Distortion pedals

[dogbiscuit]

Hey,
My bro says he would like a good distortion pedal for christmas. I'm also thinking I would like to get a nice one sometime too as I've had enough of digital distortion. What are good ones to look out for. Personally speaking I'd like a good dookie or foo fighters sound, maybe even pumpkins. Is there a good all round one?
Without going into what my entire rig should consist of to acheive these sounds! Just looking for a good pedal, to perhaps build a board around.

[pikingrin]

There's an old DOD distortion pedal that is bright flourescent pink, can't remember which one it is, that gets a good pumpkins sound when you run it through a tube amp. You'd have to find it on Ebay though, I think I paid about $10.00 for mine, don't have the model though it's been in storage with all of my other pedals since I moved into my apartment...

Other than that, I have heard awesome things out of one of the classic (or re-issue) tube screamers... Pretty versatile little pedal but, again, you gotta make sure you put it through a tube amp to get the most out of them.

[punkin]

ZVex "Super-HardOn". It's a killer pedal but it's on the spendy side. Not so much for metal-like material but it's a sweet pedal for classic rock and over-driven blooze

[Vagodeoz]

How much is your budget?
The allmighty metal zone is an option.
I have the FAB Metal distortion (15$) and outperforms its price by far.

[JasonBird]

get yourself an older tube screamer that's been modified by Keeley or Analogman. You will love it! Not cheap, but they are worth every red cent!!


MY $.02

JasonBird

[Somnium7]

Originally Posted by Vagodeoz

The allmighty metal zone is an option.

Yes this is a pretty flexible pedal and gives a range of tones. I've always been partial to the ProCo Rat myself and they aren't too hard to find.

[ermghoti]

Originally Posted by dogbiscuit

Hey,
My bro says he would like a good distortion pedal for christmas. I'm also thinking I would like to get a nice one sometime too as I've had enough of digital distortion. What are good ones to look out for. Personally speaking I'd like a good dookie or foo fighters sound, maybe even pumpkins. Is there a good all round one?
Without going into what my entire rig should consist of to acheive these sounds! Just looking for a good pedal, to perhaps build a board around.

Where have you been getting digital distortion from?

Even though you've demurred, answers are meaningless without knowing what your current rig is. Distortion pedals (generally) work with the amp. An asstactular amp with a good pedal will sound a fuzzier asstacular.

[JPXTom]

Originally Posted by JasonBird

get yourself an older tube screamer that's been modified by Keeley or Analogman. You will love it! Not cheap, but they are worth every red cent!!


MY $.02

JasonBird

How much does that usually run, price wise?

[robin watson]

Originally Posted by punkin

ZVex "Super-HardOn". It's a killer pedal but it's on the spendy side. Not so much for metal-like material but it's a sweet pedal for classic rock and over-driven blooze

Priced out of the stratosphere - Super Hard On pedal: 9 (or is it 8?) components on a piece of veroboard, a couple of jack sockets and a switch in a Hammond case. $25 of parts and 90 minutes of soldering.

[mattkw80]

If this helps at all , Smashing Pumpkin's front man Billy Corgan was a Big Muff guy.

Electro Harmonix Big Muff pedals are anywhere from $50 to $100, depending on which one.

(New York, Mini, Russion, Double Muff, etc.)

[fuzzrhythm]

that DOD pedal was called "Big Pig" right?

those distortion tones you mentioned mostly came from Marshall amps in combination with a Big Muff or ProCo Rat. You might also try a Marshall distortion like the Gov'nor or Jackhammer.

[thebigcheese]

I absolutely love my Digitech Distortion Factory. I'm sure all the original pedals it models sound better, but for me, having access to 7 different distortion models on one pedal for $100 is a pretty sweet deal. Regardless of how well it models the original pedals, it still sounds absolutely phenomenal.

[dogbiscuit]

Originally Posted by ermghoti

Where have you been getting digital distortion from?

Even though you've demurred, answers are meaningless without knowing what your current rig is. Distortion pedals (generally) work with the amp. An asstactular amp with a good pedal will sound a fuzzier asstacular.

The reason I haven't metioned my current rig is because I haven't gigged for some time and have been mainly recording on my pc using a V-amp2 and Pod XT. So I don't have a gigging rig. But when I get gigging again I'd like to build from scratch, get a new amp and build a pedal board. So for now, I'm just trying to establish what a good distortion pedal is.
Cheers for the tips so far. I like the sound of the Rat!

[Creamyapples1]

I'm going to go with the Keeley Modded DS-1. Love that freakin' thing! I've got the AD9 Mod too and I can't say enough good things about it!


http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=10

[Kevin Deschwazi]

You could build a clone of the DOD 250 overdrive or the MXR distoriton+.

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/250.html

They do fuzz and shredmaster clones too.

