What’s new at Zystrix? Read on… April 17, 2023 Before I go into the continuing saga of how to record metal and rock guitar here’s a special… News Flash Science Can Now Produce Immense Gravitation By using an artificial gravitation device it is thought we can cheat global warming by moving the earth farther from the sun. Details are shown above. The people who truly transform our world are the scientists. And now on with the show… How to Record Metal Guitar How to Record Rock Guitar This Zystrix posting is the sixth of a several part series designed to help a person record guitar, specifically metal and rock guitar, no matter your skill level. And the main crux is how to do an excellent job on a low budget. Please know that there are many types of gear that are glossed over or omitted here because there’s just too much great gear to list. Last time in part five we covered amp-in-a-box pedals. For a review click on the arrow pointing left by the wrist watch at the top of this page and click on the yellow megaphone to come back here. And yes, I missed a few pedals that probably should have been on the last amp- in-a-box list like the Ceres by KSR, the Apex by Horizon Devices, and the Pathos by Abassi. However, in the final PDF version I will cover them. Now’s the time to cover guitar distortion pedals, and then the third and last pedal section below we’ll cover whatever few pedal types that remain. So here’s more basic gear needed for a bare bones beginning -- guitar distortion pedals. How to Record Killer Metal and Rock Guitar The Ultimate Guide (Part Six) THE FINE PRINT: Zystrix is not and has never been a participant in any advertising program including but not limited to the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Sweetwater, or any other affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees from readers by click-through advertising and linking to the aforementioned or any other companies. Zystrix has no links associated with the sale of any products, and we do not allow this. This keeps our reviews honest, cuts out any unnecessary middle man, and keeps this website free from cookies and the influences of Google and other unethical purveyors of your digital exhaust and personal information. It’s our mantra. Covering all the worthwhile and/or financially viable guitar pedals is a large undertaking. And there are going to be many many pedals that I either overlooked or have forgotten, or feel are unnecessary. That’s just how it is. But what I’m going for here is a great metal or rock guitar sound on a budget -- or at least affordable for most of us. This final pedal section covers pedals that are cool to own and use but not especially needed to rock (except for a tuner). These pedals help in other areas like subtle complexity, modulation, old stand-by sounds, time based effects, and forgotten but still great (and affordable as I write this) helpful gear. Don’t forget that many of these pedals can be had at even lower prices if you seek out the used ones. And some can be had for a bargain with online discount coupons at popular and huge online retailers. Does a pedal need to be expensive to be good? Not at all. I’ve included some that are quite expensive to many guitarists. Many pedals I’ve listed here (just like previous editions) are believable copies or improvements of expensive ones, especially in a mix situation. And someone may ask the usual ongoing question, “Why are we supporting builders who ripped off somebody’s hard work in design?” Pedal circuits are not covered by copyright, and anyone can copy and build a circuit and sell it for profit if they feel so moved. Read both September 26, 2022 and the October 10, 2022 posts regarding public domain in a general sense. Another typical comment is, “If I want the real sound I’ll buy the real thing.” In my opinion having the original amp, pedal, microphone, cabinet, and so on has a lot of snob appeal, but if something else gets you close (or not) doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s just that particular sound. That’s all. Why fret about someone’s sound that has nothing to do with you? There’s a lid for every pot. Besides, the real snob appeal comes from making the guitar say something new to the world, and doing that is difficult and rare. So welcome to the end of the pedal section; make a sandwich or have one delivered, take your shoes off, crack open a cold one, and enjoy… OTHER NOTEWORTHY PEDALS AND GEAR The following items are highly recommended and I would consider most of them needed or necessary. This short list contains items like IR pedals, power supply, noise gates, guitar tuners, and one pedal you may not think should be on this list. I know many of these are boring, but when you’ve got a job to do... well, it’s time to bite the bullet, choose them, and buy them. Guitar Cabinet IR Pedals If you play all your pedals through an amp and a cabinet then you may not need an IR pedal. However, an IR pedal can give the front- of-house engineer a guitar sound you like without the unpredictability of a microphone and it will let you plug into your DAW. And it’s much easier than a microphone, and your engineer will thank you. Radar by Mooer This micro pedal has a