I'm in the market for a distortion pedal. I have an older Peavey Bandit and don't plan to upgrade for a while. It caught my attention that the Peavey Bandit was used by Dismember in combination with a with an HM-2 on their earlier stuff before they got better amps. They still use an HM-2. It is/was also used by other Swedish acts. In flames for example used it in combination with a MT-2 on slaughter of the soul. Entombed also used it. Anyone have experience with this pedal?

How well can this pedal pull off a buzz saw BM tone? I'm a fan of the looser buzzing sound, but will it work for BM? It seems like having everything dimed on it is the norm. Is it basically a 1 tone pedal? Will it sound like shit with out an EQ pedal? Or could I perhaps just EQ it with my amp. Although I'd like buzz saw tone I'm not really interested in it being brutal at the same time.

Excuse all the questions. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find one in my area to try out, so I'll have to make a blind purchase. At least since I'll be getting it used I can resell it for the amount as long as I don't get don't get ripped of with a broken one. There also seems to be quite a bit of conflicting information on it (not just due to differing opinions I'm guessing, but there is supposedly an other version inferior to the Japanese one).

Feel free to make other suggestions. I've tried the Metal Muff, while a good pedal, it seems more ideal for thrash than BM. I've also tried the MT-2, which makes me hesitant on the HM-2, since I'm not a fan of the tin can sound. Maybe a Line 6 pod would be a good idea? I'm not a fan of their spider amps.

In my opinion it is not very suitable for Black Metal, the lows and high sound as if there occurs clipping before they get distorted. More suitable for a thick buzzsaw tone of early Swe-Death. Still it will sound muddy. I should have some rehearsal recordings with the pedal.

[Edit] I have found the recording. I will upload it later on.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/j79r5x

Bass + Guitar one of our early recordings. Guitar is plugged into Boss HM-2 and Marshall JCM-800. It took a lot of effort to dial in even that kind of guitar tone. The sound is really crappy in my opinion.

Thanks a lot for the reply. Makes me seriously think there must be a better option out there for me. Do you know if it was the version made in Taiwan or Japan by chance?

Japanese Version. Released in 1984. The components are due to wear out with time, that might also be a reason. You might fin Boss MZ-2 and HM-3 more suitable for vintage Buzz-saw sound.

No one caught this yet?

Can't really speak for the HM-2 or MT-2 as I've yet to try them, although I do agree, the Metal Muff is not what you'd want in this situation.

Oops. Meant At The Gates. If anyone cares they used the distortion mainly from the mt-2 and the hm-2 for the palmed muted crunch. The MT-2 does have a fucked up "click" sound for palmed muted notes.

For BM, use something less chunky. You're right, the Hm-2 is THE Swedish Death Metal machine, but black metal, it aint. I would say pedal-wise, use a Metalzone pedal. It will give you the high-end that you need. If you are running it through a Bandit, you'll be fine. I would suggest these settings.

Bass: 10 o-clock
Mid: 11 o-clock
High: 2:30ish

crank the gain on the amp high while keeping it in the clean channel.

With the pedal, use a similar setup, though you'll have to adjust as necessary, and since I haven't used a Metalzone in over 6 years, I really can't remember an exact setting.

I managed to get quite a good Black Metal sound from this pedal during today's rehearsal. Will post some material later.

Setup :

Marshall JCM-800 (vintage, not reissue)

Presence - 0 , Bass - 4, Mid - 6 , Trebe - 4, Master - 2, Pre Amp - 6, Input - High.

BOSS HM-2



I played Jackson Dinky equipped with EMG-HZ PU's.

http://rapidshare.com/files/215069945/D ... led__2.mp3

The sound is thick yet warm and not buzzy. Due to rolled back highs I feel there is not enough crunch at times.

Same set up, non metal stuff :

http://thehellpatrol.googlepages.com/Piece1.mp3
http://thehellpatrol.googlepages.com/Piece2.mp3
http://thehellpatrol.googlepages.com/Piece3.mp3

I have no problem getting a good+clear tone for death metal using a Peavey Special 212 (Transtube), not sure how that compared to the Bandit though.

Digitech Metal Master works well for a black metal tone, especially in conjunction with a tube screamer.