Kick Out the Jams: How to Make Your Delay Pedal Work for You - Ex. 1
Issac Hale and Nicko Calderon show off their custom-shop 7-string Ibanez beasts that were requested for the You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To tour.
Fishman Fluence introduces the Mick Thomson Signature Series pickup set, offering three distinct voices in both the bridge and neck pickups.
Mick Thomson is known for being one of the driving forces of Slipknot, one of the biggest metal bands in the world. Unafraid of new technology and forging new paths, Mick has been exploring innovative and groundbreaking gear throughout his entire career. Enter Fishman Fluence, with its ability to deliver the highest form of multiple voicings within the same pickup. Not only is Fluence technology able to deliver the greatest version of Mick's signature tones, but his new pickup set encapsulates everything that he’s been searching for throughout his career. The wide array of tones available from this set spans the entire range of aggressive lead and rhythm tones to the purest rock tones, plus the addition of exceptional single coil capability.
The first voice in the bridge pickup is Mick’s signature tight, active bridge humbucker tone, while Voice 2 delivers a refined hot and punchy passive humbucker sound. A glassy, crystal-clear single coil tone is the third voice giving the bridge pickup three distinct but musically complimentary voices.
The neck pickup features a Voice 1 that’s thick and fluid, and a Voice 2 that offers sweet “vintage plus” passive humbucker tone with added low mid punch. Like the bridge humbucker, the neck pickup incorporates a third voice that puts out vintage, but quiet, single-coil neck tone.
To achieve the voicings that Mick needed, Fishman employed a new custom hybrid magnet design.
"My pickups were tuned in a studio and then tested on the road and then tuned a little bit more. The end result being both musical and face-melting,” states Mick Thomson.
“Extra attention was given to the low mids to keep it big but tight. Voiced to cut through a mix but never be shrill. Just could not be happier with how they turned out."
The pickups are available as a 6-string set and come in a matte black nickel finish, personally chosen by Mick. Street price in the U.S. is $289.95 for the set.
For more information, please visit fishman.com.
Fishman Fluence Mick Thomson Signature Series Pickup Set - Black
Fluence Mick T PU Set, BlkThe durable but often maligned overdrive has thrived for more than 30 years. And not just on shredders’ pedalboards. Here’s why.
With over a million produced, the MT-2 Metal Zone is Boss’s second-most-popular overdrive ever—a significant accomplishment, considering Boss pedals have been ubiquitous for decades. I’ve got two Metal Zones. But, much like the late Rodney Dangerfield, the Metal Zone often “don’t get no respect.”
My first Metal Zone was simply abandoned at a guitar camp I taught at. Despite efforts to find its owner, it was never reclaimed. The second one was part of a package deal where the seller must have been getting rid of what he considered his undesirables: a Boss BF-2 with a faulty power-supply jack that only works with batteries, a Boss BCB-60 pedalboard with foam that stinks and is filled with irremovable allergens or something that always makes me itchy, and a perfect-condition Metal Zone—all for a mere 35 bucks.
But somehow, over the decades, the Metal Zone got a bad rap. The endless hordes of preteens that butchered “Crazy Train” through a Metal Zone at their local Guitar Center probably didn’t help. Even with a new Waza Craft edition in Boss’s lineup, things haven’t changed much. If you read an internet discussion of the Metal Zone, you’re guaranteed to find someone boldly commenting that it sounds like “buzzing bees.”
Likewise, if you search “Boss Metal Zone” on YouTube, the first thing that comes up is Ola Englund’s “Boss Metal Zone—Worst Distortion Pedal Ever?” video, which currently has over 3.5 million views. You’ll also see “What’s the Worst Pedal Ever? Boss Metal Zone Pedal, Demo” by Marty Schwartz, a famed YouTuber with over four million subscribers. And there are many more videos along the same lines. But if you dig deeper, you’ll find that despite those derisive, clickbait titles, many Metal Zone videos actually praise the little demon. And with good reason!“What immediately grabs my attention is its ridiculous sustain; for soloing, the pedal makes legato licks feel fluid and easy to play.”
When the Metal Zone first came out in 1991, it was literally the hottest piece of gear in the guitar world. It was the undisputed star of a stompbox shootout of 29 pedals in the October 1992 Guitar Player. The magazine’s editors proclaimed: “We knew the Metal Zone was a hot item when we couldn’t keep our test sample long enough to photograph it. The store we borrowed it from had sold it and was back-ordered 50 units.” The story was followed by comments like, “This thing starts off where others leave off,” “Mind-blowing. Never heard so much bass,” “Definitely a must-have,” and “Totally sick!” The shootout concluded with “The Boss Metal Zone easily grabbed top metal honors. Its absolutely fierce sounds make the $139.50 price tag [editor’s note: list price] seem like a deal.”
If you’ve used one before, you’ll likely agree—this silicon-driven, two-stage-clipping circuit is a really badass pedal! What immediately grabs my attention is its ridiculous sustain; for soloing, the pedal makes legato licks feel fluid and easy to play. For sharp and percussive metal rhythms, the Metal Zone also kills. With its massive bottom end, it has given me heavier sounds than I’ve gotten with more expensive pedals or high-gain amps.
The Metal Zone has more tone-shaping options than many other dirt pedals. There are six controls crammed into the space of four. In addition to the level and distortion knobs, the EQ dials are dual-function concentric—high and low, and mid freq and middle, which boosts or cuts the frequency you have the mid freq set to. Some players enjoy using the Metal Zone as a preamp, straight into the effects loop. Others put it between the guitar and amp. However you fire it up, if you invest time into fine-tuning the settings for your needs, you’ll be greatly rewarded.
If you’re a hard-rock or metal player, the Metal Zone is a no-brainer. Pro players like Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil and Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine have used the Metal Zone. But it’s also surprisingly versatile—even Prince used one! Despite its name, it can convincingly get into mid-gain overdrive territory, and with the distortion knob around 9 o’clock, it’s pretty touch sensitive.
At only $99 new—$50 more for the Waza version—and, if you’re lucky, maybe $20 or so used, the Metal Zone is incredibly undervalued. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Metal Zone makes its way back to the top of the pedal pyramid some day. Guitar players are notoriously fickle and tend to be very impressionable. It just takes something as simple as one artist association and the tide can turn for any piece of gear. The Marshall ShredMaster became a cult classic simply because it was used by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. Maybe if John Mayer uses a Metal Zone the next time he covers “Panama,” it will again reign supreme.