal is my main sound. I didn't have it when we recorded our last CD, but it will be in the studio with me this month when we record our next one. Head over to http://www.coilback.com to check it out when we are done with it and you can hear it for yourself.

Only four knobs, level, low, hi and morph (gotta check this one out). But there is no Gain control, how come ? It looks like most of you haven't still figured out that you control gain with the volume pot on your guitar :) Dist sounds kinda shitty when your pot is to the max (max gain), when you decrease your guitar volume, output level of metal master remains the same, but gain decreases.
Change battery by pressing a special button with your 6.3cm guitar cable jack or with a screwdriver, whatever...it is easier than changing the battery with that damn screw on Boss pedals.

Well, when I first heard the Metal Master at my music shop, I fell in love instantly :) So many dist transformations using "morph" knob, and such a tone control using Spectral EQ, this thing cannot compare with that crappy Metal Zone. I use fender standard guitar but single coils are not the happiest solution for metal music and Metal Master especially.

There is only one thing you have to take care, don't put too much gain on this pedal or it will sound like shit. Decrease your guitar volume just a bit and enjoy the sound of this awesome pedal.

There is also an additional CIT(TM) output, which allows you to connect your pedal directly to the mixer, sound card (line in) or whatever so you don't need an amp between. Anyway, if you are about to record your material don't do this, use the amplification, this is the best solution. I know that because I have already recorded some material with Metal Master through Mesa Boogie amp and it turned out to be suprisingly good.

This thing is made like a tank, weights 200gr and there are no parts that can be easily broken but note that sadistic behaviour will break anything even Metal Master so...

But there is one problem...When you open the pedal (to change battery), look at the pedal switch located inside. It is kinda sad that Digitech used such a low-budget switch for X-Series pedal. It will die occasionally but don't worry, these switches cost less than 1EUR (1.2$) you can change them anytime and let's hope that it happens before/after your Gig :)

This pedal eats batteries so better use an additional power supply.

Free registration at www.digitech.com and you recieve 6 year warranty ? Sounds nice :)

I never used Digitech Customer Support and I hope I never will.

I play everything from Primus to Meshuggah and this pedal is like a gift from heaven. I play guitar for seven years and I have owned a tons of pedals (Boss, Marshall Guv'nor, Ibanez, DOD) but this is something special, a pedal with 3 different distortions that can be as heavy as hell.

Easy enough to get a good metal sound out of it

This pedal has a lot less feed back than my MXR dime distortion does, and for that I love this pedal. It gives get sounds from alien ant farm all the way to korn. I use it through a crate mx65r, and it sounds great if u turn the low and high up and the mid down on the clean channel, it kicks ass. I am going to get a seven string ibanez soon, and i already tried it out with this pedal. It kick so much ass I cant even explain. If u want heavy metal sound, go for this pedal

This is a very dependable pedal. I have had no problems with it yet

None

I play heavy metal like Korn type of stuff. It is a great pedal for that, but I also play a lot a Offspring too. Very versital. Great sound with a lot less feed back than other pedals with a sound gate

How easy to get a GOOD sound out of it? I still havent managed it.

Other than that, easy.

Pretty self explanitory, Level, Low, Hi, and the ExTRemE HarDCORE MORPH setting (which cuts the mids).

I tried it with a Gibson Les Paul Custom through an H&K halfstack. I honestly cannot see why anybody would waste $90 on the damn thing.

It reminded me of a good metal distortion, but somebody had left a wah pedal on somewhere in the mix. Thats what it sounded like to me.

I have heard worse (multi effects pedals) so I give it a 5.

Seems like its built good. Probably not as good as a Boss but Im bias.

N/A

Quite bluntly, it sucks. There is no gain control, and I really cant get it to sound good. If Digitech would try to put out some decent pedals with real controls instead of trying to work their way into the setups of the typical 15 year old Ibanez packing nu metal head and put real controls on their pedals, and not stupid shit like "Morph", maybe they could make some use of thereselves.

I give it a 3, because I guess there are worse things that you could do with $90, like join PeTA or buy a Zoom.

It took me about 5 minutes getting the sound i wanted so i guess it's easy to use.No manuel needed,use your ears and fingers.

