DIY distortion box for 80's metal?

[powerplayj]

I have been reading about the Blackfire, Obsidian & Smashbox and was wandering which one (or others) would give me that 80's metal tone (Dokken, Ratt, etc)?  I want something similar to the Metal-Zone but, without the tinny shrill.  Also, anything where I can shape the tone via treble, bass & mids (ala MT-2) would be a plus.

[Marcos - Munky]

A Obsidian with a Marshall tone control will do what you want.

[amz-fx]

Try the AMZ Overdrive Pro

http://www.muzique.com/schem/projects.htm

-Jack

[smoguzbenjamin]

If you have a metalzone, just turn the treble control down. It's as easy as that, I have one. Use it for many types of distortion, from muddy to crystal clear  

[powerplayj]

http://www.runoffgroove.com/salvo.html

Actually, I checked out the sound clips from the above link and the "3 Legged Dog" http://www.runoffgroove.com/3leggeddog.mp3 and "Frank Clark's Hot Harmonics" http://www.runoffgroove.com/hotharmonics.mp3 are the tone types I am after.  Anyone ever build either of these? I especially like the 3 legged Dog.

The Insanity Box was a bit too saturated and fuzzy for me and the Blackfire sounded very similar to my Rat.

BTW, I traded my MT-2 for a Vintage Rat and I also have a modded TS-9 to cover the overdriven/mild distortion territory.

[Ansil]

the three legged dog is basically the snarling dogs circuit with tweaks.. which is the craiganderton tube sound fuzz.  very nice circuit.

[powerplayj]

Thanks for the info Ansil.  Would this be foreseeable project for a beginner?  I have experience modding other pedals (changing caps, resisitors, IC's, performing TB's,etc) but, I have yet to make a pedal from scratch.

Thanks,

Jason

[Ansil]

oh yeah... no brainer i  am uploadig simmilar stuff to my sight on the 4049 right now.

[donald stringer]

One of my fav. boss pedals to date is the hm-2[not tobe confused with the hm-3 the newer replacement for the hm-2. I used to use it to dist an 100 watt lead marshall solid state head that unfortunately I lost in a bad trade. You can find them on e-bay for about 40 or 50 dollars, the last time I looked. But  there are so many more choices to be had in the diy comm. provided you take the time to absorb a little bit of a learning curve. Go to runoff groove and take your pick.

[Ansil]

excellent suggestion.. i must go listen to runoff.. i am runiing out of mp3's on this computr