MXR Fullbore Metal Settings Guide
High-gain distortion with a 3-band EQ, scoop control, and built-in noise gate. Designed from the ground up for metal applications — gate, EQ, and gain all in one unit.
Used by: Modern Metal approach, Dimebag approach, Tom Morello
The best MXR Fullbore Metal settings start with: Gain at 7/10, Level at 5/10, Bass at 5/10, Mid at 5/10, Treble at 5/10, Gate at 3/10. Adjust from there based on your amp, guitar, and room volume. For Metal: Gain 8/10, Level 5/10, Bass 5/10, Mid 5/10, Treble 6/10, Gate 4/10.
⚡ Start Here — Recommended Settings
| Control | Starting Position | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Gain | 7/10 | Crunch → Extreme |
| Level | 5/10 | Silent → Loud |
| Bass | 5/10 | Thin → Heavy |
| Mid | 5/10 | Scooped → Present |
| Treble | 5/10 | Dark → Bright |
| Gate | 3/10 | Off → Aggressive |
These are universal starting points. Adjust based on your amp, guitar, and room. Scroll down for genre-specific settings and artist-documented positions.
What Each Control Does
Recommended Starting Settings
Safe starting positions for any style. Adjust from here based on your amp and room.
All values on a 0–10 scale. These are starting points — fine-tune by ear.
Settings by Genre
High Gain, Gate engaged for noise control between riffs, EQ balanced. The built-in gate is the Fullbore's practical advantage over other metal distortions — no additional noise gate pedal needed for most applications.
Maximum Gain, raised Bass, moderate Treble with Scoop engaged. The scooped mid character with pushed Bass produces the American death metal voicing — tighter and more surgical than the Swedish HM-2 approach.
Moderate Gain, Mid above noon without Scoop — the Fullbore as a versatile hard rock distortion. Raised Mid produces a more classic, less-scooped character that cuts through in a band mix without disappearing into the bass frequencies.
High Gain, tighter Bass, brighter Treble, aggressive Gate. The tight, articulate pick attack of thrash metal requires controlled bass response — lower Bass than typical metal setting prevents flab on fast alternate-picked runs.
Artist Settings
Documented settings used by professional guitarists on this unit.
The Fullbore covers the territory of the boosted Mesa Dual Rectifier that Metallica's later recordings use. High Gain, balanced EQ, Gate engaged — the same essential approach of high-gain amp with noise gate, translated to a compact pedal.
Slightly scooped Mid with bright Treble and high Gain — the Pantera approach to high-gain distortion. Dimebag used custom-modified amps, but the Fullbore at these settings captures the basic voicing: aggressive, slightly scooped, with the Gate preventing silence between aggressive riffs.
Moderate Gain with raised Mid — Morello's approach is about a strong mid-forward distortion that cuts through without the extreme scooping of death metal. The Fullbore at Gain 6 with Mid above noon produces his aggressive but articulate rhythm character.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- The built-in Gate is the Fullbore's most practical feature — set it just above the amp noise floor (Gate 2–3 for most amps) to eliminate hiss without cutting note tails.
- The Scoop switch engages a fixed mid-cut. Start with Scoop OFF and adjust Mid manually — Scoop is a dramatic preset that works for specific styles but is too much for many applications.
- Gain at maximum into a clean amp produces fizzy, unfocused distortion — the Fullbore sounds best at Gain 7–8 where saturation is high but clarity is retained.
- Running the Fullbore into a slightly dirty amp (not a clean amp) produces a more organic, less processed distortion character — the amp's own gain stage adds warmth behind the pedal's hard clipping.
- Use the Bass control to adjust for guitar tuning — drop-tuned guitars need Bass around 4–5 to prevent flabby low strings; standard-tuned guitars can use Bass at 5–6.
FAQ
MXR Fullbore Metal — Common Questions
Best starting settings for MXR Fullbore Metal: Gain at 7/10, Level at 5/10, Bass at 5/10, Mid at 5/10, Treble at 5/10, Gate at 3/10. Adjust from there based on your guitar, room, and playing style.
For Metal: Gain 8/10, Level 5/10, Bass 5/10, Mid 5/10, Treble 6/10, Gate 4/10. High Gain, Gate engaged for noise control between riffs, EQ balanced. The built-in gate is the Fullbore's practical advantage over other metal distortions — no additional noise gate pedal needed for most applications.
For Death Metal: Gain 9/10, Level 5/10, Bass 6/10, Mid 4/10, Treble 5/10, Gate 5/10. Maximum Gain, raised Bass, moderate Treble with Scoop engaged. The scooped mid character with pushed Bass produces the American death metal voicing — tighter and more surgical than the Swedish HM-2 approach.
Gain: Preamp saturation. The Fullbore starts aggressive at minimum Gain and reaches extreme saturation at maximum. (Crunch to Extreme). Level: Output volume. Set to match or exceed bypassed signal for solo level boost. (Silent to Loud). Bass: Low-frequency content. The Fullbore's Bass is voiced specifically for metal — tight at noon, heavy above. (Thin to Heavy). Mid: Midrange emphasis. The Scoop switch independently controls mid-scoop — Mid knob fine-tunes from there. (Scooped to Present). Treble: High-frequency attack. High Treble with Gain at max can become fizzy into bright amps. (Dark to Bright). Scoop: Engages a preset mid-scoop EQ — reduces midrange for the classic American scooped metal sound. (Off to On). Gate: Built-in noise gate. Threshold-style — higher Gate engages the gate at louder signal levels, silencing hiss faster. (Off to Aggressive)
The built-in Gate is the Fullbore's most practical feature — set it just above the amp noise floor (Gate 2–3 for most amps) to eliminate hiss without cutting note tails. The Scoop switch engages a fixed mid-cut. Start with Scoop OFF and adjust Mid manually — Scoop is a dramatic preset that works for specific styles but is too much for many applications. Gain at maximum into a clean amp produces fizzy, unfocused distortion — the Fullbore sounds best at Gain 7–8 where saturation is high but clarity is retained. Running the Fullbore into a slightly dirty amp (not a clean amp) produces a more organic, less processed distortion character — the amp's own gain stage adds warmth behind the pedal's hard clipping. Use the Bass control to adjust for guitar tuning — drop-tuned guitars need Bass around 4–5 to prevent flabby low strings; standard-tuned guitars can use Bass at 5–6.
Modern Metal approach settings: Gain 8/10, Level 5/10, Bass 5/10, Mid 5/10, Treble 6/10, Gate 4/10. The Fullbore covers the territory of the boosted Mesa Dual Rectifier that Metallica's later recordings use. High Gain, balanced EQ, Gate engaged — the same essential approach of high-gain amp with noise gate, translated to a compact pedal.
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