Guyatone Metal Monster

Within five minutes of opening the box, I was in death metal heaven. The freq knob for the mids is killer. You can get that nice fat mid tone or a bity searing blistering scooped mid heard in Pantera. Very simple...just gotta know what the knobs do.

This thing sounds like a cross between a Mesa Tripple Recto and Peavey 6505 to me at least. Rich harmonics, heavy, heavy gain and enough bass to shake the floor through a decent combo or cab. I think changing the Sovtek 12AX7 to something a bit more friendly with tone like Tung-sol will make this beast sound even better.

Since I've already pulled it apart twice and checked it out, looks sturdy and the only thing to go would be the tube, and preamps don't really go that often unless you kick 'em. It's got plastic jacks, which kinda ticks me off for $180, but at least they're solid plastic and don't wobble. It's thinner kind of chrome stuff compared to a boss, but just don't smash it in a drunken rage. All knobs and the footswitch seem secure.

;;;;Never talked to them. Never needed to.

I baught this over a Damage Control Solid Metal dual tube preamp distortion. Why? Cheaper, sounded better (the SM just seemed to sound the same on most settings). this can be a angry blues pedal with the gain rolled back, or a creamy rich grinding powerhouse of death. If you're into metal and want a tube distortion, check this out. The price sucks, but the value's great.

I've owned and used my pedal for a few years now so I think I know it - The controls on this pedal are pretty wide and easy to get out of control sounds, particularly with too much gain or treble. Actually I go pretty light on the gain which still yield chunky thick grind from my strats. The mid controls are useful although I've now settled for both straight up - gone are my scooped mid days.

So I reckon it takes a bit of time to get a great sound buy once you do WATCH OUT - it's a killer

Old strats into either BF fenders or Riveras

Yeah pretty noisy but non OTT as it's a very high gain pedal IMO.

Overall the best distortion pedal I've ever used - and I've used a lot. I probably buy one TS9 type pedal every 3 months, always looking to improve my soft SRV OD sound but I stopped buying distortions (fulltones etc etc) a while back because nothing touches this pedal for heavier distorions.

For me this pedal sounds tactile, 3 dimensional and alive, quite EVH. I set as follows:

Everything at 12 oclock
except Gain and Treb 9 oclock

I replace the tube with a 12ay7

I use an old TS9 to boost the leads ocasionally.

Been good so far, a couple of years ago I replace the tube and all was fine - nothing broken though I really should buy a back up.

No opinion

Actually I should buy a few of these as they could become hard to get classics. This pedal has stopped me looking for distortions from amp pre-amps. My amps are now all set to clean preamp + slight power amp breakup - if the venue allows.

I've been playing 30 years. Whilst this is a metal pedal i use use for hard rock and leads. My other pedal gear is currently TS9, Love eternity, OCD, GE7 (all in bypass loops)+ old danelectro delay (I like the look of it OK?)+ TC chorus. all in pedaltrain.

Once again this this rocks because its the best dist pedal I've used.

Ease:
1. Takes a bit of tweaking, but you can find really good stuff in this little box.
2. Not much more to it, it makes distortion; so tweak until it suits you.

Sound:
1. I have a Tung-Sol 12ax7 installed, and it is just unreal. Tons of gain, good saturation, a little touchy on treble though, one must be careful not to overdo it.
2. What does it sound like: more or less like a Blue Voodoo, a little crisper, a little more gain though. Also similar to the 5150 "block letter" from the mid-90s; although with a FAR different midrange voicing. Overall, very pleasing once tweaked to satisfaction.
3. Noise: if one keeps the gain rolled back a little way (I personally need nothing higher that about 12:30 on the dial), it's pretty quiet, with easily controlled feedback. Much more gain than that, and you'll feel like you're at the beach.
4. I use it with Dean Z/ML ->Morley Vol/Wah->Monster->Boss EQ->Hush->BBE Sonic Stomp->Hughes & Kettner amps->Old Peavey cab with 4X12 Celestion GT12TK-85. Phenomenal tone.

Seems sturdy, picked it up from my bass player.
Don't gig without backups...EVER

Never talked to them...

