36 wonderful minutes with the Boss Metalzone Waza

The Boss Metalzone is a misunderstood pedal. In this video we discuss why that is and how to approach it carefully to get some great sounds!
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[@sid35gb]

I had the original pedal in the 90’s I didn’t know anything about how to set it up I just set my amp to clean and tweaked the knobs until I got a sound I liked. I soon realised I could get any sound I like from bluesy crunch to any Metallica, pantera to 80’s metal sound I liked. I did notice that it required really small tweaks to get it where I liked it. As for those who hate this pedal that’s your loss😎🌶🌶

[@lucafelipe2347]

I guess I am kinda off topic but does anybody know of a good website to watch new series online ?

[@rileyeaston1207]

@Luca Felipe Flixportal =)

[@lucafelipe2347]

@Riley Easton Thank you, signed up and it seems like a nice service :D I really appreciate it!

[@rileyeaston1207]

@Luca Felipe Glad I could help :D

[@davidyoung8875]

did the same thing bro in 1991 when it first came out. any sound you want if you just take your time and tweak it. still have mine.

[@Mudd1429]

He's complaining about the spectrum of the mids, but I think this one of the best features of the Waza Metal Zone. You can really dial in a wide variety of great metal sounds and cover a huge range of metal genres. Literally every sound he made can be found in a classic metal album.

[@echoflame4279]

I love it for different genres of metal. One minute your waveform sounds more built for death metal and another minute you can dial in the dark atmospheric tones of black metal.

[@linadecaseleycarloss5838]

I bought a second hand one 11 yrs ago as a backup & now it permanently lives in front of my Marshall 6100. No, not in the FX loop (sounds better to me in front) & it has massively enhanced my sound. Bloody bargain back then at £40 :-) . Can't live without it!!!

[@mylogify]

I got it as a birthday gift from my mom yesterday loved it!

[@karemare6426]

I still have this pedal, and it's in daily use, literally. This is my distortion. I have it since around 2003. Never fails me.

[@mykneeshurt8393]

got mine in the 90's.. LOVE. IT.

[@patrickmcgee8556]

got mine in 91...still have it,still love it

[@andrewpardue3324]

this pedal is legendary among local metal guitarists where I am from in B.C. Canada 🇨🇦 . I bought mine in about 2005 from a pawn shop ( I wanted one way before that ) and I straight up love this pedal and always have ( I would love to have a Waza Craft 🏆 model as well 🙂) and I cannot understand why people don’t like this unit ! It is extremely adjustable! This is the only reason that comes to mind that makes any sense at all … in more modern times it’s hatred comes mostly from beginning players that just never took the time to dial it in ! It’s EQ is Far more than most distortion pedals that you just plug in an pin it to 10 on most settings. This is where most people make the mistake and tend not to like it … unless they take the time to dive deep with tweaking ( like I did ) I fell in love with this thing many years back it is a monster distortion pedal that can do amazing things with metal tones ! The EQ is crazy adjustable! The Metal Zone can take the place of a few different distortion pedals ! If you love metal guitar tones… Metal Zone Rules 👑 Do Not underestimate this unit ! 🤘🏻🔥💥😎🎸

[@Thearcherfl]

I love how the dog just got up, said “f the metal zone” and walked upstairs. Great vids though. Metal zone is a great petal now that I’ve been playing and setting up tones for 20 years. But when I was 16 all I did was crank it through the front of a cheap amp and didn’t know what to do. Thanks!

[@freezingCode]

I caved and bought this pedal last week. I just have an Orange CR60c, and it can do high gain pretty well, but there's a mid frequency that I was unable to dial out. I was going to buy an EQ pedal, but knew the EQ on the Metal Zone was bonkers, so I thought it'd be more fun going this route. No regrets. It sounds great.

[@christianutter5383]

10:26 - my new alarm clock sound

[@fooser77]

See my post ..

[@gregmerritt9366]

Looked like he was possessed.

[@iganpparamarta8813]

It reminds me of that guy from Police Academy, a gangster who shouts a lot, very 'violent', who's also a vegetarian.

[@jay2xtremefy]

What was that!?!?!?

[@DeathMetalGuitar]

LOL!!!! omg..... :P

[@Gio-tf9ee]

This is super helpful as I'm a beginner and now know some important stuff so thank you!. Ordered this pedal last night and honestly love the sounds you can make from it.

[@XF15DCC]

I went down and checked how I had mine set and went through it again. After some fine tuning I found a better sound. One thing to add that Boss might think about. A more in-depth manual on how to use the pedal.

