Let’s get it out of the way, this pedal sounds best cranked. Known as “diming the controls,” the Behringer HM300 Heavy Metal Pedal’s circuit gained its legendary reputation by setting every control to 10 and letting the mayhem unfold. This gives it the characteristic chainsaw-like buzzing distorted tone by pushing the circuit to extreme levels of clipping. The sound of Swedish death metal was achieved with this pedal, which is also the reason why the original circuit has left such a significant legacy. If you need a distortion pedal to propel your tone to crushing new highs and deliver some of the most grinding textures available, the HM300 supplies it in abundance.
Death Metal in a pedal: distinctive tone, distinctive design. The Behringer HM300 Heavy Metal Pedal’s signature grinding tone comes from germanium diodes providing asymmetric clipping, which pushes the signal close to a square wave. This extreme clipping is reinforced by powerful EQ-shaping. First, the low peak is sitting right on the low E string of the guitar. This means chugging the bottom string is going to sound POWERFUL! There is then a huge dip in the mid-bass, which some people perceive as sounding muddy but is critical to the characteristic tone. The high peak boosts the prominent midrange, which at this stage is mostly comprised of odd-order harmonics, emphasizing ‘crunch.’ The ‘mid’ and ‘high’ frequency bands mostly overlap with each other, making the HM300 the ultimate angry power-chord machine. Finally, there’s so much content at 1000Hz that the EQ stage itself is clipping constantly when you have the High control maxed out. This is a concise version of how the HM300 creates such mammoth fuzzy tones and creates its unique grinding sound signature.
Features:
– Provides sought after rock & heavy metal distortion of the 1980s
– Ultra-high gain circuitry to give thickest & most obscene distortion with endless sustain
– Dedicated distortion, 2-band EQ, and level controls
– Status LED for effect on/off & battery check
– Operates on 9-volt battery or the Behringer PSU-SB 9V DC power supply (sold separately)
– Electronic on/off switch for highest signal integrity in bypass mode
Specifications:
– Input Connector: 1/4 TS
– Impedance: 500kΩ
– Output Connector: 1/4 TS
– Impedance: 1kΩ
– Power Supply: 100-240V 50/60Hz
– Power Connector: 2 mm DC Jack Negative Centre
– Battery: 9V Type 6LR61
– Power Consumption: 30 mA
– Weight: 0.33 kg
– Dimensions:
– Height: 54 mm
– Width: 70 mm
– Depth: 123 mm
