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===Metal===
'''Metal''' is based on distorted treble frequencies over others. The bass comes through clean and tight, only compressed, while the high-end is filled with saturated, harmonic overtones. Notes and power chords in riffs have a tight response - all the notes can be fairly clearly distinguished, even when playing at fast tempos. Chords have most notes come through well enough to be distinguished, but can get too harsh and noisy for bigger chords. Palm mutes sound thick and rattle the walls, while having the signature ''djent'' sound in the upper mids and highs, emphasizing each stroke.
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== Pre-EQ ==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Freq (HZHz) !! Peak !! Lacking
|-
| 0-150 || Muddy || Thin
|}
For Pre-EQ, usually there's no need to make high-amplitude, narrow-width cuts/boosts - they tend to sound bad. I like wider, somewhat-subtle cuts/boosts. The first thing I'll adjust is bass. If the distortion is a bit too rough and has a muddy, low-end breakup, I like to reduce bass. I like to use a low sheft, with about -2 db and start with frequency around 300 HZHz. This should mildly clean up the low end. Then I reduce the gain further and try to notice when the bass gets totally clear and tight. You don't want to cut too much or you lose tone. Then I start to reduce the frequency, trying to see where I get the most punch without losing tightness. Usually this is around 150 HZHz, but it depends.
You can do the same thing for the highs but in reverse. Do a high shelf +4 db boost and slowly move the frequency downwards from 5 kHZ kHz to around 1 kHZkHz. You should find a sweet spot that adds extra harmonic richness to the tone but isn't too sharp and harsh.
You can also use parametric bands. Some suggestions are to cut around 500-800 HZ Hz - this should make the distortion a little rougher, but too much will make the mids too weak. Or boost around 1 kHZ kHz to 1.5 kHZkHz. This gives the tone a Tube Screamer-like effect, getting a bit more djent to the tone, but can sound a bit like a cocked wah pedal if overdone. You can also try the exact reverse to getter a smoother, creamy, liquid-lead tone.
I don't have a preference of parametric EQ vs. graphic EQ here. Usually you can make settings on either one for the exact same effect, because I'm not doing any narrow or extreme boosts/cuts. I just find it generally easier to find the sweet spots using a parametric EQ - trying to adjust the graphic means moving more sliders (or turning more knobs), but it does have the advantage that you can visually see how you're impacting the signal.
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== Boosts ==
Some pedals are purely called boosters, or treble boosters. These are more common in vintage rigs, used to overdrive amps with a rather bright tone. I tend to find they can overemphasize treble for modern purposes; however, they are simpler to use.
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== Mixing Multiple Distortions ==
=== Multiple Distortion Pedals ===
This is usually a recipe for disaster, but sometimes you want that kind of out-of-control tone. Multiple pedals works ok here because they typically have less resonance and a tighter response than tube distortion. Thus, you can contrast the crazy distortion with dynamic control and mutes. You usually want to mix a fuzz pedal with a distortion, both with medium (crunch-level) distortion.
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== Compression vs. Distortion ==
You can also try using the compressor after the distortion, but I find this tends to over-emphasize distortion in attack and sounds a bit artificial. Of course, this is a bit different when adding a limiter in the DAW, which is also post-distortion compression. That tends to help achieve loudness in a mix but isn't quite what I'm talking about here, which is a larger compression used to thicken up the entire guitar tone rather than tame peaks. Even so, a mild compression can work well.
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== Battling Harshness or Thin-ness ==
Even when following all of the above advice, you may find the distortion is still too harsh or thin. The first place to look is the cab. Closed back cabs tend to have more bass and low-end resonance that thickens up the tone. Another place to look is post-distortion EQ. Distortion by nature adds high-frequency overtones - if they run amuck, the tone will be harsh - try reducing presence (3+ kHZkHz) or adding a low-pass filter. Be sure to naturally roll off the highs, and don't kill them - just de-emphasize them relative to the rest of the tone. This is particularly important as you increase volume to gig levels.
Finally, reverb is not your enemy. It doesn't matter if you are the most metal guitarist on the planet; reverb is necessary to make any tone sound more natural and pleasing. That doesn't mean you need some cave-like ambiance on a djenty rhythm tone. Normally you are playing in a room, which will have natural ambiance, no matter how much dampening material it has. But if you are using headphones or right in front your cabinet, things tend to sound more harsh. A reverb effect at around 8-12% mix can make a huge difference. A very mild pre-delay (5-20 ms) opens it up a little more. And if your reverb has a dampening control (or is designed to dampen (dull) the reverb as it persists), you can get away with larger mix and decay time parameters without making the reverb take over the tone. Lead tones can always sound nasal or harsh without any reverb or delay - I consider one or both absolutely essential for a great lead tone.