The MetalZone is an excellent distortion pedal. The inclusion of the ability to tweak the EQ is a huge plus. You can get an almost limitless variety of very good sounds from this pedal.

I have not tried the Marshall Jackhammer, but feature-wise, it seems to be similar to the MetalZone, in that it has the ability to tweak the EQ. Given that the name Marshall is almost synonymous with distortion, I can't imagine that this pedal could be bad.

Your best bet would be to go to a music store and audition both pedals, using a guitar and amp as similar to yours as is available at the store.

i know you said you don't have money for a new amp, but save. if your using an acoustic amp, you won't get any sounds you like, especially from a metal distortion pedal.

Randall!!!!

I think no distortion pedal compares to the distortion that a Randall or Mesa stack can give, even a Randall 100W combo is perfect for you, I've recorded most of my guitar tracks in the studio with this combo amp and i've never changed it just because I can't find anything that compares to it's versatility, i highly recomend it

Digitech the Weapon

Tho one and only:DIGITECH THE WEAPON sounds terrific even direct on your audiocard or mixer!!

I dig the sansamp Tri-AC.

If you're looking for a distortion pedal to cover up the sound of a bad amp, you'll quickly realize that you'll always have trouble with your sound (and even more pain for you and the engineer when you try to record it)

Look around for one of these amp heads: Krank, Engl, Mesa Boogie or Peavey 5150 and then a good cabinet. You can then add a Boss NS2 and a Maxon OD808 pedal if you'd like a little extra. (and then later a Furman power conditioner to get the cleanest power at even the worst powered gig)

Lamb of God uses Mesa Boogie and even though there's many cabinets on stage, all but 2 of them are EMPTY - just for show!

If your money is tight, then go for a Pod XT (live or Pro) buy the add-on amp and effects packs and spend some time tweaking your favorite patches for both live and direct.

Most of your metal heroes will use one of those $1200+ amp heads for recording or skip the amp altogether and run direct through a POD XT Pro into a Waves C4 compressor.

KJ
---------------
KYRO Studios

SonOfSmawg wrote: The MetalZone is an excellent distortion pedal. The inclusion of the ability to tweak the EQ is a huge plus. You can get an almost limitless variety of very good sounds from this pedal.

The metal zone has a bad rep with alot of players, I personally like the distortion that I can get out of it. It can be a hissy lil f-er, but I found that had been corrected when I had Robert Keeley mod my metal zone. Keeley, if youre not familiar, sells modded pedals and boutique stomp compressors. The Metal Zone mod is very nice. Although I play mesa, I only use it for clean power and to add the soaking sponge to the metal zone. fwiw...