NPD... Actually it's a NOPD... Dimarzio Very Metal pedal

[harddriver]

So after much deliberation I wanted to try out the Dimarzio Very Metal pedal, many claim it is somewhere in between a Biff muff and a Rat pedal. I mostly wanted to give it a try to either confirm of deny that Jake E Lee may have used on the first and second Badlands albums.

Hell I didn't know this pedal even existed but my dog ears was telling me there was alot more of a hard edged crunch than a Boss OD-1 provides. I had re-purchased a whiteface Rat reissue and I dialed it in for Jake tone and it is pretty ripping, I was quite happy but the curious EVH tone quest part of me still wanted to hear what one of these rare pedals only made in 1987-88 sounded like. The YT vids didn't tell me much....

So I happened along on a Dimarzio Very Metal from a seller on Ebay that I have purchased from before and the price was reasonable $139.00 plus if the pedal didn't work or had issues the guy had 30 day return policy but he answered all my questions so I went for it. I tightened up the footswitch but the pedal worked as advertised pots very a little scratchy but not bad, no signal dropouts so I was stoked.

Got around to playing tonight and at first it wasn't even close, the rat was smoking it, so I put it aside did some work out in the shop and came back to it. It is a very unique pedal it seems to have more gain level output than the Rat but the Distortion and tone knob both were really touchy to dial in it didn't take much to make it sound crappy IMHO. So I kept tweaking, the tone knob is sort of like the filter on the rat but not... if adjusted too far either way it tended to get like a cracked wah effect when turned down or all the way up which took some getting used to... so I ended up at about 8 tone, 1.5 on distortion and 9-9.5 on level and it' real crunchy and pretty raunchy, Spinal Tap must have designed this pedal all the knobs go to 11. The rat is crunchy just like the Very Metal but it has more PAF/plexi type of clank to it, a bit more clarity and has more harmonic richness that is a bit sweeter to play(THINK NUNO) that I think I prefer to the Very Metal but I have to say once I dialed it in, I do believe this pedal may have been used on those albums.

I'll give it some time and a bit more tweaking but I have to say the Urban Legend on this pedal and Jake may have to be confirmed...

[harddriver]

I thought I would post a followup to the above writeup. I have a BYOC OD-1 clone and I hardly ever turn the drive up past 9 o'clock the level is always dimed. So rewatched this Badlands live video and there is a close up shot of Jake's pedal board and low and behold there is a Yellow Boss OD-1 on his board, there was a square pedal box like the Very Metal pedal but I has a single knob so it is not a Dimarzio Very Metal pedal. So hearing the crunchiness live at this show I wondered how crunchy the OD-1 would get if I turned up the Drive/Distortion knob to say 11 oclock, wow it gets darn crunchy just like what I hear in this live show. So I may amend my statement a bit it is possible that the DMP may have been used but the the old OD-1 was on Jake board live on the Badlands tours at least this show.

At 1:58 you get a shot of the pedal board you will see a yellow Boss two knob OD-1 right there and there is another overhead shot at 3:08 and the yellow just sticks out. Anyway it's been another fun dive into guitar hero lore and it got me to adjust how I have always set my SD-1 and OD-1 to hear that Jake crunch that always seemed to be elusive for me and it was only the turn of the drive knob away. The DMP is cool and I will keep playing with it but seeing is believing and the following vid confirms at least at this show he was using an OD-1 and his tone was crunchy as all get out.

[PLX]

Post a hi-res gut-shot of that Dimarzio pedal when you get a chance.

Thanks

[RockyStar]

I saw one on GC used site. I was considering getting it to try it but got distracted...lol.

[harddriver]

I saw one on GC used site. I was considering getting it to try it but got distracted...lol.

My conclusions about whether or not it was used is still out for deliberation. It's possible still, it was my intense curiosity that got me to try it out. I just get suckered into that lore stuff like the EVH rabbit hole.

I would not say it's the most fabulous pedal just different. Maybe I'll play around with it again this weekend.

[RockyStar]

I saw one on GC used site. I was considering getting it to try it but got distracted...lol.

My conclusions about whether or not it was used is still out for deliberation. It's possible still, it was my intense curiosity that got me to try it out. I just get suckered into that lore stuff like the EVH rabbit hole.

I would not say it's the most fabulous pedal just different. Maybe I'll play around with it again this weekend.

I need another pedal like a hole in the head. If it is something spectacular I would consider it. If not, I will let somebody else enjoy it and I will live vicariously through them.