[@axeslinger]

This was such an amazing video. The quality of production to in depth detailed discussions on the pedal and how it works and how to effectively use a parametric EQ. You explained it flawlessly. Well done. SUBBED.

[@Lustrum0005]

I like that it has so much range though, you can make lots of unique distortions, specially if you make experimental music

[@MessiahofFire]

Henning - "Nobody needs that much boost on the mids" Queens of the Stone age - "So we used a mid boost into the crunch channel of the amp with the mids maxed out, graphic eq in the fx loop for more mids, mid heavy speaker, mid heavy mic, and boosted the mids with the eq on the desk too". Realistically, it just depends what frequency you set it to: around 700-1500 that much of a boost can work. Though due to the cue of the mid knob, I'd say a better solution would just be to turn the treble and bass down instead.

[@ladyjulia4038]

This is the video ive always wanted. Thankyou so so much henning.

[@aaaargl]

That track in the beginning was much better than i expected! Very well done

[@klauswhitedreamer]

Wonderful video, thank you , you are right, it's all about the knowledge, how to set up this legendary pedal !

[@guyfromnj]

Boss should totally put Henning on the payroll as a consultant in my honest opinion. Brilliant video and take on the pedal. Well done sir! I hope they take your advice.

[@jloiben12]

“There are reasons why people think it’s a bad pedal.” True. There are people who don’t know how to set the pedal and way to many users of Boss’s second most sold pedal turn the gain to 11, scoop the mids, and get the bees in a jar sound. It is a shame when a pedal gets associated with the worst uses of the pedal. For very few pedals do we do that. Any pedal can sound bad if you butcher the settings

[@davidnuzzaci2459]

Thank you, I've got a Monte Aluums modified MT-2 that sounds exactly the same, none of my friends believe my recordings are real. You are wonderful!

[@DedMazaay]

Top notch video editing!

[@Laurence-TD]

See. You managed to put it after the power amp 😂. Love the review . Perfect as always

[@glezmen]

This was very enlightening, thanks :)

[@jameservin1067]

What is right is what sounds good to the person. That's my opinion. To me the mids sound really good. Thank you for the demonstration.

[@CentaurusRelax314]

Alright, Boss. It’s 2019. Start making pedals with a smaller foot switch so you have room for knobs and switches. [Edit: great. I typed that before reaching Henning’s comments about this very issue. But I’ve said this many times before, so I own it, okay?!]

[@Oilid]

Am I the only one who would buy a tech death metal album made by Henning?!?

[@kdog3980]

I totally would. That first track was amazing

[@Oilid]

@@kdog3980 ;)

[@mcinen67]

🤘😈

[@andrewpardue3324]

I’ve watched a number of his vids lately, you can tell he definitely knows guitars and gear. Shreds like a beast too! 🎸🔥🤯 This dude rips ! 🤘🏻🙂🤘🏻. That made me curious as to what it would sound like 🤔 yeah … Him and Ola Englund should do a full album or at least a jam track ! I’m sure it would be killer! 😎

[@DKStudiosful]

Very true. I didnt know how to sweep the mids for crappy frequencies when i bought a metalzone 20 years ago. Just picked up wazacraft one. Pretty awesome.

[@arnyarny77]

i play mine in FRONT of the amp it is a good analog pedal, but just like any pedal it has to be paired with the right amp

[@GOLDFISH817]

What amp

[@ShredShed]

The intro track that starts around 2 min is is awesome, well done Henning!

[@EytschPi42]

Thanks!

[@jfo3000]

Wore our my first Metal Zone, bought a second. Now I have an original and a Waza too. Great pedal, but yeah, I made some recordings with the box of bees sound before I figured it out. The Waza is awesome.

[@christineblack4654]

best pedal ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont know what sounds bad lol all the sounds you did sounded killer in there own rights. that's the cool thing, this pedal has always been soooo versitile I always loved it. I will get another one.

[@dsrecords22]

Best metal zone video ever

[@jeffmcmurray-badappleamps1729]

This is a great pedal with great tones, BUT it is a pain in the ass to set. I have found the sound I like and leave it there. I have owned it at least 20 times and sold it (Love hate relationship), but I always go back to one. The EQ is very much misunderstood by most, but when you find the sweet spot it’s perfect. I will say the custom setting on the WC pedal has really added a lot to this pedal. Good review.

[@josefrancisco6969]

Excelent review.

[@sawbonesquad4876]

I so want to see someone meme the hell out of your "can of bees" Metal Zone impression lol. Excited to try mine out when it arrives.

