I know that there's no substitute for an actual amp, but since I'm usually more of a Marshall JCM 800 crunch, Vox clean to slightly dirty, & Fender clean kind of guy, Mesa-like ultra high gain isn't a sound I plan on using that often anyway. SO--for certain songs or passages, I just want something that can get me reasonably close to John Petrucci's Mark IIC+ sound on Images & Words, or maybe even some of his later stuff with the Mark IV. It doesn't have to be a perfect imitation--I'm just interested in acquiring a more American flavored, metal-sounding gain with good definition, and not muddy chugging death metal thrash stuff. Metallica's "Master of Puppets" is the most I need. I've already got the Wampler Pinnacle, along with several other MIAB pedals, including an original Marshall Guv'nor and Ramble FX Marvel Drive. I've been considering the Wampler Sovereign and the Triple Wreck. The Sovereign is somewhat close to the Pinnacle IMHO, but with more bottom end and slightly more gain. The Triple Wreck is really more than what I need in terms of gain, but some of the better demos (e.g. Brett Kingman and Jason Hobbs) show that it's good for more than just uber high gain rectifier metal---more versatile than I would have thought. My question is---with the Triple Wreck gain dialed back a bit, and the mids turned up (as opposed to scooped), can it approximate what I've described? Or, would the Sovereign maxed out with the boost on come closer? If there's another pedal suggestion, I'm all ears---it doesn't have to be a Wampler. I considered the Mesa Flux Five and Throttle Box EQ, but to my ears they don't sound any better than the Triple Wreck, cost more, and aren't as versatile.