HM-3 Hyper Metal

I got this from eBay a week ago for $33.50.  It was one of those pedals I plugged in and said, "Yeah. This is a keeper."  GREAT Slash-like solo sound from the Bridge position humbucker, makes it sound like a neck!  I was floored by it.  For rhythm, it does sound like a fuzz, and it drops some of the mids out of your tone.  Allows for massive bottom and lowermids, though, I can't complain.  It completely changes the sound of whatever is going into it.  So, it's more like you're playing the pedal than the guitar, but it's a fun sound!  Step on the pedal, and boom!  Sabbath-like distorto-fuzz. So, great solo tones, much better than the DS-2 I just unloaded, and it gives you more drive than an SD-1 or OD-2.  It just sounds meaner and more metal than those pedals, which try to make a natural amp sound.  (The SD-1 is a great sounding overdrive, of course.)  This is an unnatural sound, but it rocks pretty darn hard.  Finger-picked riffs sound great, and there is a boatload of sustain, though I am using it with a high-output humbucker (DiMarzio Breed, astounding pickup!)  I've never owned a fuzz-like effect before and I can't believe what I was missing.  I've always tried to go for more "natural" sounding things, but now I know that make that wasn't the only way to get hard rock and metal sounds.  I used to have an old HM-2 in '87 and I never liked that, but I think that my pickups sucked back then and probably had no mids, plus I made the classic mistake of cranking the treble.  You just can't do that on a Boss pedal, there's too much leeway there.

The reliability on these things is not in question, typically.

The lower the drive and the less you mess with the E.Q., the better it sounds. 

Love the new "Boss Book", it's got waveforms of all the weird distortions they've made over the years, and sound samples!  But I don't like their new stuff (COSM=BLEECH) and I have never attempted to deal with them directly.

The litany.  I have been playing rock and metal for more than 20 years now.  I have owned Gibsons but I prefer Ibanez.  I have owned Marshalls, but I sometimes prefer Crate.  I have swapped pickups enough to know what's good and what isn't.  I would definately get it again if I had to for some reason.  This helps make music because it's a great sound to play with, a lot of mojo, though if anything, yes, it could use more mids.  Pump the bass, cut the treble just a touch, set the drive at medium, and rock out.  I am VERY happy with this purchase.

when i first plugged this pedal in, i almost expected it to be a metalzone without the mids controls, but alas, it was much better. where do i start?! for one thing, the distortion knob ACTUALLY TURNS DOWN unlike my metalzone, and the EQ's are never too harsh nor too muddy. It's also a very quiet pedal, just like other bosses. The one possible drawback that ive found is that while the pedal can be dialed in to produce a heavy rhythm sound, or manipulated to create a singing lead tone,it can never do both at once, either the heavy sound's barred mids prevent the lead from standing out in the mix, or the lead setting's sustain makes fast or complex playing muddled and hard to differenciate. This is alright though because i don't use this pedal for leadwork, i use my DS-1 or MXR Dist+. This pedal is very flexible, it ranges from a heavy overdrive to over the top 80's and 90's metal tones. it can also get classic rock sounds, distortion good with open chords, and modern rock sounds. In fact, it can produce the sounds of all my other gain pedals combined, minus my fuzzbox.

it's built as well as any of my other pedals, and on top of that it's brand new, so yes, i can depend on yet another BOSS pedal

I bought this pedal off ebay, mint condition never out of the box. It's very simple to get a good sound out of it, because it is merely a level and distortion control, and two mix controls, which control the lows and highs respectively. The manual was excellent and gave many good setting examples, which actually sounded like the tones they were meant to produce, unlike many other BOSS settings examples.

i play fusion rock, rock, metal, classical, and my own music i haven't a name for yet. I love this pedal because it's flexible and practical, and is also another piece of BOSS's discontinued pedal history. haha. my current setup is as follows: Gibson SG                                 Crybaby Wah                                 BOSS CS-3 Compressor                                 MXR DIST+                                 BOSS DS-1                                 BOSS Hyper Fuzz                                 Boss Super Feedbacker and Distortion                                 Boss Hyper Metal!!! yeah!                                 Boss Metal Zone                                 Boss BF 3 Flanger                                 Boss Chorus Ensemble                                 Boss DD 3 Digital Delay                                 Peavey Studio Pro    or                                 Marshall SS half stack. The only thing i need now is a phase shifter, and maybe an old HEavy Metal pedal, so i'll have all 3 heavy metals. or is the new metal core one of them as well?? meh. i've been playing for 5 years but i've taken it seriously and i can play up there with anyone. This pedal is perhaps the best distortion pedal i've ever come across, and i am so glad, and lucky, that i came across it.