Had the Empress Heavy, it never had the brutal ooompf that is needed when going into heavier territories that need a lot of thump as well as transparency. And it sounds like The Menace has the same problem, here in this video. The palm mute sounds round and undefined. it sounds like an overdrive more than a distortion. In that sense it sounds like an amp, an amp that needs a distortion to get the proper bite and clean chug. Sold the Heavy, have never regretted it.
I was impressed the minute I saw the Les Paul... with PAF pickups... Into a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp.... And you're still able to chug. I have one, it's a great pedal. I love the sweepable mids!!
These guys seem to understand what type of people buy these pedals... NOT people who already have an ESP with active pickups and a Dual Rectifier stack!
@@longandmcquade I need to know if that Les Paul had Alnico II magnets or Alnico V. I have a guitar with Alnico II and, I cannot get a heavy chug out of it. I use a metal zone and I can get it to scream, but the E6 string always seems weak. My only option would be to put a Seymour Duncan JB (Alnico V) in the bridge. If that Les Paul in the video has Alnico II magnets then I can keep my Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups, and I will buy the Empress Heavy Menace. I will probably get the pedal anyway, but please let me know what magnets he was using.
@@suicidaleuphoria7012 Justin describes them as low-output so we're guessing Alnico II. Or even III, which is even lower output than II. And still tons of gain with the Menace. Just get it!
I have this Heavy Menace distortion since 3 days and it's impressive, the sound reproduces each note perfectly, cleanly, even with a lot of gain. Thanks to the "weight" button, the palm-mutes come out huge, heavier, louder! The highs come out without being aggressive or tiring. The gate is also super well calibrated! I had many hi-gain distortion pedals (Blackstar Dist-X, Boss Metalzone, EV Metalmuff, Guyatone MetalMonster...) and the Empress HM is far above. It transforms any tube amp clean channel into a Hi-gain channel.
2023: and how do such pedals arrive on the market but none of the people displaying on youtube know how use them for extreme metal? This video gives the impression of a pedal that's good for one thing: rockers playing into a Fender trying to achieve more modded Marshall-like sound with greater bass and some resemblence of saturation. Dave: it would really help advertise your new pedal if you had a guitar player with you who knows how to play METAL (read: post-thrash) and NOT ROCK --specifically HOW TO PALM MUTE, CHUG and especially: how to do resonant chugs with half notes (or longer).
I just got the Metal Zone pedal, now I want this one! My favorite guitar is my 8 string Ibanez tuned down a full step....this pedal will make it sound like a BEAST
Ha! Check out that link for the Heavy…. So heavy it couldn’t be lifted onto the video! Where’s your clean tone?empress should just make that gate pedal on its own, would sell hardcore. Love this distortion , very complex.
This pedal is a pain in the ass. It most definitely not a plug and go. Hold both switches plug it in nothing. Hold bypass down unplug plug in. Nothing went on and on for 40 min finally worked great. 6 months later changed out a pedal another 20 min trying to get it to work. This Bs happened at a I gig I smashed it in the alley and used another guitar players Revv G3 easier plug n play.
Had the Empress Heavy, it never had the brutal ooompf that is needed when going into heavier territories that need a lot of thump as well as transparency. And it sounds like The Menace has the same problem, here in this video. The palm mute sounds round and undefined. it sounds like an overdrive more than a distortion. In that sense it sounds like an amp, an amp that needs a distortion to get the proper bite and clean chug. Sold the Heavy, have never regretted it.
I was impressed the minute I saw the Les Paul... with PAF pickups... Into a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp.... And you're still able to chug. I have one, it's a great pedal. I love the sweepable mids!!
That's exactly what we set out to do for this video! 😲
These guys seem to understand what type of people buy these pedals... NOT people who already have an ESP with active pickups and a Dual Rectifier stack!