So far the best metal pedal i've tried.In the last few years i've had the following "metal" pedals:BOSS METALZONE,MARSHALL JACKHAMMER,ZOOM TRI-METAL,DANELECTRO FAB-TONE.All of them have been sold or traded.
The METAL MASTER stays because it screams real heavy metal like no one i've heard before.If you like SLAYER you will love this pedal,incredible palm muting and sustain.If you like IRON MAIDEN forget it,you will sound like shit trying to play The Trooper.

Still working fine after 6 months.

Never spoke with them.

It's excellent at what it's intended for:BRUTAL HEAVY METAL.
Not good for classic metal but i don't care i have a TONEBONE HOT-BRITISH for that.If you play NU-METAL bullshit by the way,don't get this pedal:STOP PLAYING...

Easy to use. The morph knob is added bonus.

Bought a Fender Blues Junior on a whim with no sound check in 1999. Soon became disinterested in the sound , So I had this amp in a corner collecting dust years as the reverb was a whisper, and it has no gain but this week I bought it a Digitech Heavy Metal Distortion XXM and it has a deep gain and distortion now, works well with the tube sound and 15 Watt power WOW. Also have a DOD YJM308 overdrive/gain that I use with it at times and it works well but has a clearer tone and lower gain than the Digitech. (Should I chain them?)
My Blues Junior sounds awesome now for the price $349, and this Digitech pedal was extra but worth it. I was thinking of selling this Fender tube amp but not now.

Haven't had it long enought yet. Harmon International who owns Harmon Kardon stereo recievers and amps, Infinty speakers, DOD, and Digitech are highly rated products overall.

No problems

With the Digitech pedal it has a throaty deep sound now.

I'm keeping my Blues Junior now

Easy to use except for battery replacement.

This is a death metal pedal galore. I'm sick of the few jackasses pissing and moaning about it. What the hell did you expect to get out of it?!! Someone said it doesn't sound like metallica. BULLSHIT. You can get any metal out of this pedal. If you want some rock, tube 'heavey metal' buy a fucking pedal that is made for it NOT this! It beats the hell out of a Boss MT-2 and the people who bash that pedal are jealous because they spend 3x's the cost for a stupid brand name or boutique pedal. I haven't tried this up against a MXR dimebag pedal though. So if you mesa booger snobs want to piss and moan go ahead.. We just didn't happen to shell out tons of money for an inflated hype setup. Also, as for the noise.. .What the Hell do you expect? It's not a freakin Tweed pedal emulator! Noise gates are like gas is to cars. You dumbasses. Brutal death metal is the best for this, but you can back off and play other stuff. These tone scapegoats need to shut the hell off and list a better pedal.. .oh wait.. they didn't know of any. Get a life. Nu metal or not this thing kills.

no problems yet

answer emails the same day.

noise and no distortion control? Bah. What the hell do you expect. It does and well you are just plain retarded. It gives everyone the sound they want. People didnt buy this because of wide range of tones. They like it the way it sounds and that's all that matters. Get a freaking EQ pedal to change it you snotty nosed bastards

Very easy to use. Only four knobs: Level, Low, Hi, and Morph. The first three are self-explanatory. Morph takes a little time to get used to, but will produce a very wide and useful range of tones. With a few minutes of experimentation I was getting great sounds out of this pedal.

Memphis imitation Les Paul (pickups: rhythm-DiMarzio PAF; lead-Carvin M22 SD)>Metal Master>Marshall MG Series transistor amp (Clean Channel). This pedal was extremely quiet on most settings, even with the Low and Hi knobs set at the maximum. It was a little noisy with the Morph knob set at or near the minimum, but it was still a lot quieter than the Boost channel of my amp (and a lot better-sounding, too). Low and Hi controls are well-voiced and very functional; I've heard a lot of pedals where the tone controls only sound good in one position, but on the Metal Master I can set these two knobs anywhere from halfway to full-on and still get a useful, well-defined tone. I didn't care for the lowest settings of the Morph control, between about 7 and 9 o'clock, (too noisy and compressed), but past 9 o'clock the sound of this pedal really comes alive. Here are my two favorite settings: (1) Low and Hi maxed out, Morph at 11 o'clock (great Robin Trower "Bridge of Sighs" tone through the rhythm pickup; (2) Low and Hi maxed out, Morph at 4 o'clock (great with any pickup combination--sounds like Jake E. Lee on Ozzy's "The Ultimate Sin.")

