best distortion pedal?

  • Thread starter Thread starter POLease
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Jason001, your right that Santana and SRV use/used tube screamers, but not stock TS-9's buddy. SRV used the legendary TS-808, I know that for sure. I don't know about Santana, but if he uses a stock TS-9, then he's a moron. He's obviously has the money to splurge on a frickin distortion pedal (TS-808's run around $350). He might have a moddified TS-9, but I doubt, cuz the Analog Mike ( www.analogmike.com , tons of stuff on tube screamers) usually advertises the celebrity's pedals he's modded. He did two for Kenny Wayne Shepard. BTW, Mike Piera (Analog Mike) is THE person to go to for modifying stock TS-9's to TS-808 circuitry. He can virtually make a stock TS-9 into a TS-808, through and through, save the actual box. It only cost $40. You can also buy TS-9's that have already been modifyied by him for $165. Oh, and Jason, you won't find a TS-808 in your Musicians Friend catalog. They stopped making them in '82. But they are easily found at guitar shows and such for the fore-mentioned price. Hope this gave anyone that wanted to know a little insight about tube screamers.
 
yo, the switches on those DOD's break all the time, but theyre also a five dollar part! get it repaired!

xoxo
 
Be careful! If the tone you're looking for is that classic overdriven tube sound, you can't get it without a classic amp! A lot of great players swear by a dual TS-808 setup in addition to their nice amp, though.
But don't get fooled by the good TS/bad TS hype. What do you get when you spend an extra $40 on the "good" TS? A fancy metal case and a better switch. There is VIRTUALLY NO difference in tone.
And those guys who'll charge you $40+ to get your TS back to TS-808 specs? Don't waste your money. You know how much those parts cost? About $5. It's really easy to learn how to perform that mod yourself.
Now, your pedal won't BE a TS-808, but you'll probably be looking at about 95% of the tone, for a fraction of the price.
 
I dig the IBANEZ SM-7 SMASH BOX. If you like lots of gain, this could be your pedal. Plus, it's has a built-in noise gate.
 
I use an old RAT and a Sovtek Big Muff for two totally different sounds. Sometimes I use both together. Ouch! Gotta have a good amp to start with, though. WARNING! My bandmate has a newer RAT and it doesn't sound anywhere near as nice as mine. I don't know why.
 
Very subjective question.

My favorite distortion device is a cranking small tube amp.

My favorite pedals are the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 and the Blackstone Mosfet. Both have true bypass.

I use the Blackstone the most and it is quite a unique piece of kit and not many around. They have a website that you can check out http://www.mindspring.com/~j.blackstone/

The best part is that it uses the resistance of the pickup as part of its filtering mechanism. This means you can radically alter your drive with the volume knob on your guitar.

Spong
 
I have to agree with spong. So far the best distortion I've been able to get was with a blackface Fender VibroChamp. I borrowed it from a friend for a little while. Cranked up to 10, the tone was just terrific when I used a Stratocaster. Turning that thing up to 10 will get you some decent volume, but it won't make you go deaf. It's a good level.
Sounded VERY flabby with my Les Paul though. My friend says it should be better when he replaces the amp's speaker. We'll see.
 
I use a MXR micro amp connected to a
VOX tube tone.
This setup makes gold tones from
SRV to Eric Johnson style.
 
I would definitely check out the Sovtek Bigmuff. They are one of the most awesome distortions I've ever come across and it's great for bass as well.
 
Or maybe if you had cash to burn you could check out the new line 6 distortion pedal which is apparently heaps of distortions built into one box. If the POD was anything to go by, this should be a wild peice of gear.
 
Remember Less is more. Get a Tube screamer and a respectable tube amp. Back off the distortion and crank up the AMP. With some tweeking, you can get from Page to SRV. If you must use extreme amounts of gain, try the Danelectro Fab Tone. This will give you more gain than you can handle despite it's mild looks. Hope this helps.
 
Can't beat a tube amp for sound quality..
But if ya gotta stomp, try a Boss Feedbacker/Distortion, a handy little pedal that lays down layers of distortion real well. But give serious thought to a tube amp, they sound so much more real...
 
I'm with Boots, I use an Ibanez SM-57 Smashbox, and it just rocks. For me, the Zoom 505 distortions tones were too noisy and thin, but maybe it was my gear. Try pedals out at the store and see what sounds right to you.
 
Check out anything by Black Cat effects they are all handbuilt or z electonics as well,nice pedals with alot of balls and little noise for the most part anyway.
 
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