@@longandmcquade I need to know if that Les Paul had Alnico II magnets or Alnico V. I have a guitar with Alnico II and, I cannot get a heavy chug out of it. I use a metal zone and I can get it to scream, but the E6 string always seems weak. My only option would be to put a Seymour Duncan JB (Alnico V) in the bridge. If that Les Paul in the video has Alnico II magnets then I can keep my Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups, and I will buy the Empress Heavy Menace. I will probably get the pedal anyway, but please let me know what magnets he was using.
@@suicidaleuphoria7012 Justin describes them as low-output so we're guessing Alnico II. Or even III, which is even lower output than II. And still tons of gain with the Menace. Just get it!
@@longandmcquade It is going on my pedal board.
Gotta love Empress
Just ordered this to replace my Empress Heavy on my compact travel pedalboard. Excited!
Which one do you like more (aside from the difference in size)? I’m having a hard time deciding between the two.
Awesome What a great sound what a great pedal Glad i already have my Heavy Menace 👍
Ordering one tonight after watching all the reviews. Gonna put it against my Swedish Steel to compare the chainsaw distortion level.
Got mine about a month ago. Love it.
Wow i Love this pedal
The Canadians nail it everytime 🫠
I have this Heavy Menace distortion since 3 days and it's impressive, the sound reproduces each note perfectly, cleanly, even with a lot of gain. Thanks to the "weight" button, the palm-mutes come out huge, heavier, louder! The highs come out without being aggressive or tiring. The gate is also super well calibrated! I had many hi-gain distortion pedals (Blackstar Dist-X, Boss Metalzone, EV Metalmuff, Guyatone MetalMonster...) and the Empress HM is far above. It transforms any tube amp clean channel into a Hi-gain channel.
Are you copying and pasting your comment on different videos? lol I read this exactly on another video for same pedal
@@Hugoknots I plead guilty, but in my defense it's a F***ing good distortion and I want everyone to know it!
@@gilleseckert6695 haha I appreciate that!!!
@@gilleseckert6695 does it clean up at all when you roll back the guitar volume?
@@Hugoknotsyeah, he is. 😂
Canadian no less!! Damn everything comes from china, japan and so on. GO CANADA!!🤘🤘
I just bought the Shredmaster. Oh well, I’ll just have another discussion with my wife about getting this then. This sounds awesome!
Tight !
Tight, tight, tight!
Dude, yes.
Sounds amazing. I’m wondering is this would be a step up from my Boss MT-2w, which I love. Anyone compared them?
Das ist wirklich geil...ich muss mir das kaufen....der Drang ist zu stark und ich bin zu schwach...:)
Wicked!
My next pedal 😊
Sabbath!
2023: and how do such pedals arrive on the market but none of the people displaying on youtube know how use them for extreme metal? This video gives the impression of a pedal that's good for one thing: rockers playing into a Fender trying to achieve more modded Marshall-like sound with greater bass and some resemblence of saturation.
Dave: it would really help advertise your new pedal if you had a guitar player with you who knows how to play METAL (read: post-thrash) and NOT ROCK --specifically HOW TO PALM MUTE, CHUG and especially: how to do resonant chugs with half notes (or longer).
I just got the Metal Zone pedal, now I want this one!
My favorite guitar is my 8 string Ibanez tuned down a full step....this pedal will make it sound like a BEAST
Ha! Check out that link for the Heavy…. So heavy it couldn’t be lifted onto the video! Where’s your clean tone?empress should just make that gate pedal on its own, would sell hardcore. Love this distortion , very complex.
empress are gréât pedals ❤
Agreed!
~ greetings from germany ~
WANT
:D
Me like me get
This pedal is a pain in the ass. It most definitely not a plug and go. Hold both switches plug it in nothing. Hold bypass down unplug plug in. Nothing went on and on for 40 min finally worked great. 6 months later changed out a pedal another 20 min trying to get it to work. This Bs happened at a I gig I smashed it in the alley and used another guitar players Revv G3 easier plug n play.
User error doesn’t mean it’s a bad pedal
Another expensive distortion pedal