power amp emulation built in and 4 power tube emulations (very handy) along with a guitar cabinet emulation. You can even load your favorite IR (or several) into it and use them as you wish. It offers thirty cab emulations and eleven microphone types. It also has a headphone output. The big red knob on the front controls the power amp section, the cab IR section, and the EQ section. For such a small footprint and so many features I’d have to say this might be my favorite, and it sounds great. It’s a little pricey at about $150 USA but this one is worth considering. Cab Box by Joyo This pedal has a lot of features and, like many software-only based emulations, it allows the user to invent their own amp emulation combinations including microphones, amp tube types, and cabinet IR, and it’s possible to load your own favorite IR cabinets. It’s even got an XLR output for the sound engineer or DAW and a headphone output for private practice. It does not work as a go-between for an amplifier and cabinet, so if you need this feature you’ll have to pass on this pedal, or get a direct box made for guitar, or get the Torpedo C.A.B. M. Although it sounds expensive because Cab Box offers a lot of features, it can be found for $200 with free shipping, so it is definitely worth a try or listen. It depends on your needs, but the Cab Box by Joyo gives the Radar and the Torpedo some serious competition. Solid Studio by NUX NUX is pronounced new-ex, like a person whose second marriage didn’t last very long. Anyway, this is a larger pedal with popular IR cab choices. There are 8 available IR cabs, 8 microphone types and placement, power amp tube type with drive, presence, and master control, USB for adding another IR, and an XLR output and guitar line out. It even comes in blue. It weighs in at about $200 USA. Torpedo C.A.B. M by Two Notes This Cadillac of cab emulation has many features like as a go- between for an amplifier connected to a cabinet to get an XLR direct line sound, 32 IR cabs, reverb choices, power amp emulation, editing parameters on computer for loading into the pedal, auxiliary input for playing along with your favorite jam tunes, and it even has a headphone output. It even connects to your cell phone via an app if you don’t mind apps shirt-tailing in your cell phone. It’s a cool pedal but I never use anything internet dependent or that utilizes air-wave pollution phone apps. Use your own discretion. These can be had new with free shipping for about $300 USA. Sonicake IR This is by far the most bang-for-the-buck IR pedal of them all if you just want IR cab emulation. You can install your own IRs into it via computer. It does not have a light to see if the pedal is on, so you’ll just have to remember. It does not offer any amplification emulation before the cab so this may be a deal-breaker for some. But for $60 USA and free shipping it’s hard to say no. Are you a serious do-it- yourself type? Stay home and design your own guitar cabinet IR with amp simulation built in and save some money. JDI-01 by Joyo This pedal (DI box) goes between an amplifier head and a speaker cabinet and gets the recording job done via the XLR output to the engineer’s console. It has a 4x12 emulation and it is a similar pedal to the Red Box below. Red Box by Hughes and Kettner Mk II This pedal (DI box) is supposed to go between a guitar amp head and a cabinet so the engineer can get an isolated line out of the amplifier via XLR without using a microphone. It only has a single cabinet sound (4x12 closed back type) so there’s not a lot of variety, but it works OK for the intended purpose. To me (because of the age of the pedal) it’s just slightly better than a brick-wall filter, but it gets the job done. It can be had for $50 USA. Cab Tone by Digital Music Corp Similar to the Red Box above, this is another older DI pedal that works OK for the intended purpose, but it also gives the engineer the option of choosing between an open and a closed back 4x12 cabinet. It will do the job. POWER FOR PEDALS If your pedal has no power it won’t work, therefore you are going to need a Pedal Power Supply. Batteries are quiet when used in a pedal, but a power supply is much cheaper when you consider the price of batteries nowadays over the life of pedal usage. And power supplies generally give a more even voltage as opposed to an ever dwindling battery power. And power supplies are not generally considered inexpensive. MXR makes a good one called the DC Brick but at close to $80.00 USA it’s a little steep for many people. And the outputs are not isolated which could mean more noise problems depending on your situation, but I haven’t heard of many problems. And other power supplies are more money than the MXR DC Brick although they may offer the features you need. Other power supplies to consider are the 1Spot by True Tone, the Ojai or the Zuma by Stryman, and the Pedal Power by Voodoo Labs. But if I may be so bold, let me ask you, “How much power and how many outputs do you need?” If the answer is eight 9-volt outputs (or less) then you are in luck because you have many inexpensive options. There are some less expensive options to consider like the Power Supply by Donner and the Macro Power S8 by