How To Dial In The Boss MT-2 Metal Zone 

The metal zone either sounds really good or like an air fryer having a stroke and I can't tell which

The heavy metal setting in the manual is pretty brutal.

I bougth mine 1991, and I never understand how anyone can have any issues with it, its a solid pedal and have so much divercity... just love it! ❤

The Metal zone has always been my favorite distortion pedal. 99% of the time i run in the front of the amp. A lot of the time i play a riff into my looper then i play with the pedal to dial in the tone i need. Like you said the controls are very sensitive. You had a great sound/tone for the song mix. Another great video Robert

I still use mine as my only distortion I bought mine when I was 17 and I’m 41 now

I agree with you about how touchy this pedal can be. It has to be the biggest single frustration for any guitar player using one. Once it is dialed in, it's a pretty good pedal. Just takes some patience. Great video Robert and nice playin' !

Thanks Robert!! You know I’m a straight classic rocker..but I’m not blind to other forms..and the way you explain this pedal will for surely help others providing they listen to your demo!! Thanks again.. chug chug!! 😎

I love the metal zone. I've had one for years. The instruction manual has some good settings listed.

Nothing wrong with this pedal. It has its own sounds like any other. And I like it.

My first rig in 96 was an old rage 158 and a metal zone. Used to drive my folks nuts with it. Lol. Wish I still had that old thing.

Another great video Robert. I did learn Ive been dialing the mids backwards. This video may stop my love/hate with my Metal Zone. Some times I love it, sometimes not. Lol keep the videos comings. Thanks

I've picked up many of these used over the years cheap. Pedal has so much eq flexibility that it is easy to dial in a bad sound, rolling back on the gain, and dialing back on the treble sizzle and also avoiding too much bass , you can get a really good metal tones. Got some good results going the the effects loop too. thanks Robert, good vid!

Cool playing as always Robert! Great mix!

"Metal Zone: Dial in with Finesse!" That could be a slogan. I don't know. Enjoyed the video, Robert. Keep up the good work!

Hey Robert, Simple straight to the point Ajustable Demo , and what seems to me to be a great combo of a Distortion cross with a good EQ in the Pedal, Good video Robert,

You're 💯 percent right. The slightest adjustment makes the difference

I used to have this pedal and loved it, really considering getting it again. Nice clean tone! 😂😅

Spot ON!!! I recommended this one to a friend. Hated??? I don't play Heavy Metal but I Love that pedal. Its touchy, but so is a violin.

Ya gave it a fair shake to show what it can do. Good job.

Metal zone is a great beginner MOD platform. I’ve done quit a few for customers. Basically just upgrading some components. Nice video.

Hello,Robert hope your home has returned to better,Rhank you for another video..

I find it interesting that your "just kidding" clean tone is what some actually do consider as clean tone. Thank you for the levity!! (Of course, I know you know this comment is coming from someone that actually lives in a very clean tone world! The closest I have to a distortion pedal is one you probably despise, the "Old School" Fuzz Face, not the new Bonamassa version. Yes, it still works, which is probably more of a testament of how little I use it rather than a longevity claim.) I definitely appreciate it. Than you for another great demo, review, and instructional video. Please keep them coming.

Love my BOSS Metal Zone pedal. It's able to do blues rock by dialing the gain back. From rock to heavy metal it's a versatile pedal with a tone(s) that I love. Great video. "Here's my clean tone",then your ripping in distortion...FUNNEE!!!😆😆🎸🎸

I bought MT-2 back in 1992. It was the pedal that I could pull any 80s distortion back then.

Thanks Robert. I just bought an MT-2. I used one years ago for Classic Rock. I got it to sound like the Boss OD-2 (with more gain) and it was great. Unfortunately it was stolen when we were burgled. Even thieves like it. It’s a very good pedal, but you have to take the time to set it up. Cheers, Max 😁👍

It's a must have for old school death metal. That Cannibal Corpse tone from the Chris Barnes era crushes.

