The new TightMetal™ distortion pedal takes the TightDrive™ and TightBoost™ overdrive platform to the next level by providing over-the-top metal and hardcore crunch tones with adjustable tightness thanks to the Tight control. This issue came up early on when discussing various ideas with Mark Kloeppel, guitarist from the deathgrind band Misery Index. Like many other metal players, Mark was looking for a particular guitar tone, one with a lot of harmonics but with the ability to stop the notes really fast to work with their music. As on the original TightDrive, the Tight control varies the low end from smooth and thick to tight and aggressive so you get the attack that works with your guitar and picking style.

In the same way high gain tube amps are designed by cascading extra tube stages, the TightMetal was created by adding additional stages in front of a carefully modified TightDrive. The resulting thicker and much heavier distortion is tweaked by a simple built-in output EQ curve, and can further be adjusted by the output Tone control, so it’s easy to get a stack sound even through a small combo amp’s clean channel.

After discussing some other consumer suggested ideas with Mark, a couple of switches were added to help customize the tone and help the playability. A Mid switch helps get a more traditional metal rhythm sound with its Thrash setting which gives a deeper scooped mid tone. To help stop the notes even quicker, a Noise Gate switch with an ultra quiet, quick decaying Chomp setting really helps a lot....especially when doing very quick riffs with a lot of palm-muted stops, so the whole band sounds even tighter.

At January NAMM '11, various metal players made suggestions about adjustments to the gate, and the result was a redesign to include an automatic gate threshold that tracks the gain control......this keeps the Chomp setting appropriately hard, and backs off on that setting as the gain is reduced. All other features from the TightDrive remain intact, including the Effects Loop with its Pre/Post switch, the LED illumination of the controls, and the Battery On/Off switch and magnetic battery access door. The effects loop send can be used as a clean guitar send for re-amping in the studio if switched to Pre.

The Amptweaker TightMetal Features:

True Bypass switch
Tight Attack Control
Gain, Tone, & Volume Controls
Gate switch with Chomp™ setting for quick stops
Mid switch with Thrash setting
Effects Loop with Pre/Post switch..tracks On/Off Footswitch
LED lit knobs when using a power supply
Battery disconnect switch with red indicator
DC Adapter jack, standard 2.1mm X 5.5mm, center ground
Magnetic Battery access door opens w/o tools
14Ga. Steel chassis
Handmade in the USA
11mA current consumption(battery)
20mA current consumption(9V power supply)
Dimensions 3.75"W X 5"D X 2"
Five Year Limited Warranty

Controls:

Gain
Tone
Volume
Tight
Engage/By-Pass