The Tech 21 U.S. Metal is a distortion pedal from Tech 21's Character Series, a line of pedals built to emulate respected amplifier tones. Where most distortion pedals shape a guitar signal on their own terms, the Character Series pedals, as Tech 21 puts it, "take their mojo from the most respected amp tones on both sides of the Atlantic"1. The U.S. Metal is voiced for American high-gain territory: Tech 21 describes it as delivering "blistering distortions and searing lead tones", from "smoky blues" at lower settings to "the rage of an uber-gain rectifier" cranked up1.
What it does
The pedal's controls are laid out like a well-equipped amplifier. Tech 21 says the Level and Drive controls "work like a traditional, well-equipped amp", while the Low, Mid and High controls are active, which the maker says provides "a wider array of tonal possibilities" than a passive tone stack1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Level | Works like a traditional amp's level control1 |
| Drive | Works like a traditional amp's drive control1 |
| Low | Active EQ control1 |
| Mid | Active EQ control1 |
| High | Active EQ control1 |
| Character | Continuously-variable control that moves between model voicings, covering vintage, high-gain and lead tones1 |
The Character knob is the pedal's central idea. Instead of switching between fixed modes, it is a continuously-variable control that Tech 21 says "moves seamlessly between different model voicings, covering vintage, high-gain and lead tones"1. The Character and Mid controls, along with the speaker emulations, are engineered to personify the amplifier traits and speakers associated with each amplifier type the pedal models1.
For players comparing Tech 21's other Character Series and distortion offerings, the company also makes the Tech 21 Blonde, the Tech 21 U.S. Steel, the Tech 21 Hot-Rod Plexi, the Tech 21 CompTORTION and the Tech 21 Double Drive1.
Videos
Sweetwater
Sources (1)
- US Metal Character Series, Tech 21 NYC, 2019-06-24