[@turboesther36]

I imagine the reason they gave it so much range is because, if you’re using it going into an amps preamp, you can also adjust the EQ of the amp, while using the pedal to drive different frequencies to get different sounds

[@davidyoung8875]

any sound you want if you just take your time and tweak it. the most versatile distortion pedal ever.

[@MrJoseph6119]

I think the metal zone pedal kicks ass! I use it with my Marshall stack and it sounds sick!

[@JimijaymesProductions]

I feel like the general EQ and cutting nature of a metal zone works well with a clean marshall.

[@Payne2view]

It seems the Metal Zone works when it is Pauly set-up, not poorly set-up. (Obvious English wordplay). I've liked this so I can refer back if I need to in future. A very useful video.

[@michaelmitchell5909]

Another killer video man!...you always deliver a very good in depth review and demo of gear and I love that about your channel Henning!... I have a request please sir, Revv has a g4 pedal coming out, it's red for the red channel of the generator... You gotta get this and demo it thru all those amps you have!... That would be freakkin awesome!...I already have a preorder thru sweet water here where I live in Pennsylvania, across the pond!...looking forward to seeing it on your channel man!... Cheers to you brother and happy holidays to you and your family!....

[@EytschPi42]

Hey Michael.... that video is coming January 15th

[@michaelmitchell5909]

EytschPi42 ....great news!, thank you again for responding!..can't wait to hear what you do with it!... I remember the g3 video, that thing sounded amazing with the morgan

[@bigJohnnybabyboy]

This was much better than the other videos on this pedal.

[@TheCyberianWonder]

I never gave this pedal a chance, and yeah, everyone I saw using one sounded terrible to me. But damn, with this review I saw the light. Definitely getting one of these.

[@Oris37]

I had the same experience with my old MT-2 back in the day - great pedal, just a pain to dial in on-the-fly..!

[@estring69]

Great video. This pedal sounds fine into Hot Rod Deluxe with controls at 12. Definitely last word on the pedal.... Yeah right! :)

[@jensschettler1732]

Using this through a fender 3x10 fender bandmaster tweed. It is my sound. I guess nobody else in the world would do this. So it is mine!

[@usernet4635]

When i connect my headphones to the AUXILIAR street cube 2 connector just the right ear works . I plugged that cable to the OUTPUT metal zone pedal. Can you help ?

[@destroso]

In the mix it sounds fantastic

[@henrymillsiii4961]

I had a Boss metal zone pedal that I played with thru a jc-120 and it was terrible with that amp and it sounded to digital. I could get a decent metal sound but trying to adjust it to get a slight break-up or slightly overdriven tone was nearly impossible. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

[@ricgrous]

Perfect... Perfect and Perfect Review... i use MT2 since 2002, and i tried sometimes to test other similar pedals, but the MT2 is visceral with a unique personality. As said in the review, the knobs are so finicky when manipulating them. You will not be able to extract a beautiful sounds having an early ejaculation on you hands and patience .

[@place_desjardins]

Nice review. The Metal Zone was a big improvement over the HM-2, Heavy Metal, pedal if you were alive at the time.

[@jasonbone5121]

This is not one of those pedals where you can say "it's impossible to get a bad tone out of it!". That said, you did get some great tones, but agree, way too much range on those pots. The clean on that Tone King, holy shit - amazing!!

[@likeanuuk6612]

this pedal would be great if it sounded the same, but had a digital preset system. there were extreme tones in there that wouldnt be a good everyday guitar tone, but would sound awesome depending on the music youre playing. as a songwriter it would give great versatility, but also sound more consistent than changing between digital amp presets

[@linadecaseleycarloss5838]

I found the easiest thin to do was record a dry D.I. track then mss with the pedal & amp while ramping, that way what I worked with remained consistent & also I could listen instead of focusing on playing a the same time.

[@lilian896]

Great video! You caused a backorder on this pedal!☠️

[@DaveElwoodCutter]

Something else this video made me realize is how this pedal keeps the amps core character intact. The JCM800 sounded like a high gain Marshall. The Orange like a high gain orange etc. Me likey. Had one when I started playing and never disliked it. A friend borrowed it and I never saw it again. Time to get another for good metal tones at bearable volumes without spending $300 on a diezel vh4 pedal.

[@maxkov03]

were you running it through the front of the amp that whole time?

[@TheHighwinder]

16:56 - LOL - EXACTLY! I laughed so hard on that one.

[@NeZversSounds]

I really love my MT-2 and I'm making it into FrankenZone :D Moving all internals into a bigger box to have a place for shitload mod switches.