Basically, this is a replacement for a Marshall Jackhammer. Loved the tone of the Hammer, but it up and died on me a short while back. Needless to say, I was unhappy, and I refuse from that day forth to purchase anything else with the accursed Marshall nameplate. I needed something with more clarity and presence than the HK has (at least through my old and much-loved cabinet), and I borrowed this from my bass player. So, after about five minutes of tweaking and about two hours playing, I made him an offer, and now she's mine.
-One thing it lacks: separate control for saturation. The more gain you dial in, the more saturation you have. During my short testing, I found that anything past about 2 o'clock position starts that annoying Mesa duck-quacking sound. Good for some folks, I guess, but not me. I'm simply suggesting it would be nice to be able to back it off a little bit.
-My exp: playing for almost all my life, since about age six or so. I have used just about any kind of gear you can imagine, and as a consequence, I've become a bit of a gear snob. Unless this thing fries on me, I think it will fit well. My playing ranges all over the spectrum, mostly a progressive metal style though.
-Biggest gripe: I don't think the "new" price is all that fair. I have heard better somewhat pedals for about the same cost; especially ones with a bit more control and versatility. Barely worth $180, but worth it nonetheless.

Easy as any dist pedal

The sound quality is the best ive ever heard. I got it used with a mesa 12ax7 and it sounded awesome but i just wanted to see what it would sound like if i changed to some different tubes so i tried a sovtek 12ax7lps, it sounded excellent and had more of a high gain sound, however, at high gain levels there was some more buzz than the mesa 12ax7. So i then tried a chinese 12ax7, the chinese looked cool cause it glowed orange really brite but it had a terrible humming sound when not playing so after all i switched back to the mesa 12ax7-a.

depndable

?????

Van halen,

No programming, just move the knobs. It has a sweepable Mid Frecuency from 200Hz to 6,000, so you'll probably spend some time dialing.

My setup:
Ibanez S470 / S470 Custom Made / Mex Strat with EMG DG Set
Lexicon MPX G2 Send>>> Axess Electronics BS2 >>> Boss PW10 >>> Whammy 4 >>> Maxon CP660 >>> METAL MONSTER >>> Guyantone TZ2 Fuzz >>> BOSS LS2 SEND >>> Voodoo Moded ADA MP1 / Stock Marshall >>> Lexicon MPXG2 Return/Send >>> BOSS LS2 RETURN >>> Axess Electronics BS2 >>> Pod Pro XT >>> Behringer DEQ 2496

It can get too noisy with the distrtion above 6, I use it with a Hush Super C. But it is an extreme and brutal distortion.
The distortion can be varied widely, from Ultra Scooped thin and ear piercing sound to Thick and crunchy distortion.
You can get any sound from Metallica from Kill 'em all to the Black Album. It has a very WIDE sound Pallete.
It can get to sound awesome in the bedroom as well as cutting like a knife (of course changing some settings) on a band situation.
I give it a 9 because it cn get a little too noisey.

A Car runs with five tires, and you gig with two guitars and two everything.
It has a chrome chasis, but not as rugged as Boss pedal.
No problems so far, but looks thin.

Have not dealt with them.

I play Hard Rock, and my preamps are made for it. Sometimes I need a little "metal" sound, and that's why I got the Pedal. It has a very nice inspiring sound. Palm muting sounds great, you can get feedback whenever you want to. The distortion is really articulate and not muddy. You can hear every not you play.

Took a little bit to get the tone i wanted and even then it lacked so i switched out the chinese 12ax7 it came with and put in a Mesa 12ax7 now i get awesome metal sounds

I use a Metal monster into a crate blue voodoo with a jackson ps3 guitar with an EMG-81 pickup and it sounds fantastic

So far so good. my only real problem with this pedal is that it needs a 12v adapter and won't take batteries...theprice you pay for a great pedal i guess

I play Death/Black Metalcore and this is the pedal to have! grinding low end great highs and a decent mids perfect for metal massacre

Working out how to get a good tone was interesting, you've got 6 knobs to choose from, finding a good balance between the specific frequency/mid setting and the High and Low knobs is the tricky bit

I'm using this with my SG standard --> METAL MONSTER!! --> Big Muff (still testing this setup though) --> Boss EQ --> Ibanez WH10 (best wah ever) --> Boss DD-5 --> JD Tremolo

Now it wasn't doing this the day I got it, but when I was playing with it before I was getting a very slight, but audible, distortion over the tone when the pedal was off, and the tone was actually manipulated by the knobs, so either something is earthing funny or the pedal isn't bypassing properly..Eh, whatever though cos I'll have it on more than off. Sounds good though, especially after changing the shitty valve it came with to an E-H 12ax7, definitely warmed up the tone, now it's more Sabbath than Pantera. With the original valve the tone actually sounded more digital, which kinda destroys the purpose of the valve..
It's a distortion pedal though, and that's what it does, it distorts. Sounds quite a bit like the Marshall Shredmaster, which is cool.
I'm able to get a pretty decent overdrive from it too, which is really what I was going for.