This pedal does have a lot of tone-shaping uses, with or without using a standard tube or integrated guitar amplifier. And yes, every LITTLE notch of a control makes a big difference. Another thing is using it in FX loops vs. straight into the amp front end. For a front end push on my tube amps, I prefer a DOD Overdrive Preamp 250. I don't know if you've done a video on one of those yet, Robert, but it would be cool to see your opinion on one of those too. Then the Boss goes through the FX loop for what it can add, which it does so with much more 'audio clarity' than running through the guitar amp's tone stack which limits the audio spectrum of the pedal. I remember when this came out back in the day. Everyone that bought it just wanted to have a 'Marshall in a box' that they could hook up to their crappy practice amp and become Metallica immediately. The pedal doesn't work like that, and many were disappointed, not understanding the concept. It's one of the tools in my guitarsinal at my studio when I'm looking to shape an amp to a certain sounds in a certain way. Have a great day, Robert!

Cool video, I usually need more patience for dial in’s on pedals myself. Many times I’ll give each knob a few twists and make a decision on it far too quickly so I’m guilty as charged ahah!

Thank you so much!

As I said many times on your channel, I've been using one since 1995 and yeah I still have my original and another that I got recently. I do not use it in the traditional way though, I use it more as a boost pedal with the distortion all the way off. Old cannibal corpse, old crowbar.

Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro uses a Metal Zone into a Marshall stack, playing mostly a Stratocaster. Sounds great. Though it's not Simon's only sound.

I have this pedal..love it

Love it as a boost

great video and sounds!

Bought one in 2003 or so. Loved it! I tried the Diezel mod on it a couple years ago. Hated it! Couldn’t get it back to original specs fast enough.

You're getting a thumbs up for just wearing an Iron Maiden tee shirt! Yes, the Metal Zone is a very sensitive pedal. Just a little tweaking goes a long way. Plugging the pedal in the return of the effects loop of an amp or just using it with a power amp makes the pedal sound even better.

Late to this vid , your choice of eqing the pedal sounds great in a mix. You should do a vid on the pantera /dime settings in a mix, t'hat would be awesome 😊 😊it would be much appreciated robert. Especially In a mix/recording like you do👍so I can copy what you do!! Keep up the good work.Always enjoy your vids! The metal zone is awesome, like you said it came out it 91 so these kids just dont undestand us older guys LOL.

Cool, I will have to get me one or the waza one maybe? Thanks for the video!

That's one pedal I do not currently own, I've just been using my DS-1 with good results. I may have to borrow a Metal Zone and try it out. Thanks Robert, keep up the great vlogs.

I'm telling you, I've owned and sold the chug, revv pedals, friedman, Mt2 waza and I keep coming back to this one. Boss is it for me I guess 🤷‍♂️

Love your show 😁

Kick ass song as always 😁

I've never owned an MZ, but they are good pedals. I've got a friend who plays blues and he swears by the MZ as a lead boost, and in his case it sounds fantastic. I use either a DS-1, SD-1, Blues Driver or Tube Screamer.

I have an Orange terror stamp that gets muddy when you turn it up, so I use my Metalzone as a boost and eq to clean it up. Even with the gain all the way down it adds distortion, but it's perfect for this application.

Very informative video! Actually never thought it would sound so good in the clean channel. I want to get a 80s sound like iron maiden in somewhere in time or judas priest in painkiller (distortion with a little of delay), but I don't like how it sounds when I use the overdrive channel of my amp. Maybe with a distortion pedal in the clean channel it will sound more like the classic 80s metal sound.

It. Sounds great to me

The track is 🔥

gear job, yeah will get it for the equalization

Just my taste in drive, I couldn’t use something like this, to make it less fizzy boosting the mids makes it sound a bit honky to me. And also makes it more muddy with it being difficult to differentiate notes. But that’s just my personal taste in what I like and I’m VERY picky about my distortion. Great video tho honestly you did make it sound much better than honestly what I thought was possible!

