Anyone have ideas for a good palm-muted, metal circuit?

[earthtonesaudio]

I've read on here that one trick to getting a good metal-type, palm muted tone is to have the circuit set up something like this:

Cut the bass going into the circuit,
Clip/distort,
Add bass back in or use a mid scoop.

I have an idea to give this a try, using a TL074 quad opamp.  I've tried some multiple clipping type circuits on the breadboard, but so far I've not done any active tone controls.
Something like this...
opamp1: input buffer
opamp2: clipping
opamp3: active bass/treble controls probably straight out of an appnote
opamp4: Not sure yet.  Maybe before the tone stack as a second clipping stage, or maybe something else.

Anyone have some suggestions?  I'm not completely set on the opamp approach.

I'm after the sort of sound you hear from bands like Mastodon, Soilwork, Nevermore, Meshuggah, etc. 
I like the tone of fuzz face type pedals but they are often too mushy, and don't have enough pick attack for my needs.

Thanks!

[ambulancevoice]

well, if you cut the bass out, i dont think you can just add it back after some processing

[darron]

i've found most fuzz circuits to be really lousy when it comes to palm muting, and they usually have little bass cut, so you might be on to something on that.


the BSIABII sounds great for palming (:

[the recluse]

Dr. Boogey.

[mnordbye]

take lessons from both the BSIAB2 and the dr. boogie. Both great distortions, and if you need that extra gain boost, use a booster..

Magnus Nordbye

[tcio]

The "cut bass' technique works for me. You can turn more Bass up on the other components post preamp (e.g. amplifiers tone control, EQ in the FX loop). I've been doing this for years and wouldn't run my rig any other way when trying to achieve a real defined crisp crunchy metal tone (and good palm muting). If you bombard your preamp input with too much bass it will get muddy. Some pedals (circuits) simply just do not have good palm muting properties to begin with no mater how you tweak them. In that case, obviously you will want to find a different pedal for that purpose.

[bumblebee]

have a look at the metal muff schematic.
i can PM it to you if you dont have it.

[earthtonesaudio]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  I will breadboard a Dr. Boogie and a BSIAB2 and see if they're what I'm looking for.  

Bumblebee, I'd like to see that schem, would you PM it to me?

Some more info in case someone has a similar setup: I use a Crate Powerblock (single channel solid state) and either an open back 2x12 or my buddy's 1960A cab (Marshall closed back 4x12).

The amp's guitar preamp channel does everything I need except for the gutsy metal tone.  However, it has an effects insert, so I could stick my EQ pedal in there.  Additionally, I can run it as a PA/power amp only using the RCA inputs.  Not sure what would be best.  I'm open to suggestions as far as this is concerned.

Tcio, does your method work for both clean and distorted tones?  I'll be trying it out soon.
Thanks!

[bumblebee]

ok

[tcio]

Tcio, does your method work for both clean and distorted tones?  I'll be trying it out soon.
Thanks!

From my experience you can get away with a lot more bass going into a cleaner preamp than into a high gain preamp without it getting muddy. What I do is get the best distinguished and cutting through distortion sound and tone I can get with absolutely no mud, and then tweak it with the amp's tone knobs or my personal preference, an EQ In the FX loop. The EQ in the loop works fantastic if you really like to scoop the mids and all of the amps I have played through it brings out a clearer more distinguished bass/bottom  tone.

[FiveseveN]

There's a trick I use to get a more defined, less bassy sound: run my pickups in antiphase. Obviously what you get differs greatly depending on your guitar, but it's generally a more treble-oriented sound that emphasizes the harmonics and of course has less output.
That way you can quickly switch from both pickups for rhythm/PM to neck or bridge for lead. Well that's my 2 eurocents anyway.
And I'd also love a copy of that schematic, Bumblebee 

[Renegadrian]

bumblebee do you mind sending me a PM with that circuit??? THX