The box is metal, and the innards are securely screwed on, so I can't see any big issues. Only problem I can see is the valve getting knocked hard enough to affect the microphonics

Ok, this is the whole goddamn reason I'm writing this review, cos when I asked for some reccommended settings, specifically to get a good overdrive out of this thing, I received a smart arse response from Godlyke (the distributor) which basically said "this is a hi gain distortion and is therefore not designed for a mild overdrive sound, therefore I can't help you at all"..well, uh, thanks, dude.

I found it funny that the website actually indicates the Metal Monster is capable of distortion tones ranging from "Subtle Overdrive" to the blackest of black metal distortion..sucker.

So for customer support from Godlyke, I give em a hefty 1 (well they did write back didn't they)

To my mate at 1800 instruments who supplied the replacement E-H valve, I give a ten, cos, like me, the idea of AC/DC jamming with Stones put's a smile on his face....

I like this pedal, I like it a helluva lot better now it's got a new tube. Was kinda thinking I'd made a mistake but after dicking around with the settings on my other effects, the guitar and amp I've achieved a tone that any 70's rock pig would snort coke off a groupies chest for..hang on..ahh, nevermind.
In terms of getting

Its easy to use, take a while to get the right tone.

I use this pedal with an Ibanez Jem 77FP and a Marshall JCM900 half stack. In my opinion, its the best distortion pedal I've ever used. Not too many pedals sounded that great through my Marshall. Its a bit noisy at times, but maybe a noise reducing unit would help, as long as it doesnt compremise the tone and clarity. You can get some very heavy sounds from this pedal by adjusting the frequency knob. I havent tried the higher end distortions like the Soldano GTO or Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor, so I cant compare them.

Im not sure what happened, but I never see the valve glowing anymore. Im sure it did at one time, but even so, the sound is basicly the same. I think if the thing ever went out on me while on stage, Id just use my Marshall lead channel.

Id give this thing an overall rating of 9 due to the fact that you can get some heavy ass distortion and great sustain from it. Also, there are 6 different variables that can be adjusted: Distortion, Frequency(high & low are seperate knobs), Level, High(treble), and Low(bass) I believe this pedal would make just about any amp sound great.

It takes a while to get the sound your looking for, but its pretty straight forward.

I have a custom made guitar with a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and two Virtual Vintage Blues single coils in the middle and neck. I have run it through various amps including a Roland Cube (old but cool), a Marshall of some description and most often through Samick SM-25R. In my opinion this is one hell of a pedal. With the reverb sitting on 4 or so, this really sings out with sweet, smooth lead tone. Set the low on full and you get a nice thump when palm muting down low. Chords on occasion sound pretty dirty but in general it rocks. Roll back on the distortion and you can get some cool dirty blues. It is pretty much a purpose built distortion machine.
My favourite settings are: Distortion 4-5, Low - full, Mid 3-4 o'clock, high at 3 o'clock, frequency at 11o'clock. Get rid of some of the mid on the amp and this setting is awesome.

I have gigged with this (with the 9V adapter), practiced extensively and generally taken it everywhere and its sweet. The 12ax7 valve hasn't failed. I would use it without a backup, no worries.

N/A

I play a variety of music. For rhythm work it is pretty single purpose, either metal, or pyscho blues. For leads it is awesome - harmonics rock, smooth, piercing but not harsh. In my opinion it kills the Boss Metal Zone. It doesn't give a generic sound and it records well. The EQ on it is great. While noisy, it has a true bypass and doesn't kill your tone. You can get a variety of sounds which should suit most people looking for this sort of pedal.Should anyone read this, go out and try this pedal before you buy the typical Boss stomp box. In summary, I love it.

er, its a pedal. even more er, its a DISTORTION pedal. That said, there's a lot of tonal variation available, Treble and Bass pots, as well as sweepable mid.. Distortion amount and level..

Uses an internal valve (don't know what type), which I guess adds to the sound.. I use it for deep detuned sludgy distortion, at which it excells.. I run a 70s ibanez LP copy into a Marshall jcm800 bass series valve head and 4*12.. very chunky.. As i said, the sweepable mid control offers a great deal of extreme variation.. You can severely damage speakers / ears / flesh with this one..

Used it live lots, no problem.. Big chunky metal box. Having a glowing valve in a box on the floor's a bit worrying, but it hasn't blown yet.

Good pedal for full on chaotic dirty grinding distortion.. not really for lighter overdrive or over-produced metal twiddly crap.. It feeds back beautifully.. And its really fucken ugly!!! pink tiger stripe puke! (only an 8 cos its a bit expensive.. over $300 new)