[@patrickmcgee8556]

ive had one since 1991 (1st release?)....and its still my fave

[@jarrod9052]

D.R.I and old thrash would love those high mids. This was my first pedal ever when I was a teen . I made it sound like shit all the time , think I gave it away

[@too--late]

Dear Henning Thank you for this video. Subscriber, thumb up, but let me tell you very kindly that you are wrong to say that the extreme settings of the Metal Zone are useless, and should be removed. Maybe they are useless for the kind of music you like. But this Boss pedal is specially for those who push the metal further, in what is called extreme metal (Death, Black, Grind, and some kind of thrash metal). For these kinds of metal, the sounds you consider bad are in demand, and many Extreme Metal albums have been recorded with a Metal Zone. None of the sounds you point to as bad in this video are actually bad. Your metal tastes (if you have any) are stuck in the early 80s. But the world has continued to exist since then. Think of the Boss Heavy Metal HM-2, with the 4 knobs all the way up, plugged into a transistor combo. The result is a "theoretically" bad tone. But it gave birth to a whole style of death metal, the great Swedish DM ! There is no rules. When it comes to tones, one have to be careful. There are no good or bad tones, it's a matter of taste. For those who don't like extreme metal, Boss has planned other pedals that don't have the extreme settings of the Metal Zone. But we must accept that many people love the tones of the Metal Zone, because it's the 2nd most sold pedal after the DS-1. I hope Boss will not listen to your advice, because it would be dramatic. When you say that beginners don't know how to adjust the Metal Zone. Maybe, but I think that the main problem for beginners is that they place the Metal Zone between a cheap guitar and a cheap small amp. The Metal Zone gives the best of itself when used with good gears.

[@EytschPi42]

good points!

[@christophthompson6786]

Thanks for setting the record straight. The list of good death/black bands that have used the MT-2 is endless.

[@kevinspielmann5869]

Love mine

[@fedboy21]

After all expensive “boutique” pedal, i realised that i only need BOSS pedal 😄😄😄...and i agree with ur sentence at 9.45 about metal zone had bad rep bcos the beginner 😓😓....beginner pls dont get ultra high gain pedal, just buy ts style pedal pls 😆😆😆...this is a pro pedal

[@mikesgtrs1]

I got my perfect Metallica tone very similar to Black Album tone - i attached it with a Boss EQ Pedal , connected to clean channel input on a Boss Katana 100x212 AMP

[@emrage78]

settings?

[@mikelamacchia6297]

@@emrage78 that was a while ago dude i dont use the pedal anymore because i have the Katana Head

[@Milankoful]

come on Henning, it's not like tuning isn't important just because you're using the metal zone. :D Joking aside, this pedal sounds great! Kinda in the same box as the Digitech's Metal Master pedal. Great sounds, but the "morph" knob has huuuge range, therefore it's not noob proof as it perhaps should be, but if set up correctly... Man... It's been my only metal distortion for years ,and I still haven't found a reason to change it for something else. Even tho it's like 30 bucks used sometimes.

[@Dicktopus]

That shirt. Great :D

[@Zero_thehero]

i guess to go for the jcm 800 sound ; level at 3 distortion 8 o'clock?

[@wolfhorsky]

I love Your clothes, especially that blouse with the cassettes.

[@gritgrace1323]

Cool demo. I was wondering when the dog was going to jump out the window :)

[@rubentrevino6288]

Badass pedal

[@JohnnyVersnachie]

Have you ever tried a MT-2 with the Keeley Twilight mod??? AMAZING!

[@arnyarny77]

i use a fromel mod, it is very good

[@davidames9339]

There are moments such as this one where Henning really distinguishes himself from the others. Most pedal, or many reveiws shall we say that are little more than boys getting boners from the buzz. I appreciate the truth barometer here. And besides ... this man can play guitar.

[@ScttSt_vocals]

I know! This thing was an attempt like Slash's wah\dist, but the mid freq never made it into expression pedal format!

[@kicsisziszi]

super test video!

[@angryheb1]

23:00 thats my settings i have now, yes im old school lol

[@ToxicxEternity]

Ola, Joss, and yourself have provoked me into saying a sentence I never thought i'd say. "I kind of want to buy a metal zone"

[@EytschPi42]

Haha... thanks Jack. It can do a good job if you use the EQ sparingly!