I just bought this pedal yesterday, so I can't really comment on this. But this pedal seems very heavy and solid, and the footswith is very positive, quiet and smooth.

This is my first DigiTech product. I bought it at the Guitar Center in Amherst, New York, and I paid $19.99 for two-year replacement protection. (Not a bad deal, since the salesman threw in a free AC adaptor.)

I like everything from classic rock (Allmans, Doors, Mountain, Outlaws, Bad Company...) Latin, flamenco, gypsy jazz, metal, surf and alternative. Anything but country, rap and punk. This pedal is a little too dirty for classic rock, but it's fine for heavy metal. You're not going to sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan or Dick Dale with this pedal. I don't really hate anything about this unit--it's quiet, toneful, and it's like adding a third channel to my amp for only eighty bucks. What I love best is the sound--tight, solid bottom end and fat, sassy highs. A lot of people have trashed this pedal in reviews, and a lot have praised it too. I think if you have crappy pickups in your guitar you are probably not going to like this pedal. Also, if you use shitty strings (like Fender 150's .008's or those strings they sell at Guitar Center for ten sets for $3.95), then you're probably going to hate the bottom end of ANY pedal. So put on some decent strings, like GHS Super Steels or Dean Markley Cryogenics, and change them once in a while. And get a book, like Dan Erlewine's "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great," because a lot of good guitar players don't even know the correct way to put strings on a guitar. Also, it will help a lot if you lower the bass side of your pickups, especially the rhythm pickup, and raise the polepieces so you are getting more of a single coil sound out of your wound strings. If you are using pickups without adjustable polepieces, you're probably going to get mud out of the bottom end, no matter what pedal you are using.

This is a follow up to my earlier review when I decided to totally trashed this pedals quality but, now I'm changing my review because I finally found a purpose for the Metal Master. The change in my opinion is because I discovered this pedals true worth is to be an overdrive pedal for an amps distortion. On its own this pedal sounds laughable and doesnt produce any good professional sounds however, when you blend this pedals distortion with your amps distortion it produces a great sound and you can pretty much simulate most amp models from the Marshall to the Mesa Boogie. What I found is that my amps distortion cleaned up all the annoying whaling noise that came out of Master Master yet, it preserved the heavy bottom end thump used for palm mutes and amazingly gave my amp and guitar a rich tone through. The trick to doing this is to lower your guitar volume to about its lowest point and then to crank up the level dial on the pedal to at least 12 oclock or higher. The MOrph dial will give you more treble and bass presence to your sound depending upon how heavy you want to go. The high and Low dials will also increase your volume. YOu can easily get the sounds to most metallica songs by tweaking the settings this way and I even got a hendrix and zeppelin sound by doing this. This pedal has potential.

After making this pedal into an amp overdrive, I now appreciate its worth because its swirling noise quality blends in well with the amps distortion which results in giving off a rich and full tone perfect for metal or hard rock. Its definantly now an asset to me and I plan on making it part of my rig.

Very simple to get an awesome distortion sound, there are four knobs; Level(Volume), Low(Bottom), High(Crunch), and Morph(changes colour of sound). Note: There is no "Gain" knob, but then again if you are playing metal who turns down the gain.

I'm using a Samick Greg Bennett Torino T-R1, and 15 watt Peavy Rage 158 and I'm using this pedal as a secondary distortion instead my amps distortion(super crap). The distorion on this is great, you can vary your sound from a high gain "AC/DC" type sound to the bottomless sound of "Cradle Of Filth". But there are some things i don't like about this pedal. The pedal eats batteries like crazy, I played for like 2 hours, and the batteries ran out(I went out and got an adaptor and it works perfect(Highly Recommended)and its very worth it in the long run). Another thing is that once the "Level" knob is turned past half way, it gives crazy feedback if you stop playing for a second and it pierces your ears. Also, I didn't like the way the pedal sounded when I muted out notes while playing, it sounded like a high pitched "chink" whereas I wanted more of a "plick" sound.

I have had this pedal for about 4 months now and its has never broken or fooled up once since I got an adaptor.

