Nirvana Pedal Board Boss DS2 Vs Metal Zone Vs D.O.D Grunge Tone Test

[@RussellB]

in 1996 my little band was playing Nirvana songs and we used the Metal Zone pedal. I remember we used to tape a photo of someone we hated on to the rubber part so we could step on them. I think we knew the DS pedals were the right ones but we liked that we could get more variation for the money. It has a rather wide range of distortion. I'm really happy to hear that people like the pedal, because I still have it and after watching your vid I'm not concerned with switching to a DS pedal anymore.

[@redvanmann]

After watching this I have to say I liked the metal zone the best

[@KeenanB2003]

The metal zone sounded gooood 👍 nice vid

[@JimBoom92]

Metal zone sounds terrible for nirvana...

[@kkrsnn5632]

Just discovered your stuff here. Awesome and kudos for the work. I got the DS-2 ever since I got my guitar (an Epi G-400)

[@emilandmelanie]

I really think the DoD Grunge has the most interesting sound and a lot of presence. It is my favorite for sure.

[@jakespencer431]

Oh dude! Thanks for pointing this out to me! I never thought the metal zone would come close! Definitely picking up a metal zone! I was going to get the grunge or ds2 this has totally changed my mind I’m thinking a small clone with a metal zone!

[@kkrsnn5632]

Yeah the metal zone is kinda more fuzzy/plasticy sound, but siuts the songs pretty good

[@Edurdowobblechops]

Kurt through grudge away or so story goes and I see why not good even to my grungie damaged ears and the ds1 is the pedal to rule em all paired with the broadcast sans amp modeller gets ya on head but dam that metal zone got so close totally usable and sounded great never thought I'd own a metal zone but think I'm about too pretty soon search begins in morning

[@Edurdowobblechops]

While writing this comment I had an insane thought that kurt for a man who liked simple good things and shopped in thrift shops had some of the most exspenive habits heroine and smashing vintage fenders fucking love it cut back on shit that didnt matter to do what did and that's get fucked up and rock out both things we all need to do maybe not so much heroine more weed and drink and odd bit of acid for jamming with friends which if you haven't tried not saying do drugs but yeah most enjoyable some may say epic although I am glad no recording exists as there was an hour long version of hey joe which must have been awful and bout 3hrs of messed up punky beatles tunes but oh what fun we had aboard that yellow submarine

[@jakespencer431]

@@Edurdowobblechops I was a IV heroin user for 10 years, went on methadone, you know what helped me stop? Getting into guitar and smoking weed that’s all I do now I can totally see why Kurt used heroin but it fucked my life lost everything 4 years now clean from it feeling great don’t want to put the guitar down!

[@Edurdowobblechops]

@@jakespencer431 I have a simler story tbh bro but I had a son called cobain and stopped last used heroine on april 17 2004 it was a Thursday I know cos I too collected methadone for first time got clean met a girl rest was history till that hit wall and I ended up a lone parent bout 5 years ago then during covid started with chronic depression leading to a suicide attempt in November and January last year and picking up the guitar again saved me a charity called music in mind are buying me a jag like one I had when I was a lad and giving me lessons to brush up heroine took me to some dark places but so does life but not where ya start it's where you finish and I'm not proud of my past but I'm not scared of it anyway but really cool to hear music is helping you I know it is me who knows after the suicide attempts I could have relapsed but got a strat slowly vandalized it and started playing few nirvana tunes again and I'm hooked on music again cant wait to get my new jaguar got some sick ideas for it when it's done I'll make a video of it to share cos if I can pull the ideas off I have in my mind it will be epic but keep up ya recovery and keep saying what I say about relapse I'm 17 yes roughly clean imagine going back to 1 day 2 days clean or man I'd be gutted so just gotta be strong and keep on keeping on and definitely keep playing rock and roll always said I'll be sat on my nursing home bed playing lithium and dive and if nurses dont like it they can raid meds cabinet a chill lol. Cos it's got to be take it easy man and take care of you and yours much love dylan

[@ricardog.s2505]

Many years ago I got a really good Grunge tone with a Metal Zone by simply cutting the middle to 0 and the mid freq to max, so the pedal didn´t had that nasal sound that the Metal Zone is infamous for having, the highs and low usually depended on the amp and the environment and same with the distortion That simple trick is really good for Nirvana or any other grunge band from the 90s tone, it sounded really good for a Live at Reading tone for reference

[@idiotwithaguitar3]

Sorry for the 2 month late reply but how did you put the mid to 0? and what is your high and low settings?

[@ricardog.s2505]

@@idiotwithaguitar3 I don't own a Metal Zone anymore since at least 2017, but to set the mids to 0 you just have to put the small mids knob to 0 because what that knob actually does is BOOST your current mids (same with Low ands Highs) so if you set it to 0 you will have your regular mids from your amp, mid freq (big mids knob) is kind of like a "presence" knob and I maxed that out Lows and highs varied, but usually I had not too much lows and not too much highs, sometimes they were at the middle

[@bigmuffmelvin7388]

Awesome video. I’m suprised how close the metal zone sounds to the dod grunge. Maybe I will pick one up lol Also I kinda think the grunge gets a bad rep

[@loungeact1212]

Thanks! Yeah both can dial in a ton of treble for sure. I hope you do a vid of the new acoustic at some point.

