User reviews: Boss MT-2 Metal Zone

07/28/11

iamqman's review "Garbage"

With an increase in metal players with more access to gear Boss decided to make a follow up to the Boss Hm-2. The pedal was just a few years before the release of the Boss Hm-3. This pedal had a better distortion that translated into a more smooth gain which was a little better than the Boss HM-2 and the Boss Hm-3. This pedal also featured a three band EQ which enabled it to get a better control over the frequencies used. To date this has been the most successful metal pedal put out by Boss and one of Boss's most successful pedals of all time.

Version Differences

There are 3 main versions of the MT-2. The opamps used have changed over time and the colour of the text has changed slightly.

Version 1: All chips M5218AL, text colour orange

Version 2: IC1,2,4 M5218AL and IC3 NJM4558L, text colour orange with "more blue"

Version 3: IC1,2,4 NJM14558L and IC3 NJM4558L, text colour orange with "more blue"

Utilization

Specifications

Controls: Level, Equalizer (Low, Middle, High), Dist.

Connectors: Input, Output, AC Adaptor

Current Draw: 20 mA (DC 9V)

Weight: 410 g (15 oz.)

Recommended AC Adaptor: PSA Series

Sound Quality

Well just because it was the smoothest distortion of the Boss Hm2- and the Boss Hm-3, that doesn't mean that it sounds good. This pedal sounds like garbage. The tone is just horrendous. It is beyond me why someone would think that this pedal sounds good. I know there are a lot of metal heads out their and me being one but come on this pedal sound like trash. The tone is thin and metallic sounding at best. The control are easy but if the sound is terrible then it is like polishing a turd. You can polish it all you want but its still a turd. I am a fan of Boss and Roland gear because they manufacturer budgeted products for the consumer and their keyboard are some of the best in the business and of course they have the best clean tone amp in the world. Many of their pedals are very user friendly and sound amazing in certain applications but this thing is just a nightmare to play. The tone if you can call it that is just terrible!

Overall Opinion

At new you can find these pedals right at around $99. Way too much money for the sound that this thing makes. It really is a terrible sounding pedal no question about it. I would get a BLackstar distortion pedal if you need something that is over the top but also sounds good to listen to.

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05/01/11

King Loudness's review "Good for metal tones on a budget."

Characteristics

The Boss Metal Zone was designed to basically offer the tones of a very high gain amplifier stack like a Peavey 5150 or Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, but in their classic and compact stompbox format. It features level and gain controls, as well as two dual mode equalization controls, one controlling lows and highs, the other controlling midrange and midrange frequencies. It is housed in Boss' standard compact pedal enclosure, with 4 knobs (the two EQ controls feature concentric pots). It runs on either a 9 volt battery or on Boss' standard PSA adapter.

Utilization

Setting up tones with this pedal is very simple. It's designed to be a very extreme sounding distortion right from the get-go, so you know right away the type of tone you are going to get out of this pedal for the most part.

The level knob controls the overall output level you are hearing (turn it up for more, or down for less, very simple), the first EQ knob controls your low end (bass) frequencies as well as your high end (treble) frequencies. The second EQ knob controls your midrange amount as well as the frequency it sits in (more of a scooped sound or more of a boosted sound).

Sound Quality

I've tried many different versions of this pedal through the years. They're very nice for a young musician who wants a metal tone on a budget. At the time that I owned/used these I was looking for a very classic metal sound like that of Metallica or other thrash metal bands. This pedal works well for that type of high octane tone, though it doesn't come even close to the sound of a good high gain tube amp like the 5150 or Recto. I preferred to boost the mids slightly so that I could be heard within the mix of a band, but still get enough cutting chunky tones out of it as well.

It tended to sound better when I was using higher output pickups like EMGs or Seymour Duncan Invaders. However, since I don't play that sort of metal music any more, those pickups are not something I use. As a result I don't think the MT2 would work for the type of gain tone I go for nowadays, which is more of a classic hard rock vibe.

Overall Opinion

All in all I feel that the Boss MT2 is a good pedal for someone on a budget who is looking for a classic metal sound. It's not recommended for someone who knows great tube amp tone, because it will almost certainly fall short, but for a sub $100 pedal it does an okay job at capturing a slice of molten metal tone.

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04/28/11

denied's review "Not Great"

Characteristics

- Controls for Volume, highs, lows, high mids, low mids, drive

- Solid construction, components.

- Powered by either 9v battery or 9v (-) adapter, standard Boss style

- Easy access battery compartment

- Bright red LED

- Buffered bypass

Utilization

Pretty standard pedal setup, input, output, footswitch, power.

