Has anything actully designed specifically for metal every been any good?

[Spitfire]

metal was so much better when people used what was avaliable to them to shape their own sound.. it seems to me that everything that has been designed to be used in metal has bad tone, its all about looks or being extreme.

the best metal tones for me came from modded marshals and mesa boogie mark series amps, not the 5150s and krankenstiens or "metal" effects pedals

[Twinfan]

Mesa Rectifiers seem to have done OK...

[Transcend]

Mesa Rectifiers seem to have done OK...

Thats true but nearly every guitarist who uses them has a very similar tone.

[indysmith]

Mesa Rectifiers seem to have done OK...

Thats true but nearly every guitarist who uses them has a very similar tone.

To me Mesa Rectos are no good for metal :/
They're just too big and flubby. Mesas sound good for American style "Rock", but most styles of metal require a tighter sound don't they?

Some metal amps sound good to me (Framus Cobra, Bogner Uberschall?), and some metal pickups sound good too (Warpig, Nailbomb?), but yeah mainly I'd have to agree with you.

[Johnny Mac]

Mesa Rectifiers seem to have done OK...

Thats true but nearly every guitarist who uses them has a very similar tone.

To me Mesa Rectos are no good for metal :/
They're just too big and flubby. Mesas sound good for American style "Rock", but most styles of metal require a tighter sound don't they?

Some metal amps sound good to me (Framus Cobra, Bogner Uberschall?), and some metal pickups sound good too (Warpig, Nailbomb?), but yeah mainly I'd have to agree with you.

Not sure that's true Indy. I mean Metallica used them for years, plus Daron Malakian from SOAD uses/used them plus a lot more.

[Stevepage]

Yes, quite a few things. The problem is companies giving you 'metal tones' in a stomp box but sound completely useless and harsh. Or guitar companies make a guitar that looks like it would fit in a metal band, but sound terrible (BC Rich for the past 10 years).

[gwEm]

this thread raises an interesting point. usually stuff marketed directly at the metal market tends to be a bit gimmicky and low-end... eg Boss Metalzone etc etc. Its true you don't need that stuff to get a metal tone.. I mean, you can easily be metal with a plexi style marshall or whatever.

[indysmith]

Mesa Rectifiers seem to have done OK...

Thats true but nearly every guitarist who uses them has a very similar tone.

To me Mesa Rectos are no good for metal :/
They're just too big and flubby. Mesas sound good for American style "Rock", but most styles of metal require a tighter sound don't they?

Some metal amps sound good to me (Framus Cobra, Bogner Uberschall?), and some metal pickups sound good too (Warpig, Nailbomb?), but yeah mainly I'd have to agree with you.

Not sure that's true Indy. I mean Metallica used them for years, plus Daron Malakian from SOAD uses/used them plus a lot more.

And they all sound like bum. :P

No you're right - a lot of metal players use them, but personally whenever i hear a recto in a metal context it makes my ears sad and I start imagining what the track would sound like with another amp...

I just think they're suited better to Foo Fighters style america-rock.

[nfe]

Mesa Rectifiers seem to have done OK...

Thats true but nearly every guitarist who uses them has a very similar tone.

To me Mesa Rectos are no good for metal :/
They're just too big and flubby. Mesas sound good for American style "Rock", but most styles of metal require a tighter sound don't they?

Some metal amps sound good to me (Framus Cobra, Bogner Uberschall?), and some metal pickups sound good too (Warpig, Nailbomb?), but yeah mainly I'd have to agree with you.

Not sure that's true Indy. I mean Metallica used them for years, plus Daron Malakian from SOAD uses/used them plus a lot more.

But let's be honest, when Metallica were using Rectos a lot in the studio, they were playing rock music, not metal. And SOAD are chock full of standard, rotten nu-metal tones.

I'd completely agree with Indysmith, Rectos say modern mainstream US rock, to me.

[the_bleeding]

hahaha rectifiers were designed to play grunge just as grunge was dying out. Mesa got lucky when some heavier players discovered they could be used for metal. And yes, they are great for metal. Look at bands like Skinless, cannibal corpse, satyricon... they all use rectifiers, and are definately NOT rock. Not all metal is tight technical stuff.

5150 was designed for van halen, but pulls off AMAZING metal tones. It is a metal workhorse.
bands like Between the Buried and Me, Splatterhouse, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Dismember, and Necrophagist all use the 5150 pretty consistently.

Now for ams that have been designed for metal: Engl Powerball, Engl Invader, Engl SE, Engl Savage.... hell even the Engl Blackmore can do metal, and they all sound awesome doing it.
Vader uses powerballs, and SE's, dimmu borgir uses savages and SE's, Zyklon uses powerballs and Savages... cannibal corpse even recently added a powerball to their mix.

Also, the framus cobra is CLEARLY a metal amp, and definately pulls off the oldschool brutal, as well as any new tight and technical stuff.

[nfe]

hahaha rectifiers were designed to play grunge just as grunge was dying out. Mesa got lucky when some heavier players discovered they could be used for metal. And yes, they are great for metal. Look at bands like Skinless, cannibal corpse, satyricon... they all use rectifiers, and are definately NOT rock. Not all metal is tight technical stuff.

To be fair, Satyricon are pretty much a rock band now, albiet with more aggressive vocals - ever since they decided to be a black metal version of Entombed's modern tripe - plus still have pretty horrid guitar sounds. Then Skinless and Cannibal Corpse aren't exactly awash with awesome tones  :lol:

[Johnny Mac]

Mesa Rectifiers seem to have done OK...

Thats true but nearly every guitarist who uses them has a very similar tone.

To me Mesa Rectos are no good for metal :/
They're just too big and flubby. Mesas sound good for American style "Rock", but most styles of metal require a tighter sound don't they?

Some metal amps sound good to me (Framus Cobra, Bogner Uberschall?), and some metal pickups sound good too (Warpig, Nailbomb?), but yeah mainly I'd have to agree with you.

Not sure that's true Indy. I mean Metallica used them for years, plus Daron Malakian from SOAD uses/used them plus a lot more.

But let's be honest, when Metallica were using Rectos a lot in the studio, they were playing rock music, not metal. And SOAD are chock full of standard, rotten nu-metal tones.

I'd completely agree with Johnny Mac, Rectos say modern mainstream US rock, to me.

Well it's the what defines metal thing isn't it. They're metal bands to my ears. Could be my age playing a part here  :)

[AdamB]

Diezels are amazing amps and mainly metal amps. Although they can cover alot of sounds

[the_bleeding]

hahaha rectifiers were designed to play grunge just as grunge was dying out. Mesa got lucky when some heavier players discovered they could be used for metal. And yes, they are great for metal. Look at bands like Skinless, cannibal corpse, satyricon... they all use rectifiers, and are definately NOT rock. Not all metal is tight technical stuff.

To be fair, Satyricon are pretty much a rock band now, albiet with more aggressive vocals - ever since they decided to be a black metal version of Entombed's modern tripe - plus still have pretty horrid guitar sounds. Then Skinless and Cannibal Corpse aren't exactly awash with awesome tones  :lol:

I don't know what satyricon you've been listening to, but i have the latest 3 albums and they are nowhere near what i would consider rock.

What are awesome tones? and what are bad tones?

[nfe]

What are awesome tones? and what are bad tones?

Subjective.