Never dealt with them.

I play mostly metal and rock and its works pretty good for the most part. If it were stolen or lost, I might decide to invest my money on a better amp before purchasing this pedal. I love the heavy punch this pedal makes and I love the screams in my solos that it makes. The only things that I hate about this pedal were already descibed in the sound quality section. I would recommend this pedal to anyone who wanted some serious high gain distortion sound in their guitar playing.

Simple enough to use. THe dials included level (volume) High, low, and morph (serves as a distortion nob)

I have to question the integrity of the reviewers who choose to give this stomp box glowing reviews because this thing sounds as artificial as most mediocre distortion stomp boxes I heard. A typical characteristic of a bad stomp box is when it eliminates the tone of your guitar which is what this thing does along with the Metal Zone which is another worthless pedal I tried. That brings me to my next point which is that this pedal produces a synthesizer type sound when playing anything on the high strings. As a result, the detail for each note sounds flat and stale which makes your playing lack character. Even the low strings sound bottomed out. I guess the reason why many people like this pedal is due to the powerfull palm mute crunch along with the power chord crunch it produces but, the sound quality lacks clarity and chunkyness.

I like playing all Metallica songs up to the black album and even St. Anger and this thing doesn't even come close to producing that. Anyone who says they can play Metallica on this needs to get thier ears checked. May be this thing is good for Nu Metal but, I think Nu metal is watered down talentless metal anyway so any of you that like Slipknot and Mudvayne deserve this crap to go along with that shitty music which plays two chord muffled distortion.
I recommend the Sansamp GT-2 for those of you that want a professional metal tone as opposed to those who are blinded by the overwhelming distortion of this stomp box which just produces loud noise as opposed to music. I'm also looking into the Jackhammer as a possible replacement to this. I figure marshall's pedals can atleast add to a guitar and amps tone rather drowning out the sound from your guitar and amp.

Simple and easy to use

Here we go !! I just wish everyone would consider that no two sets of ears hear the same thing! that being said, I have yet to get a bad sound out of this pedal! now if you start cranking knobs to the max it will suck just like 99% of all other pedals that don't sound good running at 100%, one thing I do is run it at 12v instead of 9v, for me it sounds better, this is the best sounding Metal pedal I have ever heard, killer bottom! no mush! even sub-bass! I've tried all the others, Finally someone did it right! I use a Crate GT50H,Randall 1000 pro 2H,both through a Madison 4x12 slant cab loaded with Celestion V30 on the top and Eminance Delta 12A's, the cabinet is ported down to 50HZ.It is humbucker freindly, single coils just don't sound right at any setting that's why I use a Dean ML loaded with a Dimarzio Drop Sonic in the bridge "Killer PU!" I also use a Baritone strat with the same Dimarzio tuned down to A, the ML I tune to D

So far so good, I've never had a problem with any DigiTec products

Never needed , so can't say.

Nothing is perfect, but for me this pedal just flat gets it !! Price could be a bit lower and probably will drop when the new wears off in a year or so,If lost stolen or broken I would buy another right away.

Easy as any other distortion/overdrive pedal. No gain knob, but it's OK, you can use your guitar's volume knob to adjust gain : )

It's obvious for me that some morons don't deserve such a good pedal. I quote: "I am using it with an ESP LTD EX-100 with EMG HZ's and a Crate GFX-15 practice amp". For Satan's sake!! A 15 Watt Crate practice amp?? Get serious man, nothing will sound good with such a poor metalhead's setup! Use at least a JCM900 Marshall if you expect to be heard. That only means one thing: those morons don't play live. This pedal is for live playing, 100% recommended, 100% tested and approved.

The distortion is not fuzzy unless you're a sloppy player or play "Nu-Metal" (well, this one is a consequence of the first, or is it the contrary?; what was first, the egg or the chicken?? ha ha ha). This pedal has a very good sound and ok, it's noisy, but so any other distortion pedal with this much gain. The sound is clear and focused, but again, that depends on the player and his/her setup.