Controls for volume and distortion are likewise easy to setup. The 4 band EQ is a little more unusual in a pedal, and can be difficult to dial in for people who aren't familiar with it. The manual is pretty good about providing starting points for various genres and sounds.

Pretty reliable as most boss pedals are. Never had any issues with it.

Sound Quality

There isn't a whole lot of leeway, the MT2 is definitely a metal guitarists pedal. It CAN be coaxed into producing more of a hard rock sound, but that isn't really what it was designed to do.

Overall, the sound is a little thin and fizzy. This can be capitalized on to achieve a very particular form of distortion, but it definitely doesn't have the bottom end that a lot of heavy music requires.

I've found that placing a graphic EQ pedal directly after the Metal Zone can really bring it to life through a little fine tuning. I've also heard great things about the Keeley and Monte Allums mods for it.

Keep in mind it uses the standard Boss buffer which doesn't do great things to your bypassed signal.

Overall Opinion

This pedal definitely has a bad reputation among guitarists and the online music community. To be fair, a lot of this has to do with beginners who run it through cheap digital amps that don't take pedals well at all.

But that aside, its not the best pedal out there. It is definitely no replacement for a good high gain channel.

This was the first pedal I bought many years back, and would have probably made a different choice had I been exposed to different options. In my opinion it just isn't worth the money when you can get a digitech TL2 or used Barber Dirty Bomb for the same amount of money.

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04/07/11

Hatsubai's review "Awful sounding"

Characteristics

The Boss MT-2 is one of the more infamous pedals in the Boss line up, and I don't mean that in a good way. Boss set out to create a crazy "heavy metal" to cater towards the metal scene that was prominent at the time. It features a level knob, distortion knob and a three band EQ along with a mid-band knob to adjust the overall tone of the pedal.

Utilization

Boss actually did a really good job at throwing everything in there. It's housed in the famous Boss enclosures, so it'll withstand a nuclear bomb. That said, it also has a pretty bad FET bypass that sucks quite a bit of tone. The manual does a great job at describing what everything does, and first time users might want to glance it over considering this has a 3 band EQ that most people probably aren't used to.

Sound Quality

The sound of this pedal is famous for its poorness. Basically, this pedal sounds pretty bad. The distortion is very harsh and buzzy, and there's no real way of cleaning it up. It's so over the top and noisy that it's almost unusable. I have no clue what Boss was thinking of when they released this pedal. The only saving grace to this pedal is that there's a trick you can do -- Given that it has a three band EQ, you can actually use this as a parametric EQ to boost the amp like a lot of 80s players did back when the Furman PQ-3 was popular. That's actually not a bad way of running this pedal, and it can get some decent tones as it's acting more like an overdrive than a distortion pedal.

Overall Opinion

Aside from the trick of using this pedal as an EQ to boost the amp, I really can't recommend this at all. It sounds way too buzzy and fizzy to be of any real use. Most people who buy these are beginners who have no clue what they're getting themselves into. What's worse is they tend to run these things through solid state amps which just square waves the entire signal into some awful mush they call distortion. There are some modders out there that can make them sound good, but I honestly don't think it's worth messing with.

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04/01/11

darkwolf291's review "Sub-par distortion pedal."

Characteristics

This is a metal distortion pedal. It has a load of gain on tap, a distortion knob, and a four band EQ consisting of High, Low, Mid, and middle frequency. It has an input, an output, and a standard BOSS style center negative 9V DC jack.

Utilization

This pedal is easy to set up and easy to use. Set the EQ and gain to taste, the volume so it's equal at bypass and you're ready to riff. The manual is very clear on what knob does what.

Sound Quality

This pedal does not sound all that good. It's harsh, fizzy, thin, and muddy. There's not much you can do to make this pedal sound good at all. It's far too trebely. It's a grating, harsh, fizzy mess. It sounds like you've connected your guitar to a can of bees instead of an amp. The best way to describe the pedal is a buzz saw. It sounds like someone hooked up a buzz saw instead of a guitar to your amp. It sounds a lot like Dimebag's tone, which, in my opinion, is NOT a god thing. I am always unbiased when reviewing and never go on bandwagon. I am reviewing this based on my impression of it, and that is, this pedal is too harsh and fizzy.

Overall Opinion

This pedal is ok at best. There isn't much you can do to dial out the insane amount of treble present in the sound. THAT is it's big downfall. It's harsh and muddy. For $99, there are many better options for a metal pedal than this. $99 is far too much for what it is. If you wanna sound like a buzz saw, this is the pedal for you. If you wanna sound like Dimebag Darrel, this is the pedal for you. If you want a usable and good sounding metal distortion, steer clear. I would never buy this pedal again.

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03/16/11

glassjaw7's review "The road-tested, box of metal-Great platform for mods!"