Dudeeeeee the clean tone got me 😂😂😂😂😂😂

I use my Metal Zone as a pre-amp to my Pod Express, and I think it kicks ass! I get both great lead and rhythm tones. I'm putting the volume nob on my old Ibanez through its paces, though. 🤣 🤘

Used one for years then replaced it with the Zoom Tri Metal pedal, never went back. I use it for a bit heavier style of classic metal.

dude, never seen the channel, waited about 6 minutes didn't see the content the title said is there

Robert that guitar is bad ass ......

I can't wait for the DS-1w personnaly! :) They fixed the DS-1!!!! If it's only half as good as the custom mode on the Mt-2w, it is going to be stellar! Like I always, the MT-2 is the most finicky pedal to dial ever half a mm makes a huge difference on the knobs, but there are good sounds in this little box, but the bad ones are ... horrendous and they are easy to get unlike the good tones.

Robert, Yes, the pedal is IN YOUR FACE once you fix the EQ. It's a shame the "12-oclock" settings aren't closer that what people would want.

I would like to see you demo the new BOSS DS-1W. WAZA Craft is making a lot of great pedals.

I have the Metal Master pedal, but I get a strange double sound (which is only audible on the headphones, not the renders). Anybody know what's causing that?

I love this pedal. I play it into the front of my Peavey Bandit on the clean channel and it sounds killer. What would you consider a modern metal / distortion pedal?

are there any major advantages to using the waza craft version compared to the standard model? the waza version is a lot more expensive so i wanted to know if the price is justified since i'm currently constructing a list of gear i need to achieve certain guitar tones for both recording and performance

It's up there in the same ranking as the Ds 1 . Players seem to hate on it too but it has it's use and good tone as well. If I'm not mistaken there is a waza craft version of it as well or one coming out?

They despise the Metal-Zone and went viral over the Bad Monkey. Mine is set at 25% also.

I don't understand the hatred, works well for me. Some people use it in fx loop and that's totally ok. It's a good pedal!!! We got some awesome sounds with solid state kmd, early megadeth etc it was on point.

Anyone got suggestions for a slayerish tone with this? 😅

Yeassssssss. My favorite distortion stompbox. (Boss super Df2 as well). Gets a lot of hate but cmon... Angry🐝🐝 s . Great pedal

Hey Robert what tuning is your guitar starting with? Standard, Drop D? Etc.

How do we get the modern medal tone like Volbeat, Avenged Sevenfold, Alter Bridge. Bought the pedal, really like it but its hard to dial it in

Munky from Korn still uses this pedal

Paused video @ beginning: my buddy told me back when we played in cover band that the best settings on the pedal are all knobs at 12:00 o’clock(with Marshall I used to max bass though)

Hey friend just wanted to say the metal zone can totally do modern metal. You just have to really dial in the mids right.

Acid Bath

I ordered a Waza Craft Metal Zone used off of Reverb and got a 30th Anniversary regular Metal Zone... I was gonna return it, but now that i have the Silver and Black, I dont wanna come off of it. Lmao... Still want the Waza though..

🤙🏼

i have a question. My metal zone only sounds good when the guitar is plugged into the pedal and the pedal goes into the return effects of my amp. If I run it from send then return with my guitar plugged into the front of the amp it sounds horrible..... This is stopping me from having the pedal on my pedal board seeing how everything else runs through the front of the amp, I have no way to use the distortion pedal unless I use it by itself with it only running from guitar, to pedal, to return.

Most amp/pedal controls are just detenuation. I say start with everything maxed and carve down on the amp and the pedal what you dont want.

mine sounds like a distorted boat lol

One of the problems with this pedal is ppl would set up ther sound in ther room and get a really good tone (usually with a lot of bass then they would try to play with a band and they wouldn't be able to hear themselves theyd turn up and their tone wiuld turn to mush

Hi boss can i moses mod this

I like the pedal. I wouldn't be able to use it in a Blues Jam.

