Veteran amp technician James Brown has announced the forthcoming release of a new metal-head-pleasing crunch pedal in his Tight line of Amptweaker effects units. The new TightMetal pedal has all of the features of the original TightDrive, but with a few notable additions geared towards dark and dirty metal speedsters.
In addition to giving players control over how aggressive an attack is available through the tone-tweaking effects pedal, Amptweaker's original TightDrive also introduced tool-free battery access, true bypass technology, effects looping with pre/post switching and useful LED dial lighting. The new TightMetal effects unit has all of that and more.
Like many metal players, guitarist Mark Kloeppel was looking for a pedal that would produce powerful metal-edged crunch with a rich harmonic tone but be able to keep up with the whirlwind fret-work and capable of stopping notes really quickly. So Brown added additional stages in front of a modified TightDrive, in much the same way as high-gain tube amps have cascading tube stages, to produce a "thicker and much heavier distortion."
He also included an extra Mid switch to dial in some traditional metal rhythm sounds, which can be flipped and changed to a Thrash setting with deeper scooped mid tone. To help with speed riffs, the effects unit also has its own Noise Gate with a quick-decay Chomp setting.
As with all Amptweaker pedals, the TightMetal is hand-made in the U.S. No pricing details have been revealed as yet but Amptweaker will be showing off its new baby at the Winter NAMM in Anaheim and the unit is currently showing as ready for pre-order.
A full demonstration of what the new pedal is capable of is given by Kloeppel of Deathgrind band Misery Index in the following video:
