Calling all giging SA metal bands !

Stoner-Riff

With the prices as they are in SA, please tell us what amp(s) you use, to get your metal tone !

Not everyone in this country can drop the coin for a Mesa Trip Recto half stack.

So what do you use ?
Are you happy with your sound ?
What 'type' of metal do your band play ?
Any Utoob clipz or MySpace pages so we can hear what you sound like ?

All info very welcome . . .

needleshy

hey dude.... i am not in a metal band but play in a hard rock band, but i used to play in one and i can get awsome metal tone out of my gear if i needed...

i play one of two amps at the moment and may have a double rectofier coming soon( triple is way to loud)
for the best live tone for metal i would say in clubs get a nice small valve amp that u can crank to full volume and mix a dist. pedal with.....
for practices i need a little more volume so i use a Fender 60's blackface (which i used in the metal band aswell) and i use a Tonebone Plexi tube for my gain
for live i switch to a 18 watt marshall valve amp.... which sounds real good for live shows as i get to crank it to half its power, both amps i run through some vintage 30's.

the tonebone plexitube is a winner though and i would think it would sound good through most amps as it is a valve pedal...... just make the mission of changing the valve as the standard one is a bit sucky..... i put a JJ in and it made heaps of difference.

our drummer and Karel Mars built the little 18 watt marshall and its a killer amp it also has enough volume to practice with with a full band if u want they are pretty loud..... i play the amp on full volume if we practice wih it and everyone is able to hear it very well..... maybe u can even get a boutique amp built for a fraction of the price if its done by a techie.

Stoner-Riff

Thanks needleshy . . .

. . . I know those Radial ToneBones. I nearly got a used classic, but waited too long, and missed out on it ! GREAT Canadain products !

Your amps, do you run them through a 4X12 cab ?
Talking about Mesa's, i really like what i heard from the older Mesa Stiletto Stage I's. Not a fan of the newer Stage II's though.
Right now, i have a lil Fender Blues Jr, that i want to connect to a 4X12, and i also have a Black Face Bassman (ab165).

For what i do, it is perfect, the Bassman that is, but being the person that i am, i can never have enough amps, and are thus curious to know what other national bands are using.
Just trying to see what is being used the most : Fender ? Marshall ? Mesa ? Laney or something else !

I also want to put a Fender Super Sonic through it's paces asap. I was told that it's Burn Channel is really good for hi-gain applications !

Keep 'em comming guys !

needleshy

the tonebone classic isn't the greatest and if u wanna do metal then don't waste your money as it is a lower gain pedal i am using the tri mode which is the clasic in 2 channells at the moment and i don't like it much...

i am running my gear through a 2x12 fender supersonic cab which is the nicest built cab i have come across... i have a marshal TCL cab and its pretty low budget dude..... u should maybe take a look at the soldano range of amps they are very nice and i use the plugin alot on the pc..... they make a SLO100 which is a freakin legend amp dude..... i may get one made for me if i have some spare change after the mesa (which i doubt)

the supersonic is cool but its not a cool metal amp.... incredible clean tone i found when tested with a petrucci musicman, sounded like dire strates in one of the modes, but i was a but dissapointed in the burn mode, found it a bit thin and weak, would do well for SRV stuff and a little heavier..... look i tried the combo which has an open back.
still that amp is really not suited for metal on its own..... but fender are known for clean tones and thats where this amp shines.

shadow1

Yo Stoner i am not jammin in a band at the moment but i was playing in a heavy band for a few years and i love a pretty heavy tone, i used the hughes and kettner warp7 halfstack (which i traded in at bothners,might still be there) awsome solid state amp with a distortion stompbox infront it.

heres a link: myspace.com/newaltumband
if there some live stuff still up there then thats the amp you will be hearing.

now with alittle more of a budget (and not mesa budget) you can get my new amp which is the peavey 6505+ cheaper that mesa but i rekon beter for metal....its the king at thatm, just not as flexible as mesa.

must also agree with needleshy get a small valve amp with a stompbox infront like a metal zone or sumin and it sounds pretty damn cool. Anyways at the end of the day the gigs are so rushed the crowd never hears your good tone anyways ?

DrGonzo

Hey man, yeah I am also in constant search for that deep metal tone but cannot afford the stack amp!
um I agree with the other posts about getting a small tube amp and a good dist pedal.
Although what that pedal is im not sure, i am still on the search. I didnt dig the metal zone.

I think im gonna check out the Ibanez Tube King next when i find one as the one guitarist from Mastodon uses it on his clean marshall...
Also I have only heard good things about the Krank distortus maximus but finding one of those is another story. the guy from music mate says it could take up to 2 months before their order arrives in SA... oh well..

doc-phil

shadow1 wrote: heres a link: myspace.com/newaltumband
if there some live stuff still up there then thats the amp you will be hearing.

Dude, did you play in New Altum? I love that band!!!! Definitely the best ever South African hardcore/metal band imo ?

cain

Well i dont play in a band, but there are lots of options and it depends on what kind of metal sound you want ....

Randal amps are great for metal, and they are now easy to find in south africa, go check out their amps. The full solid state stuff is pretty crap but they have lots of amps with a tube based power amp and solid state pre amps, which sounds great for metal. They also have an amp that has pluggable modules, you plug in what you want. Go check it out, lots of the big metal bands overseas uses them and they aren't so expensive as peaveys etc.

shadow1

doc-phil wrote:
shadow1 wrote: heres a link: myspace.com/newaltumband
if there some live stuff still up there then thats the amp you will be hearing.
Dude, did you play in New Altum? I love that band!!!! Definitely the best ever South African hardcore/metal band imo ?