Ever since Ola Englund showed he could makenit sound good, people started to accept it. The problem is, most don't know how to dial it in. 😂

Hated this pedal back whe it came out I was a teen. 90s I got loving the danelectro fab tone for a time, wish I'd kept that pedal. Then my carvin mts 3200 took over For years. Wish I'd kept that ada mp1 I paid 100 bux for ugh. And the vtm 60 peavey. Since getting this crate stealth 100 head I've yet to plug a pedal in but I've had the mod tone flextortion for about 3 years and enjoy it for what it is. But I rarely use it. I need to clean up my board re route pedals for front of amp and fx loop. It's been setup to just run into a clean amp For a long time now. Maybe I'll do that today. And dig out my ibames s670 with the stupid high output Duncan's I don't like and try it into the stealth , just might end up liking them. You made this pedal sound decent. Mine was the original. But also my first amp was a peavey back stage plus. Nothing sounded good to me back then. I had no ear yet. And certainly couldn't get that george lynch tone and it frustrated me. Gear I regret. Peavey vtm 60 100 bux, ada mp1 100 bux, peavey rock master Pre amp with footswitch 75 bux. And didn't make a dime on any of em.. Smh, what they are worth now. Fml. Oh yah the peavey classic 120 /120 tube power amp. That huge sumbiatch. Find one now hahahaha. Had the 60/60 also. Mesa boogie v twin oedal and my fender super reverb., 84 Japanese start series 1 trem. Beautiful player now collectible. And my 1985 flame top gold hardware kahler equipped gibson explorer. Hard times man waht that's gotta be worth now. I've never seen another. 83 green Kramer vanguard one pickup with the crappy kahler. Pawn shop 75 bux. Ugh. Idk even know what happened to that one. Had a carvin quad x also with footswitch. Don't miss that one so much. And they havnt gone up in value. I made money off that twice. Lol about 800 in the end. Kinda miss my burger v22 infinitum and 6260. But not really. Hot rod deluxe gets mods this week. First version Cali model. Vol pot, power caps, reverb mod and tone stack mod only. Sorry for the ramble. Lol. Still hated the metal zone. Oh shit when I was 16 my brother gave me an ibanez tubes reamer with a funky switch. Yup an original. Shit me on that one. I think I in turn gave it away. Or made it worse trying to fix it and threw it in the trash. Can't remember. Boy is that worth some money now. Ibanez tube king was a cool pedal also. But muffled to my ears. A lot of this gear I ditched because I had yet to realise how much speakers affect tone and I always had shitty cabinets mainly the Peavy 412. The old ass one silver sides tall straight front with square back eminence. Best cab I had but by then too late. Carvin from the 80's loaded with g12t75. Regret selling my celestion black backs from 1978 also. Same week manufactured. That was just stupid.

Bro. No lie. You got something I didn't mind out of it. Probably an in your hands thing. I'm trying to like it again. I swear. I'm sorry. It just isn't for me. It's absolutely for you, though!

the thing was with the pedal that when you make a great rythm sound the solos will completly suck. meaning you nned to change the settings for a solo. lol by the way I think your setting was extremely bad. the distortion needs to be on max.

Your intonation or tuning sounds to be just a tad out (just saying not judging or anything, honestly I love your videos and am a frequent viewer of your content!!)

#1 Rule to the MT-2 is put it through an effects loop to hear it REALLY shine.

It was only misunderstood because Boss neglected to tell everybody it's meant to be plugged into the effects loop. Myself fuckin included.

It sounds like a great death metal pedal. I just wonder if it can be tamed down to have of break up sound. My boss odx1 and boss sd1 combined makes for a wicked metal sound. Thanks Robert for the review.

the only reason why im gonna get the og version is because of both cathedrals album "statik majik" and acid baths second album.

The reason why this pedal catches so much heat is people that use it don't know shit about proper level setting. Like he said, the Metal Zone is loaded with gain, so why turn it to 11?! It sounds like shit that way

The only way to get a good tone is put it in the trash can