Mooer. Not long ago I needed to replace my very old power supply from the 1980s and I discovered the Pedal Power by Rowin. It looks suspiciously like the model by Donner, but at the time it was slightly cheaper. And at $35 USA with free shipping I was convinced to buy, and it does the job beautifully and flawlessly. It even comes with all the power cables for your board for up to 8 pedals, plus a 12 volt, an 18 volt, and USB 5 volt output. Super deal. And is it quiet? Well, the outputs are not isolated, and batteries are always quieter in about any situation I can think of, but this does an excellent job without any noise I can detect. It still works great even after a few months of use. And it blows away my early 1980s power supply for noise, reliability, and easy hookup. Rowin is a winner for the budget pedal board, or at least to me. NOISE GATES If you play high gain guitar you are going to need a noise gate at some point. That’s just the nature of the beast. A noise gate is indispensable for taming down guitar setups that utilize a lot of gain and, hence, produce a lot of noise. They get rid of hum, hiss, and other annoying extraneous distractions. And metal and rock guitar is all about gain, so buying a noise gate is a very good idea. There are many noise gates out there and some of them are very popular (and expensive). Check out the Sentry by TC Electronic for excellent gating at about $110.00 USA. Another one to consider (although more expensive) is the Revv G8 because of the surgical gating it can do. One that has been very popular is the Decimator by ISP as has the Smart Gate by MXR. But for a steal-deal on a great noise gate check out the Noise Gate by Rowin. It does a lot of excellent gating for an unbelievably low price. I found one for $32 USA and free shipping – so I bought it. It’s better than my MXR at less than a third of the price. Highly recommended. Guitar Tuners I know this is a boring choice of gear but it’s essential. From my experience there are two places where many metal bands really screw up in the recording studio: #1. the tempo (hello most band members) and #2. the tuning (hello string section). Music is art over time, so a metronome is the most important piece of gear to have. But a tuner comes in at a close second. There are a number of choices for tuners but two that come to mind are the Boss TU-3 and the TC Electronic Poly Tune 3. The Korg Pitch Black is another one that is quite popular. There are used ones out there at a fair price I suppose. And tuners have a cool second feature of turning off the guitar signal to dead silence between songs. No more hiss and feedback. On the other hand, if a person is on a budget or simply looking to save money on tuning their guitar the Behringer TU300 and the Donner DT Deluxe are both great deals. Plan on spending about $40 USA or less on either one brand new. Look for free shipping. Compression Pedal This pedal may be an unlikely addition to this list, and for some folks it could be considered an unneeded one. Using a distortion/overdrive pedal in front of a distorted amp gives a nice hardness to the sound; that kind of amp and pedal combination just makes sense. It’s a sound type heard everywhere in metal and rock. However, imagine a loud old tube amplifier begging for mercy because it can’t keep up with the signal that’s getting slammed into the front end; it momentarily balks and sags. That’s where a good compression pedal shines – it’s a convincing old-fashion amp sag kind of sound if used sparingly. Put it before your distortion pedal. It is also helpful for driving or boosting the front end of an amp in a clean way by turning up the output and adjusting the sensitivity. It is also great for keeping the signal volume consistent. My favorite is the Dyna Comp by MXR and I have seen it brand new for slightly under $100 USA. The Wampler Ego (my second favorite because of the blend capability), Keeley Compressor Plus, the Diamond (yellow) Compressor (a favorite), and the Boss CS-3 Compressor are other usual and good choices. They all have a slightly different approach and sound and may not fit the bill or requirements for you. If possible it’s always nice to have a blend function knob on the pedal to bring up the original signal and give the sound a little more hardness. And these aforementioned pedals can be found for OK prices I suppose when they are bought used. But there are a few options for new compressors that don’t break the bank and they all sound very good. Try the Joyo JF10 (Ross imitation), the Caline Pressure Tank (Diamond Compressor imitation), and the Moore Yellow Comp (Diamond Compressor imitation) for great compressor pedals on a budget. Expect free shipping. The Caline Hot Mushroom is a Dyna Comp emulation that’s been discontinued, but you may get lucky and find one. Or give the Biyang CO10 a listen for a Dyna Comp emulation on a budget. THE HONORABLE MENTION PEDALS These pedal sounds are somewhat ubiquitous, possibly mundane, but can be very easy to find new or used. And often at a great price. Try the local pawn shop. These are the overlooked orphans who come in and out of style. It never hurts to branch out into other guitar sound territory. They are a lot of