[@bigmuffmelvin7388]

@@loungeact1212 yeah as long as you don’t go past the point of buzzsaw tones lol. I got two acoustic videos coming real soon lol. Thanks man

[@jakespencer431]

Got to get a new amp play mainly nirvana what would you recommend? Also ds1 or ds2? The grunge sounds wicked! Metal zone aswell

[@loungeact1212]

@@jakespencer431 tough to say really depends on budget but I think a fender twin reverb or mess boogie would be great but those are very pricey. Best to try out a few amps these boss katanas are not awful for the money if you go solid state. I like ds2 it's a louder more powerful pedal.

[@jakespencer431]

@@loungeact1212 yeh I started with a code 25 watt Marshall it’s a beginner amp I think it has a lot of presets and you can connect your phone to use as to turn distortion on or get a diffrent tone, now that I’m not really a beginner I wouldn’t mind a twin reverb! I herd the boss katanas are good this amp I got is digital and I want a proper amp thanks for the help and I’ll get a ds2 just got a dimebag Darrel wah pedal for Christmas and I need a proper amp to use it sounds shitty on the code!

[@fabriziodiliberto5401]

I love the DOD PEDAL

[@KurtCobain2021]

Nice one. 🙏. I’m also interested to hear the school sound of your DOD fx69.

[@enriquepastor3626]

Nice video, can you tell me the amp settings to achieve the nirvana tone in the katana 100?

[@loungeact1212]

Clean channel gain 12noon, volume and bass at 11, middle and treble 3,. Presence at 1.... not set in stone, play around a bit! 🎸

[@enriquepastor3626]

Thanks!!

[@shadowhunter2846]

Hey awesome channel! I am glad to be here seeing you grow from the beginning. btw. how do you record ?

[@loungeact1212]

Great to have you here. I don't have an interface yet so I have my amp running into a Mackie mixer which is hooked up to my laptop via USB. I recorded the audio in audacity and merged with my cell phone camera video in Hitfilm Express.

[@edwinhernandez9276]

What no SANSAMP/CLASSIC?🤔🎸🕊

[@loungeact1212]

I would like one. Hopefully soon! 😆

[@al_sakina]

Try with SansAmp Classic20....i just bought it a few month ago....sound is Awesome....greetings from indonesia

[@Rafamontramos]

The boss ds1 is very similar to the grunge pedal? I'm thinking about buying a boss ds1 but I already have a grunge pedal, could someone help me?

[@loungeact1212]

Either that or a Berhinger TM300, which is a much cheaper clone of a sans amp pedal. Under 30 bucks!

[@Rafamontramos]

@@loungeact1212 Dude, today I played with grunge but with the amp volume at maximum, I never noticed this before, but it sounds horrible for a performance.

[@Rafamontramos]

@@loungeact1212 I'm definitely going to buy the boss ds1

[@loungeact1212]

@@Rafamontramos yeah not the greatest, def need to roll back the treble to be usable.

[@Rafamontramos]

@@loungeact1212 thanks man

[@hughesy43]

What settings do you use on the katana for the clean tone to run these pedals in to?

[@loungeact1212]

I put it in response to a previous comment... sorry it's not letting me copy it.

[@hughesy43]

@@loungeact1212 sorry i didn’t see that, my bad. Awesome tones btw (:

[@marcocampus2298]

Do you guys never heard about a preamp S-1 from AMT ?

[@loungeact1212]

Not until now but I looked at a few demos and it sounds like it has some good tones. Saw the B1 which is Bogner clone sounded metal AF!

[@marcocampus2298]

@@loungeact1212 I’ll make a video sound for you , nothing professional, just my phone …

[@catchofthedave8681]

I think the grunge pedal sounds like crap...just my opinion. I'd take the metal zone or boss distortion over it 10/10 times. Maybe its just the settings...I've never played with a grunge pedal in person. But I don't really like the sound, somethings not right about it... the compression or the clipping... I dunno... the metal zone and turbo distortion sound great.

[@indiedavecomix3882]

I don't hate it, but it definitely sounds more "static-y" than the others. Could be just the settings? That DS2 FTW, tho.

[@Alanwaz]

please give that Grunge pedal more low end (butt). it would sound much better. that pedal is a monster. it sounds so shrill in your vid.

[@loungeact1212]

You are right I should have dialed it in better

[@rafaelmartinsdecastro7641]

In a nutshell: MT 2 sucks for Nirvana tone, Grunge pedal is a joke and Turbo Distortion is reasonable.

[@Disorder17]

I strongly disagree with you, MT2 is very suitable for live and loud and reading '92

[@codymcgrew94]

That Grunge pedal is bad haha The DS-2 definitely got the closest. But it’s lacking some of that high end that the OG DS-1 has.

[@SoggyBacco]

ds2 on turbo 1 is the same circuit as the og ds1....

[@JimBoom92]

Dude, i dont want to bitch around, but all 3 pedals were set up wrong. The DS2 is the right choice but you need much more treble. Maybe on the DS1 the tone knob at 10h is ok... metalzone is too much gain and too much treble and the Grunge has way to much mids dialed in. And the katana, what should i say about that thing, sounds dead and dull. Get a tube amp and you will never go back. You could be me 10 years ago. Have a nice journey bro.