Characteristics

The Boss MT-2 Metal Zone stomp box is a standard Boss enclosure with 6 knobs.

These controls include:

-Level

-High

-Low

-Middle

-Mid Frequency

-Dist

The pedal is powered by a standard 9 volt battery (which can easily be accessed by turning a simple thumb screw and opening the compartment under the "stomp" hatch) or a standard 9 volt adapter.

Utilization

Dialing in a useable sound can be a bit tricky, due to the fact that the pedal always retains a sort of "cocked-wah" type of sound, but thankfully the eq controls cover a LOT of ground so a desirable sound can usually be coaxed out of this unit.

More pedals should have this type of eq section. Being able to choose what mid frequency you like and then adjusting the amount of it really adds a whole other dimension to the usual distortion box layout!

Sound Quality

Here's where this unit falls a little short. Keep in mind I'm judging the sound quality of this pedal based on its performance against many other high end boutique units, as well as other cheaper production units such as Boss, MXR, etc.

As mentioned earlier, the eq section really lets you zone in on specific frequencies and dial in many different tones. The problem is that the basic distortion circuit and its overall tonal qualities are not the best compared to other units available. While there are tons of sounds available, I only found a couple settings really useable and convincing in a live environment.

That said, when dialed in properly for my rig, the Metal Zone produced a thick, sharp and tight Metal chug that was very present with a solid low end that never got messy, and nice mids. The only negative is that the high frequencies can sound little nasally. Everything from old-school thrash to Nu-Metal, and Modern "Djenty" tones can be achieved with this pedal. It just takes a little tweaking.

There are many modifications available for DIY'ers or from companies like Keeley, Analogman, Monte Allums, etc that clean up this pedal and open the sound up, making the distortion more natural and useable. It is a great modding platform!

Overall Opinion

As stated earlier, the only negative I can write about this unit is the average distortion tone and nasally character of the pedal. But the excellent eq controls and the fact that there are cheap modifications available make it a great pedal in my book.

It's been around for many years, and is the standard for heavy metal in a pedal. Buy one used for cheap and have fun!

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05/14/09

moosers's review

Characteristics

The Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is a distortion pedal designed for use with electric guitar. It has a 1/4 inch input and output and is powered by either a nine volt battery or by a nine volt power supply. It is not a rack mountable piece of gear because it is a stomp box.

Utilization

Like most Boss pedals, the configuration of the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is really easy to figure out. From left to right, it has parameters for level, two for EQ that each have two bands on them (high and low, and two middle frequencies) and then a knob of distortion. It is really easy to zoom in on whatever sound you might be after. The manual for the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is pretty complete and thorough, but really isn't necessary when trying to learn this pedal.

Sound Quality

The sound quality of the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is respectable and like the name states, is best suited for playing metal or hard rock music. It is a really thick and heavy sounding distortion and because of this is pretty one dimensional. If you have an amp that doesn't have distortion like me, you probably have been looking for that perfect distortion pedal for a while now, but unless you play mostly heavy metal this probably isn't it. Don't get me wrong, the sound quality of the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is clean and the distortion is big and heavy, but is really only suitable for one type of music. Being fair though, it doesn't really advertise to be anything more than that anyway.

Overall Opinion

I've been using the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone for about three years and while it is a good sounding pedal with a decent amount of parameters, I don't use it very often simply because I don't play the type of music that this pedal is intended for anymore. The price of this pedal makes it a very attractive option and I would encourage those interested in a distortion pedal in this price range to try out this pedal as well as some of the other pedals Boss and their competitors has to offer. All in all, the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is definitely worth a try for those who play harder rock and need a thick sounding distortion pedal.

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02/22/05

MGR/Steve's review "Boss MT-2 Metal ZonE Distortion PedaL"

Was about $84 when I bought it a few years back. I bought it, tried using it for a while, put it aside for about a year or so, took it out again to try out, then ended up selling it. ***I bet this review probably will or already has bad ratings on it, mainly because of "cool kids" and their sad music of today. ***READ ON***

Yeah, nothing really to put in here to be truely honest.

I don\'t see why Boss even put the mid range frequency and mid control knobs, the idiot kids who buy this piece of junk are just going to put them both at or about at 0 and boost their highs and lows to get the worst sounds ever! When you add in the mids and mid frequency, you realize, wow, what a piece of $hit! This pedal sounds horrible! You add the mids in and you get a nasaly over the top distortion. Even when you turn the distortion down, it\'s still sort of a lot of distortion. Word of advice, if you are some kid who buys this pedal because you think metal or punk is cool and boost the highs and lows and turn down the mids, take your family photos off the wall, all I can say is you are going to produce tons of rumble out your amp and whatever is on your walls in your little room is going to fall down and hopefully break. If you are into that rumbling distortion that sounds like crap, go right ahead and buy the piece of garbage. I hated the pedal, wished I didn\'t waste the $80-something on it, so I went and practically gave it away to this person I knew who played bass and guitar, hope he\'s having fun with it, because it\'s like a little pile of dog crap on the floor that produces sounds that sound like crap!

