Sick of fiddling with my sound

[divine_torture]

I have a Marshall MG100HDFX head runiing into a Raven RG412 cabinet. I use a Digitech Death metal distortion pedal. That's it. But no matter what I try it doesn't seem to get quite heavy enough. When it does, there's too much feedback. Anyone got an idea? (Heavy as in really fuckin crunchy death metal. But not so the notes all mesh together.)

 

[cannibal corpse]

I have my treble at 10 on pedal, 8 on amp, have my mids at 8 on pedal and 4.5 on amp; and I have my bass at 8 on pedal and 8 on amp. Distortion at 10. Sounds all right to me. Try it out.

 

[ParsonsMatt]

"I have a bunch of really shitty gear and it sounds shitty. What can I do to make it better?"

In this order:
a) Throw away the Raven 412, and get either a Marshall 1960A cab or a Mesa Rectifier cabinet. You can get them used on Craigslist for around $350-450
b) Throw away the Digitech pedal and the Marshall MG100 head. Save up and buy a good amp head.

Here are some good amp heads for fairly cheap. All prices are used.
- Peavey 6505/5150: $400-650
- Ampeg VH140C: $200-400
- Mesa Single Rectifier: $700-900
- Mesa Mark III: $600-800
- VHT Deliverance 60: $800-1000
- ENGL Fireball: $800

 

[TomAwesome]

You're only going to be able to do so much with a rig like that. Get one of the amps Matt suggested, or if those amps/cabs are out of your price range, a modeling amp will probably still sound better than what you've got now.

 

[divine_torture]

I'm hoping to get a Peavey 5150. That's the only head with the exact sound I want. But til then thanks for the advice. I just play. I don't know how any of the stuff works. I'd never planned on getting a stack either. But this junk is what I have for now so I'll make do. Or win the power ball.

 

[sk8ordie97]

get rid of the digitech . I ABSOLUTELY HATE THAT PEDAL. go buy a multi rffects board, or go by boss metalzone

 

[panzerfaust666]

what is the distortion set at one the amp?

 

[viewerfromnihil]

the distortion on the amp sounds better than the distortion on the pedal and the amps distortion is not really good in any way

 

[Vacant_Planets]

"I have a bunch of really shitty gear and it sounds shitty. What can I do to make it better?"

In this order:
a) Throw away the Raven 412, and get either a Marshall 1960A cab or a Mesa Rectifier cabinet. You can get them used on Craigslist for around $350-450
b) Throw away the Digitech pedal and the Marshall MG100 head. Save up and buy a good amp head.

Here are some good amp heads for fairly cheap. All prices are used.
- Peavey 6505/5150: $400-650
- Ampeg VH140C: $200-400
- Mesa Single Rectifier: $700-900
- Mesa Mark III: $600-800
- VHT Deliverance 60: $800-1000
- ENGL Fireball: $800

haha, too true, you're less likely to find one of these but I have an old Flextone 2 head....great sound - ran through a peavey just as old too. whole thing cost me 550$.

 

[divine_torture]

I personally like the pedal's distortion over the amps. I plan on getting an effects pedal soon. Being poor is a hurdle though. Ha. And the metal zone doesn't quite have the filth i want. I'm so picky, yet so uneducated and without the finances to be picky.

 

[EerieVon]

get a better cab and use a noise gate to control the noise coming from the death metal pedal

 

[Dead Winter]

For a monster sound, get exactly this:

Peavey 6505+ (clean's a bit better)
Marshall 1960A cab
Ibanez Tube Screamer
Boss Digital Delay
Boss Noise Suppressor
Boss EQ

If you wanna combine all the effects in one, get the Boss GT-8.

You're set. Any more distortion than that and you're using it to cover up mistakes, not color your sound.

You also should remember that you'll hardly ever find your sound like your favorite cds...those are run through thousands of dollars' worth of mixing and mastering to get that great, perfect crunch.

 

[divine_torture]

Yeah I'd love to have a great rig like that. But I just don't have the pocket for it. Maybe one day. And I never thought about how they get the crunch. Maybe that's partially why I'm so unsatisfied.