After a week of swap time, the Power Stack was offered to me for a good asking price & I duly obliged to buy it from a friend who is happier to be without it. I got my NANO Metal Muff back too. My friend is looking for some menacing distortion but with that tube warmth for bluesy moments. My advice to him was a simple one; to acquire a tube amp, preferably one of low wattage & offering a single channel. This way ,he would be able to plug in various distortion types while retaining some warm cleans on days when he'd like it clean. I think I got him thinking.
The ST-2 isn't one in the likes of the (BOSS) Metal Zone or (Beta Aivin) HM-200. It's essentially an emulation pedal which churns out amp-like drive, ranging from a mild response to a barking distortion. Keep in mind that an aggression coming from an amp is very different from that produced by a pedal, especially so for tube amps. This is why players who believe the Power Stack would comprehensively out-metal a Metal Zone, would walk away disappointed. However, if you think your current distortion pedal is too protrusive & would love to own a more dynamic drive/ distortion voicing, the ST-2 would appease you.
I always put my distortion units through an overdose response. As seen in the pic above, I even have Biyang's OD-10 to boost proceeding which is not necessary for the Power Stack. It's one of those pedals around which require no reinforcements & would sound saturated even when used as a stand-alone unit. The purpose of the OD-10 there is to trigger the noise gate & give me a more sensitive picking response as I'm the type who don't dig into my strings while picking; I play faster this way. If you've heard the ST-2 in action & felt it sounded a little square, add a touch of chorus at the end of your set up for some dynamics, not too much please. I'm rather indifferent to the ST-2 despite having lots of respect for it as one of those formidable distortion units in the market, largely due to the absence of a midrange control but this doesn't affect me too much as the OD-10 there is capable of pumping in those missing frequencies.
3 comments:
hi,
given the magnitude of your gears. would you care to do a series of tone/sound guides? particularly on how to achieve the sounds of a guitar hero or from their famous track.
cheers,
ampz.
i've been asked on a couple of occasions, to dissect certain tonal compositions but on a personal note, find such tasks unrewarding. i've never looked forward to replicate the tone set-up of others but have a tremendous respect for what they are using to get the job done. i'm more intrigued by technique & phrasing :-)
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