fun to play and they’re the old standards. Are these pedals mandatory to play metal or rock? No, they are not really needed. And many of them can be had brand span new for an excellent – sometimes unbelievable – price with free shipping. If you get a chance check out these pedals. Fuzz Pedal I covered a few fuzz pedals earlier so this is sort of a repeat. A fuzz pedal is a type of distortion pedal but it’s not usually meant to be on all the time like an overdrive because it’s more of an effect. That’s not to say people haven’t used them always-on in a very small amount to accent their amplifier distortion. Listen to the album Are You Experienced by Hendrix to get an idea of the range of uses. Fuzz sounds span from the extreme to the more extreme, and none of them are mandatory to play metal or rock guitar. The Fuzz Face was and still is quite popular and to purchase an original is quite expensive. There are modern renditions of this pedal from many manufacturers. The fOXX Fuzz (my favorite old school fuzz) was cool in the day and there are modern renditions of this one too – try the Danelectro 3699 or the Fuxx Fuzz by Tone City. Big Muff is still popular and there are emulations like the Fuzz Star by Biyang and the Vintage Distortion by Behringer. Picking out a fuzz pedal is simply a matter of taste. Unfortunately fuzz pedals haven’t really changed (that I’ve heard) since about 1970. But if I were going to get one of the more modern fuzz pedals my favorite is the Supersonic Fuzz Gun made by Death by Audio – it’s strange but cool and I haven’t heard anyone using it that I can think of. It offers many sonic variations and it even has that old voltage-starved transistor fuzz sound. This pedal is over $250.00 USA so start saving before the price goes even higher. Phaser Pedal The Phase 90 by MXR is probably the one that everyone thinks of when considering a phase pedal. It is heard on many great recordings from many different musical genres. I’m not really a phaser pedal kind of guy, but give these lower priced options a listen and see what you think compared to the more expensive options. There’s the JF-06 Vintage Phase by Joyo, the Summer Orange by Tone City, the Ninety Orange by Mooer, and the PH10 Phaser by Biyang. Chorus Pedal The Boss CE-2 chorus pedal was a big hit in the day. I used mine for hours just toying with the settings. It was cool. And then Boss came out with a stereo version and many guitarists used two thunderous amps and cabs and a light pedal setting for that giant big- hair 1980s arena sound. There are so many chorus pedals available now, both used and new, as to be dizzying. But the Boss is still a favorite. However, for chorus on a budget I like the Angel Wing by Tone City. It just sounds really good to me and the price is right. Other really good ones are the JF37 Chorus by Joyo, the Ensemble Chorus by Mooer, and the CH10 Chorus by Biyang. Give them a listen and see what you think. Flanger Pedal The Boss BF-3 is probably the flanger pedal by which all others are judged. To get a cool sound use it on a clean guitar setting. The Analog Flanger by ISET has a great sound, it’s mono only, but the price is unbelievably low – around $30 USA and often with free shipping. The Ultra Flanger UF100 by Behringer and the BF-2 Flanger by ENO are both worth a listen too. Tremolo Pedal If you enjoy that old Fender amp tremolo effect then you may enjoy these pedals; the sound is reminiscent of 1960s garage bands. Phoenix Wings by Movall is an excellent choice at $35 USA with free shipping. It’s a mini pedal that’s got the old fashion amp tremolo plus it has a switch for square wave type of manipulation for bump- stock rapid fire volume effects. Be a big hit at drunken late night parties; point your distorted guitar at inanimate things and pretend it’s a machine gun. Or maybe not. Delay/Echo Pedal Delay pedals have come a long way since the early bucket brigade types that smeared the sound into obscurity. They were great fun for the time. The Boss DD2 Delay is a digital improvement over the old analog pedals. However, the DDT-3 by Boss is my favorite for a portable and great sounding echo that doesn’t break the bank too much. Nowadays we’ve got some other serious contenders in the delay department. If price is no object give the Timeline Delay Pedal by Stryman a listen, or if you prefer a tape style of delay check out the El Capistan by Stryman. The Carbon Copy Analog Delay by MXR has a decent price although it utilizes bucket brigade technology. Don’t forget to look for a delay pedal that offers tap tempo if you’d like to match the echo to the drummer or situation. This is a nice feature for playing live. There are some other affordable contenders like the DD400 by Behringer, or the JF08 Digital Delay by Joyo or the Aquarius by Joyo, the Reecho by Mooer, and the CP-17 by Caline, and all of these do a pretty good job of digital delay. For a special treat check out the Island by Donner. This offering is a great stereo delay/echo pedal, it even has a reverse function, and it comes with loop delay so you can play guitar along with yourself. At $65 USA or less, brand new, and free shipping it’s a steal. And are you tired of the same old delay sounds? For