[ermghoti]

Originally Posted by dogbiscuit

The reason I haven't metioned my current rig is because I haven't gigged for some time and have been mainly recording on my pc using a V-amp2 and Pod XT. So I don't have a gigging rig. But when I get gigging again I'd like to build from scratch, get a new amp and build a pedal board. So for now, I'm just trying to establish what a good distortion pedal is.
Cheers for the tips so far. I like the sound of the Rat!

Ah. Not to over-elaborate, but I suspect running a pedal into a modeler won't do much for you. I'd worry about the amp first, and then play around with pedals until you find a combo you like. The old Rats are cool, as are the TS types, the Muff is it's own thing, then you can go to the boutiquey stuff, millions of options.

[Somnium7]

Originally Posted by Kevin Deschwazi

You could build a clone of the DOD 250 overdrive or the MXR distoriton+.

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/250.html

They do fuzz and shredmaster clones too.

If you go the DIY route I highly recommend the Thunderchief.
http://www.runoffgroove.com/thunderchief.html

I built this one and find it very nice. I added switches for some of the mods listed at the bottom of the page as well as a switch to change the input impedance. While I usually use this pedal on synthesizers I have played with it using my wife's Epiphone and got a really nice range of styles from it. As advertised it will give you that VH tone too.
Note, they have a new version of this pedal now called Thor.

About the Rat, I used to have a very old one, looked like it went through WWII. Not sure how different the new ones sound but I have seen the schematics and there are a few minor differences. I modded my old Rat by swapping the original plastic LM308 for a metal can version. This noticeably reduced the annoying hiss my pedal made.

[mikko/boogie]

you can find dave grohl's set up on guitargeek (dot) com. A bit pricy rig tho' so maybe I'll just 2nd The Rat, or maybe suggest a Little Big Muff Pi (more flexible than regular big muff).

[Kirk Markarian]

I've never had a problem with my Little Big Muff Pi by Electro-Harmonix. I play experimental synthsizers through it. It is a fuzz more than a distortion. So, less pure square wave, and more chaotic, but it's a nice pedal and it is very versatile. I can get many tones/timbres from it.

Sounds great on guitar and bass too!

[NL5]

Originally Posted by JasonBird

get yourself an older tube screamer that's been modified by Keeley or Analogman. You will love it! Not cheap, but they are worth every red cent!!


MY $.02

JasonBird

Yep, a Keeley 808 into a nice tube amp is a wonderful thing........

[MOFO Pro]

Originally Posted by Kirk Markarian

I've never had a problem with my Little Big Muff Pi by Electro-Harmonix. I play experimental synthsizers through it. It is a fuzz more than a distortion. So, less pure square wave, and more chaotic, but it's a nice pedal and it is very versatile. I can get many tones/timbres from it.

Sounds great on guitar and bass too!

I loved my big muff in high school... I could torture a solo, totally drunk off my ass... and no-one could even tell

[mattkw80]

Wow those build you own kits are so cool.

Wish I would have known about that 3 years ago - I built my own off a plan with $50 worth a parts - but it went up in toxic black smoke, and then of couse you have no idea which parts you can save, and which are toast.

Has anyone here built there own ?

[mikemorgan]

I'll third, forth and fifth the Big Muff, but I've heard great things about the Radial Tonebone Classic.

[mattkw80]

Yeah I've owned both the New York and the Russian.

Both great.

When my son was 2 - he pulled the russian apart knob by knob, so it died, and I bought the New York - but last week ordered the Russian re-issue for my brother.

I'd like to try the double muff - but can't see how that wouldn't just be a muddy mess.

Originally Posted by mikemorgan

I'll third, forth and fifth the Big Muff, but I've heard great things about the Radial Tonebone Classic.

[DrewPeterson7]

Originally Posted by ermghoti

Ah. Not to over-elaborate, but I suspect running a pedal into a modeler won't do much for you. I'd worry about the amp first, and then play around with pedals until you find a combo you like. The old Rats are cool, as are the TS types, the Muff is it's own thing, then you can go to the boutiquey stuff, millions of options.

Especially since the XT does have a Tube Screamer emulator that can be used as a boost in front of all the models.

Honestly, if you're looking to put a live rig together, I'd pass on a distortion pedal for the time being and focus on getting an amp whose distortion sound you like. A good enough amp, and you won't NEED a distortion. I stopped using my Metal Zone when I bought my first Mesa (a Rocket-44, relatively affordable) and I only bought my first overdrive recently, a Bodenhamer Electronics Chaos-modded TS9, to do the Andy Sneap thing and juice the front end a little. And, half the time, I don't even bother to hook it up, the amp sounds way better for lead without it.

A good two-channel amp and a footswitch will give you way more mileage on a budget than a distortion pedal and an amp.