YIp i indeed did. Left them after we finished the CD.

Stoner-Riff

DrGonzo wrote: Hey man, yeah I am also in constant search for that deep metal tone but cannot afford the stack amp!
um I agree with the other posts about getting a small tube amp and a good dist pedal.
Although what that pedal is im not sure, i am still on the search. I didnt dig the metal zone.

I think im gonna check out the Ibanez Tube King next when i find one as the one guitarist from Mastodon uses it on his clean marshall...
Also I have only heard good things about the Krank distortus maximus but finding one of those is another story. the guy from music mate says it could take up to 2 months before their order arrives in SA... oh well..

I thought about the whole clean amp wth GOOD pedal, but just like you, am not sure where to start.
I had a Metal Zone, for two weeks and did a trade for a BD-2 instead. man i could not gell w that thing !
The one pedal that i think might sound good through my Bassman, is the Pigtronix Polysaturator.
Pretty sure no on carries this brand either !

One that i nearlt did buy in FL was the EHX MetalMuff :

. . . not bad for the US asking price, less than one bill !

I really wanted to like this pedal, but when i tested it, i could not get the tones out of it, that i hoped was in it !

Same goes for the Ibaez unit - not for me !!!

THIS units is on my short list, of must have's, but you need to run it with a dirty amp :

Stoner-Riff

Francis Viviers wrote: Well i dont play in a band, but there are lots of options and it depends on what kind of metal sound you want ....

Randal amps are great for metal, and they are now easy to find in south africa, go check out their amps. The full solid state stuff is pretty crap but they have lots of amps with a tube based power amp and solid state pre amps, which sounds great for metal. They also have an amp that has pluggable modules, you plug in what you want. Go check it out, lots of the big metal bands overseas uses them and they aren't so expensive as peaveys etc.

WOW . . . good news . . . never kne Randal is in SA !

I do believe they are one of the better "dedicated" metal amp brands out there today !
Their V2 & T2s's sounds reeeeeeally good !

Cheers

DrGonzo

Stoner Riff wrote:
THIS units is on my short list, of must have's, but you need to run it with a dirty amp :

Cool man, i liked the sound of that EHX Metal Muff but you can never really tell from youtube..; will add that to my list!

Which one did u end up settling on?

So far my short list is as follows:

1) Krank Distortus maximus
2) Radial Tonebone Hot British
3) Ibanez Tube King
4) MI Audio tubezone
5) EHX Metal muff

anyone hav any other suggestions??

Danny-B

So far my short list is as follows:

1) Krank Distortus maximus
2) Radial Tonebone Hot British
3) Ibanez Tube King
4) MI Audio tubezone
5) EHX Metal muff

anyone hav any other suggestions??

Vox satchurator?

The tubezone is awesome, brilliant for anything heavy.

aja

Danny B wrote:
The tubezone is awesome, brilliant for anything heavy.

A little off topic, but would you use it for over driven rock tones as well? ie not yet at "distortion" levels

EDIT:

Danny-B

It's incredibly versatile. It's gain knob is calibrated so that when it is set at 12 o' clock it is only using 3% of the available gain. It apparently has 250% more gain than the most popular metal pedals on the market - the website claims this.

http://www.mieffects.com/TZindepth.htm

But I find it very versatile, and sounds decent even on my JC-120, which is said to make stompboxes sound harsh ?

Stoner-Riff

aja wrote:
Danny B wrote:
The tubezone is awesome, brilliant for anything heavy.

A little off topic, but would you use it for over driven rock tones as well? ie not yet at "distortion" levels

EDIT:

I would DEFF use the Tube Zone for Hard Rock, through my Bassman.

I always thought it is a much better overdrive/light distorto box, than a flatt out "EXTREME-METAL-BAND-IN-A-BOX" type deal !

DrGonzo

Danny B wrote:
Vox satchurator?

yes, actually i remember trying this one at Music Connection... very cool indeed. Yep that goes on my short list as well...

Stoner-Riff

Just getting back to the amp question again :

So, what BRAND of valve amp does the biggest part of giging METAL bands use in lovely safe, inexpensive Sooof Arrfrika ?

Mesa ?
Bogner ?
Orange ?
Marshall ?
Diezel ?
Laney ?
Rivera ?
Carvin ?
Engl ?
Krank ?
Peavey ? . . . probaly ! . . . i think !

ANY ONE ?

needleshy

lol.... i havent seen many metal bands playing on valve amps here in S.A...... but the ones i have noticed are using marshalls mostly, seen a few peaveys aswell as randall.... but like i said thats only what i have noticed of the valve amps at gigs..... i have also seen a ibanez thermian but i heard that they are pretty terrible amplifiers from a dude who worked at a music store..... but i have noticed a few more marshalls than any other.

Stoner-Riff

needleshy wrote: lol.... i havent seen many metal bands playing on valve amps here in S.A...... but the ones i have noticed are using marshalls mostly, seen a few peaveys aswell as randall.... but like i said thats only what i have noticed of the valve amps at gigs..... i have also seen a ibanez thermian but i heard that they are pretty terrible amplifiers from a dude who worked at a music store..... but i have noticed a few more marshalls than any other.

CONFUSION . . . so what music does everyone play that do by the Mesa's in SA, and all the other hi gain amps ?

I heard sooooooo many truely bad things about the Ibanez amp it is shocking !