HELP! MR settings for CRUSHING metal

I have had a pretty easy time getting good rock tone from the MR, but I am really struggling to get a crushing metal tone. It has plenty of gain, especially in Modern. But I tend to wind up with flubby low end, even with Bass and Mid turned down. And fizzy highs as well. I'm using a vertical 2x12 recto cab. I have a OD808 and BB Pre if required.

Any suggestions?

Red or orange channel
Presence: 10 o'clock
Master: 1 o'clock
Gain: 2 o'clock
Bass: 9 o'clock
Mid: 10 o'clock
Treble: 1 o'clock

Bold, Hi Power (solid state rectifier)

Most importantly, run your 808 boost in front. It's hard to not get a great metal tone with a good boost. The BB preamp, IMO, is a better overall pedal, but the 808 is a good place to start for a metal tone. Run the gain on the pedal minimally, tone flat, and give it a good clean volume boost into the amp. If you're not using EMGs, you'll want a noise gate in the effects loop.

Turn it up, should sound awesome.

desertdweller said:

Red or orange channel
Presence: 10 o'clock
Master: 1 o'clock
Gain: 2 o'clock
Bass: 9 o'clock
Mid: 10 o'clock
Treble: 1 o'clock

Bold, Hi Power (solid state rectifier)

Most importantly, run your 808 boost in front. It's hard to not get a great metal tone with a good boost. The BB preamp, IMO, is a better overall pedal, but the 808 is a good place to start for a metal tone. Run the gain on the pedal minimally, tone flat, and give it a good clean volume boost into the amp. If you're not using EMGs, you'll want a noise gate in the effects loop.

Turn it up, should sound awesome.

Click to expand...

Do EMGs have less noise? I have to use a noise gate regardless of pickup in modern.

desertdweller said:

Red or orange channel
Presence: 10 o'clock
Master: 1 o'clock
Gain: 2 o'clock
Bass: 9 o'clock
Mid: 10 o'clock
Treble: 1 o'clock

Bold, Hi Power (solid state rectifier)

Most importantly, run your 808 boost in front. It's hard to not get a great metal tone with a good boost. The BB preamp, IMO, is a better overall pedal, but the 808 is a good place to start for a metal tone. Run the gain on the pedal minimally, tone flat, and give it a good clean volume boost into the amp. If you're not using EMGs, you'll want a noise gate in the effects loop.

Turn it up, should sound awesome.

Click to expand...

Ils mini recto.... So , Modern setting and 25w mod.

That Settings CAN be a good starting point but I'll say start with everything in th middle ( 5 on 10) and work your tone form there.

You don't really need the tube screamer, you can get decent tone w/o it.

Can I ask what guitar, string size and pickup you use?

Thanks for the help! I have never been a good tone-tweaker, and setting up the amp for really heavy has been tricky.

I'm using a couple of 7-strings, with D'Addario XL110-7 strings and passive pups. One (J Custom RG7) has an Evolution in the bridge and is mahogany with a maple veneer, and a maple/rosewood neck. The other (Ibanez RG7620) has Blaze pups (pretty much a PAF) and probably basswood with maple/rosewood neck.

I did try everything at noon and work from there. I have had the knobs all over the place, but am still struggling. I did find some of the settings in the manual to be very nice for rock, but I want CRUSHING. I played an acquaintance's ENGL preamp through a 2:100, and it was CRUSHING. Super tight, lots of gain, plenty of low end. I want pinch-harmonics for days and heavy chug with lots of definition.

desertdweller said:

Red or orange channel
Presence: 10 o'clock
Master: 1 o'clock
Gain: 2 o'clock
Bass: 9 o'clock
Mid: 10 o'clock
Treble: 1 o'clock

Click to expand...

Works really well with and without the OD808. I found the gain control to be really touchy. A little change goes a long way. Way better then where I was. A bit fizzy on high notes, but I'm also playing quietly tonight - kids have school in the morning. I'll have to crank it tomorrow.

try the JJ power tubes, there get ya more low end over the stock, I would retube everything if have the cash. I use all mogami cables, 12 g 3ft speaker cable gibson les paul and my SG sound great even with the 112 no flab at all. I run the gain at 2 or so, ya gotta tinker with everything including your pups also

Ken, thanks for your comments.

I was told recently that Mesa tubes come from Europe, which would make them from the same factory as JJ's. I would not rule out a tube change, but this is not a subtle issue. I'm not even close.

I doubt it is a cable issue, as I use quality cables. Based on my experience, it is learning to set the knobs. Everything is very sensitive, so a little change goes a long way. The settings recommended by desertdweller were not very different from the ones I had, but the tone is quite a bit different.

This is like real work :shock:

all good, yeah the preamps are JJ but the powers are sovteks. For 20 bucks its worth it then keep the old ones for back up and good luck keep us posted. Just tried the EVH 50 watt I didnt really think it was much better over the mini and i had the mini set at 10 watts. EVH seems kinda thin at lower volumes but i didnt crank it loud but i could tell when I played with the volume it would become noisey!

Have you tried lots of volume ?

Seriously, most Rectifiers sound much tighter when played loud

Yes, and mine is no exception. I will try it loud tonight for sure.

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Played very LOUD tonight. Definitely different tone, and some hearing loss as well.

I found that the settings from desertdweller were a great start. A bit thin in my setup, and also lacking a bit in punch. Adding a bit of presence added punch. Adding bass was tricky. The mid control helped, but not enough, and the bass control tends to be more bad than good. Added a little of each, but am still not thrilled. Very useable, though. Wound up with:

Gain 2:00
Treble 1:00
Mid 11:00
Bass 9:30
Presence noon
I'm running the Master at about 8:00 on 25W and it's too loud. Excellent...

Thanks for the tips!

Any ideas on adding low end without making it mushy?

The sound guy in me will try to help you out here.

It's is possible for you to pull the amp about 2 foot from the wall? You will hear more reflection from the back on the cab ( very bassy sound ) coming back at you, find the sweet spot in your room.

Is there really much reflection from a closed cab?

yeah close back for more bass, my set up is usually gain at 2 to 3 o clock, treb at 2, mids 10 o clock, bass 2 o clock since it broken in now, presence at 10 o clock

D2dark said:

The sound guy in me will try to help you out here.

It's is possible for you to pull the amp about 2 foot from the wall? You will hear more reflection from the back on the cab ( very bassy sound ) coming back at you, find the sweet spot in your room.

Click to expand...

at my girls house i had my amp 2 feet from the sliding window, seem to have alot more bass over at her house. Mine is 4 feet away

I'll have to try placement. When I turn the bass up, it has little effect on the low end, but makes it muddy and takes away the clarity of muted notes. Turning up Mids has some effect, but not enough low end unless I dime it, and then the tone suffers.

I found that with the mini you need more gain for more low-end response. If you are running gain at 2:00 or lower you wont get that nice low-end chug. My experiences anyways...

How high would you recommend for gain to optimize chug?

3 o clock is good, for me max volume is 9 oclock or just pass that on the modern chn.