Look what's next: "The distortion isn't super brutal like I hoped, its fuzzy. This thing sucks for lead playing... There is no sustain for leads or clarity. I tune down pretty low so I can play: Mudvayne, Slipknot, Godsmack, Killswitch Engage, P.O.D, 40 Below Summer, Static-X, Disturbed,System of a Down..." What a moron, and he/she claims to be a metalhead!! The distortion is BRUTAL, it works beautifuly with low-tuned guitars. It's designed to play real METAL: DIMMU BORGIR, KRISIUN, NILE, EXHUMED, MORTICIAN, HYPOCRISY, CANNIBAL CORPSE, DYING FETUS...

The sound is mean, full and with a lot of presence (it must be my american hand-made neck-thru BC RICH with Duncans, maybe : ) ) A huge step beyond the MT2, believe me. It sounds good with the morph knob fully clockwise, almost reminds me a Mesa Boogie; the other sounds are more 80's Metal (nice but not my kind).

A VERY FINE PEDAL!!!

No problems so far with mine... But I've heard of some faulty pedals' switches.

If you like extreme music and have a decent setup, this one will please you, guaranteed. If you have a brutal tube amp, you can use it as a trhird or fourth channel, is tht decent. I'm surprised that Digitech finally released something crushing distortion-wise. Nice job, mates!!

Has level, low and high tone and morph knob. Just set knobs however sounds best to you.

I play an Epiphone Les Paul Custom through a Pignose 60w one twelve tube amp. Use Ibanez TS9-DX for overdrive and the Metal Master for distortion. I place the Metal Master first then the TS9-DX. This gives me three levels of overdrive/distortion. Metal Master works well with the TS9-DX engaged, gives me a good middle ground distortion. The only complaint I have is the Metal Master can be a little hissy sounding when engaged and not playing but I've found some of this is related to my pickups. Other than that sounds good. Played it against a Boss Metal Zone in the store and liked the Metal Master sound a little more.

If used with just battery power I've had the pedal freak out on me. But powered with an 9v adapter has been so far so good. I would gig without a backup.

Have talked to Digitech about how the pedal freaked out when I was using just battery. Have been very helpful told me to try power supply and if that didn't work to send to them for repair.

Good pedal for playing heavier styles of music as well as just good hard rock. Works well for soloing. If it were lost or stolen I might try another pedal just because there are so many pedal options and I have tried so few. I like the morph knob gives you a good variery of distortion. Also like to set the low eq knob on 9 or 10, this gives you a deep stack distortion. All in all a good pedal, does what is says and a little more.

It is super easy to get a good sound out of it, I just took it right out of the box without even reading the manual and bam, better distortion. The morph knob is pretty cool. I just wish it had a gain knob, thats about it...

I am using it with an ESP LTD EX-100 with EMG HZ's and a Crate GFX-15 practice amp. It does not hiss at all, but when I have the volume of my amp at three and the volume of the pedal at just below three, it farts out like a son of a bitch, any higher then it's just feedback. The distortion isn't super brutal like I hoped, its fuzzy. This thing sucks for lead playing, I tried for almost an hour to find an acceptable setting, but I just couldnt. There is no sustain for leads or clarity. I tune down pretty low so I can play: Mudvayne, Slipknot, Godsmack, Killswitch Engage, P.O.D, 40 Below Summer, Static-X, Disturbed,System of a Down (you get the idea). Black album Metallica is the exception for tuning. Pretty much drop C and B, and it is just pure mud, mud mud mud and fuzz...maybe it is just my amp or guitar or both, but damn...This thing cannot go loud without farting out and feeding back, but what can you expect when using it with a practice amp...

I think it's pretty tough and dependable. I can't really gig with it cause I don't have a loud amp...had the thing for 2 years,it's a mini tank.

never delt with em...

I have been playing for 4 years now and I am super duper good. I am a viscious metalhead. I own nothing else besides the amp, guitar and pedal. I guess this is an alright-temporary match for what I play..If it were stolen I wouldn't buy it again because I am wicked broke. I am not super pleased with this pedal, but it will do. The morph knob and the little red light when I turn the pedal on are the coolest features about it. I was going to get a DOD Metal Pedal, but the dude from Guitar Center steered me away from it. I just wish it had a gain knob and no fuzzy distortion because that REALLY takes away from the tone...I can't create music with this thing, it just messes up all the ideas I get in my head. I am gonna keep this until I get a bigger amp though. rock on