a real ride check out the pedal called the Habit by Chase Bliss Audio. This pedal is part surf band, part electronica, part Frankenstein fever dream, and it’s as colorful to hear as it is to behold. It will give you the bizarre and unexpected delay complexity you never knew you needed. This pedal has lots of sound options. Super cool. Or try the Tera Echo TE-2 by Boss for some interesting whooshy echo that I don’t think I’ve ever heard before – it’s an excellent pedal that most people have ignored for some reason. Buy one before the price goes crazy. Reverb Pedal The RV-6 Reverb by Boss is my favorite reverb pedal quickly followed by the Marine Layer by Fender. I really like the dreamy lush pads (reverb sounds) available. TC Electronic with their Hall of Fame 2 is another good reverb pedal choice. Blue Sky by Strymon is an excellent choice, although at over $450.00 USA it’s quite expensive. For the budget minded player the Spring Reverb by Mosky has a digital answer to the old guitar amp spring reverb types, it comes in a mini pedal size, and it can be had very inexpensively. If you like the old combo amplifier spring reverb tanks you may like it. Or give a listen to the Atmosphere by Joyo for cool reverb at about $90 USA. Also, check out the Wonderland by Caline and also the Marina by Caline. Both of these have some modern reverb sounds and either one can be had for around $50 USA with free shipping. YMUZE by Mosky Audio is also a nice reverb pedal addition at a rock bottom $35 USA and free shipping. For some reason it has a UPC code for artwork. Mine is not to reason why... Wah-Wah Pedal I really like the sound of the original Cry Baby wah-wah. The first time I heard a wah-wah being played by Hendrix I had to have one. I had no idea what pedal he was using so I went to a local music store and explained the sound and they sold me one made by the Thomas Organ Company. I still have it – and it still sounds good. Later I bought one by fOXX with the built in fuzz. Wah-wah is great fun – try one. Swiss Army Knife Pedals There are many pedals that do multiple things, but I thought this one deserved special attention. This pedal is called the Multimod by Caline and fits into many categories so it doesn’t really fit anywhere in particular. This one’s got pitch shift, tremolo, vibrato, chorus, flange, phaser, and doubler. And all of them sound pretty good. For about $50 USA and free shipping it’s a steal. Another pedal that deserves mention for strange modulation sounds is the Marshmallow by Alexander Pedals. It’s bizarre and fun, so give one a listen. If you prefer harmonizer tones check out the H9 by Eventide – it’s even got that popular 1990s kind of guitar doubling sound and a bunch of other cool harmonizer effects. And there’s always the Miku Stomp by Korg. I think this one gets a lot of attention just because it’s so weird – the sounds are synth-like but I’m not so sure where I’d use something like this. Oh well. Roland MMP-2 This is another one – a super secret weapon – and I saved it for last. It doesn’t really fit into this list but I felt it had to be mentioned. Imagine having a choice of microphones to record your guitar like the SM57, C3000, an old vintage Neuman, or a new Neuman condenser. Now imagine running this stereo (or mono) signal through a very accurate and clean EQ (if needed) and then into your choice of a solid state or 4 different professional studio vintage tube compressors. Now imagine later running this guitar signal into your choice of many stereo pre-amps including a tube Focusrite, a tube Avalon, a solid state Avalon, a Manley, or even a Crane Song (Lion King mastering session anyone?). Now take this beautiful pristine guitar signal and massage it in your DAW. That’s what this Roland MMP-2 is like. Setup your rig, connect this between your microphone and your DAW and begin recording. The Roland MMP-2 was discontinued years ago for some reason and they are being ignored and can be found for cheap. I was at a recording session and compared the MMP-2 head-to-head against an original Avalon tube pre-amp – the Roland won. It was cleaner and quieter than the Avalon but still had the same bold warm Avalon sound. Why bother purchasing the real vintage gear or the imitation plug-ins? The Roland MMP-2 already contains the vintage sounds. I just saw a Roland MMP-2 for sale used with free shipping for $135 USA. That’s a bargain verging on insanity. Buy one before everybody figures it out. Don’t touch that dial… Stay tuned next time… Congratulations. You made it to the end of the pedal section. Next we’ll cover the stacking of pedals and begin the actual recording of the monster guitars. Later we’ll talk about getting the different recorded sounds – and maybe some you’ve never heard. Of course, if the creek gets high, we’ll discuss building stilts for pedal boards. In the end we’ll cover the two main camps or schools of thought for the studio techniques of recording metal and rock guitar, gear use, old tricks, modern and popular tricks, and maybe a few you never tried. And we’ll have fun. Maybe I’ll see you then. I wish youth came a little later in life. Knowledge, art, and music for all…

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