It\'s a Boss pedal, very reliable stuff. Unfortunately, these crappy little Metal Zone pedals will probably last longer and be on the market longer than the good distortion pedal will be around for, which is very, very sad. Let me say it again, very, very SAD!

You can\'t even get a decent crunch out of the pedal, all you can get is rumble and sound like a little 14 year old kid who just picked up guitar because \"it\'s cool\". BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE MANY KIDS WHO PICK UP GUITAR TO BE COOL, GIVE IT A REST \'FOREVER\', SELL OR GIVE AWAY YOUR CRAP AND NEVER PLAY GUITAR AGAIN! The only reason Boss has been making some of the $hittiest pedals I\'ve ever used, is because of the kids and the crappy music of today! Boss is now making pedals like the DS-2, the MT-2, and the MD-2 to sell and make loads of $ on idiot kids who want to play songs from the crap music of today! Boss makes good distortion pedals, the DS-1, the BD-2, and their overdrive pedals are really nice and transparent, you can get the sounds of a nice old tube stack using the DS-1, BD-2, SD-1, and OD-3, that\'s if you don\'t have a tube amp or head. Those 4 Boss distortion and overdrive pedals sound really good on solid state amps also. REAL MUSICIANS, GO FOR ONE OF THOSE FOUR PEDALS, EITHER THE DS-1, BD-2, SD-1, OR OD-3, if you are looking to get a good sounding pedal by Boss.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

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02/13/05

MGR/Music Man's review "Boss MeTaL ZonE Distortion PedaL"

I bought mine a few years ago and never really used it. I bought it for like $85 new

It\'s built pretty well and has a lot of EQ\'ing options, but they don\'t help you out too much with the way this pedal sounds.

I took this pedal back out of its box a month ago to try out, and it took me so long to dial in a decent ( <- key word there) sound. Boss really emphasized the mids way too much, it\'s mainly there because they knew anyone who\'s gonna buy the pedal wants to get that no mids at all sound and just boost the highs and lows to get that HUGE-$HIT distortion that covers up pathetic guitar playing. If you add in the mids, it sounds pretty bad, very nasaly no matter how you put the EQ\'s. I did dial in a decent sound, but it still wasn\'t what I wanted, so I sold the piece of junk to my friend for $40.

Boss makes very durable and long lasting pedals, too bad all of them don\'t sound good. They should try to make every pedal sound good and last for a while instead of just making long lasting but semi-decent sounding pedals. (that goes for the distortion pedals only) The only good Boss distortion pedal I like is the DS-1, because I play classic rock and it is PERFECT for classic rock!

Go ahead and listen to some of the idiot reviews here and on other websites, but believe me, most of the people who use this pedal and say it is good say that only because they get rid of or use little to no mids at all to get that \"nu-age\", rumble \"rock\" sound, which is PATHETIC and terrible!!! I won\'t even consider it as rock music because it isn\'t! The metal zone isn\'t Boss\'s worst distortion pedal, but one of their many bad sounding distortion pedals, it\'s down there with the DS-2 and the Mega Distortion pedal. I guess this is good for that new age sound, but if you are a real musician that plays real rock music, don\'t even waste your time by trying the metal zone out, it\'s crap.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

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01/20/05

MGR/Jason V.'s review "Boss MT2 Metal Zone"

Dont remember....I think about $150

I have owned the Metal Zone for about 6 years now. I play thru a Boogie 50 Calibur head with Boogie 4x12 Cabinet. I have Pros and Cons with this pedal:

Pros:

Ungodly rightous metal sound. And Justice For All\'ish sound. By clipping the mids and turning the high and low up a bit with the distortion set to 100% of course, its a great metal petal with killer bass. Chunk Chunk palm mutes bring a smile to everyones face everytime. Love adding some subtle delay to the tone to round it out a bit and also for lead.

Cons: Cannot be used for gigs or even band practice. The tone is just way too \"thin\" when cranked up. Now, maybe on a very powerful amp it would sound different. But on my setup you have to crank the amp to like 7 7 on the volumes to be heard and by that point the crispness of the tone is totally gone.

Solid.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

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Boss MT-2 Metal Zone

Boss MT-2 Metal Zone user reviews ( 6/10) - 171 user reviews