[@notthesameman]

Its a good pedal for metal and if you use it right and also had mine simce 1999

[@milwaukeebrewhouse]

Getting back into guitar having most of my past experience with acoustic I bought a Boss Katana 100W combo to plug in and learn because it wasn’t “you NEED an app to use this” and was cheaper than a tube amp and could be quiet for home use. I haven’t seen a Katana review from you, but if you are going to review Boss products I hope you explore their amps as well. I have questions like, while I could probably get better performance out of my Katana if I plugged it into the computer, when I want to go beyond playing at home would I want to upgrade to say a Marshall Origins 50W tube amp combo or would the Boss Nextone series be better? Your amp wall is very impressive useful to illustrate differences in products, but thousands on an amp isn’t realistic for everyone and maybe adding a Nextone or other non tube amp may be even more informative you your viewers. Some people that have expensive amps use things like this because they are more portable and I don’t know what to say but more reliable or whatever than dragging around a tube amp.

[@EytschPi42]

I have a Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 in the wall now, that should cover it!

[@milwaukeebrewhouse]

EytschPi42 sound and look I always thought that was another expensive tube amp! Just watched the video you did of the H&K Black Spirit 200 in the warehouse. Look forward to seeing more of it in your reviews now that I understand what it is and that it represents the non-tube amps I’m playing with now. Thank you.

[@MicahRenfro]

The REAL reason a lot of people thought it sucked was because people were going through the clean channel on the front of the amp, instead of through the effects loop, as intended!

[@mylogify]

How much of a difference does it make? Or What kind of difference?

[@FelipeQueiroga]

Henning, did you use the MT-2w in the front of the amp or in the fx loop?

[@EytschPi42]

in front... in the FX loop doesn’t make a lot of sense for me inna live situation... pedals are usually used in front of amps.

[@gainonten4031]

when people think it sounds better in the FX loops, its because they have the amp EQ set wrong (for example, with presence which should be removed when using the MT2 in front of the amp)

[@mylogify]

@@gainonten4031 interesting

[@8bitrandomencounter]

20:30 Lady: "Come with me if you want to live" Doggy: "SAVE ME!"

[@jamesyellow3786]

Wow ...seit wann spielst du Metal? Unglaublich! Klasse Video 💪

[@EytschPi42]

schon immer!

[@jamesyellow3786]

EytschPi42 dann wäre es sicherlich cool wenn du mal eine Dean Dave Mustaine Gitarre vorstellen könntest (möglicherweise die Angel Of Deth) 😜💪✌️ Grüße Kosta

[@mateusz-drozd-music]

10.27😂 I love it!🤣👍

[@stephenrochester6309]

Who is the vocalist for the tune at the start?! I’d buy that music.

[@EytschPi42]

That was a vocal plugin called Voices of Rage

[@stephenrochester6309]

EytschPi42 thank you kindly, sir

[@mylogify]

It's a great pedal

[@jaychen2000metal]

This vs the Revv g3 and g4

[@arnyarny77]

boss could reconfigure the center knobs, get rid of the parametric eq and just add two more knobs instead

[@jeronimomartinezfabregas]

I think your dog could sleep through an invasion of wasps and africanized killer bees if it ever happened...great info though on how to set the knobs!

[@skylardewitt6271]

please send my love to your dog

[@greatreset3]

Because more is better! That is what she said!

[@andrewmorgan1640]

It needs to have the extra range in the EQ so Brian Wampler can make it into a clean boost

[@mattburch9873]

Andrew Morgan I know right!? So stupid.

[@sudan47]

Must have metal pedal!!

[@00Resev]

I really wish they just released a Waza version of the DS-2 instead...

[@fastnewbie]

How does that bee sound go? :) Just imagine if they built this pedal with a tube.

[@mylogify]

How different would it sound with Tube? More detailed?

[@destroso]

That’s definitely a boss pedal problem. Same thing with the DS-1 tone past noon is useless. The ultra chorus has the opposite problem where there’s not enough effect, the tremolo and the vibrato pedals could also use more range.

[@yowild9629]

cannibal corpse use this as a boost into mesa boogie dual rectifier. and my guess is the range you don’t need is definitely needed in that approach...

[@alexmurphy5289]

19:42 I actually liked this tone

[@OtaconNachos]

HAHAHAHA at 19:00 sums it up so well

[@patrickbarge9872]

Das Knäckebrot knackt nicht nur, es Meeeeeetaaaaaalt :):):)

[@Cooker98]

Probably unaware, you're describing md-2 as a solution for mt-2/mt-2w :D

[@EytschPi42]

unaware

[@TyphonKrazilec]

There is only one way to set a metal zone, bass and treble cranked (Le "A FOND" en français) and middle on 0! P.S. I regret the one I used (was not mine, should have bought it...) in the early nineties...

[@CatPickStudios]

Should I be offended that I wasn’t mentioned in this video? Also: Harry

[@EytschPi42]

good point! Yap! Be offended!

[@CatPickStudios]

EytschPi42 Now I am!