Distortion fx unit recommendations

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Paul881

Paul881

Look Mom, I can play!
Hi. My first post in this particular forum.:)

Spatial fx units like the G Major and Lexicon's are fine units for what they do, but for that overdriven sound, top quality, would the new POD XT do the trick? Is it good enough? What alternatives should I look at? How about the Boss OD3? And if money was no object for a killer distortion fx?

Thanks.
 
If you are looking for a pedal, check out a Mesa or a Soldano...like $350-$400 each. If you want a rack I would just checkout a Mesa Preamp.

Now if you are a musician will a cash flow that isn't flowing very well, BIG MUFF, the RAT, for $50 are the best. I have both an love them to death. The Rat is more of a clean bluesy breakup to a full blown Marshall type distortion, the BigMuff is pure harmonic distortion the whole way. FILTHY. But filthy like you just went off roading and you enjoyed the hell out of it the whole way.

I recently got a Budda Phat Man and love it, its about $180 on clearance at CG, not the heaviest distortion, well not for heavy music, but definately more than heavy enough for anything other than metal. (not that I know what metal is.........haha....nevermind......) It a tube though so if you go direct you can get a nice smooth tonal attack breakup. The ZenMan has something like 25% more gain, so it might work out even better. Its the red one, the Phat Man is purple.
 
Can't let you come into the guitar forum without getting the tube snob point of view.;)
Get a tube amp. Crank the output tubes. No pedal or effect to date sounds as good as an overdriven tube amp. Power attenuators can help you do this at reasonable volumes. You can't go wrong with a Boogie or an older Marshall. Don't be fooled by the tube amp hybrids that have a pre amp tube but no output tubes.

Any distortion pedal with the effect almost off and the level cranked works nicely with a Marshall tube amp.

I've been fooled by PODs on occasion, but they usually can't deliver like an overdriven tube amp.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, more options than I though of. No one has mentioned the OD3 or SD! from Boss. Are they any good?
fprod south, you cannot be more of a tube snob than me, Marshall double stack man in my youth, many years ago. Now I only record at home, so I have to settle for second best:( I cannot justify the expense of a real tube amp, nor could I use it at anywher full blast.....I think my neighbours would notice! Mic'd up practice amps or small combo's are the limit of my use currently.

The POD XT is getting some good reviews, much better than the POD II (allegedly:rolleyes: )

Thanks again to everyone for posting their thoughts.
 
Paul881 said:
fprod south, you cannot be more of a tube snob than me, Marshall double stack man in my youth, many years ago. Now I only record at home, so I have to settle for second best:( I cannot justify the expense of a real tube amp, nor could I use it at anywher full blast.....I think my neighbours would notice! Mic'd up practice amps or small combo's are the limit of my use currently.
Click to expand...

The Marshall Power Brake is one of the best purchases I've ever made. Got it for $165 used. They probably have them on E-Bay. I'm cranking my JCM 800 2203 and my neighbors don't even know it!

Sure, attenuators degrade the sound quality. But my 100 watt head had been sitting untouched in my friend's basement for years. I'm using it all the time now.
 
If you're just recording, something like the pod is a good. But, I prefer the J-Station.
 
BigMuff is pure harmonic distortion the whole way. FILTHY. But filthy like you just went off roading and you enjoyed the hell out of it the whole way.



Yeah, I had a Big Muff Pi in the 70's. That thing would crank.
 
If you're recording, then check out the sansamp line. What kind of music are you into?

I don't recommend any non-modeller units unless you're micing an amp. Even some of the tube-units like the mesa boogie v-twin don't sound decent recorded direct unless you have a cabinet emulator like the ADA microcab. The V-Twin is great with an amp though... solid state or tube... it's just a kick ass pedal. Pricey though.
 
The BOSS pedal thing, hmmmmm, ya people like those things...I have a Roland EFX card in my recorder and the amp sims are awsome, it even has the DS-1, Fuzz, and Metal Zone, but I don't care much for those. I acually owned a Fuzz but i got rid of it for some stupid reason, it worked nice for soloing on my Acoustic/Electric.

If you are not a tube freak then get a low watt Marshall solid, they sound great. Checkout Ebay and see if you can find a low watt tube amp that you could crack. That would be my choice, but even a 15 watt tube is LOUD.

I have never used a pod or j station.
 
I would never again use a Boss distortion pedal. I can't get over how much the DS-1, DS-2 and Metal Zone suck.......
If you want a big distortion sound get a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier head, or some sort of Marshall.
Failing that, I got myself a POD and it's great for the distortion sound I'm looking for.
 
Neil Ogilvie said:
I would never again use a Boss distortion pedal. I can't get over how much the DS-1, DS-2 and Metal Zone suck.......
If you want a big distortion sound get a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier head, or some sort of Marshall.
Failing that, I got myself a POD and it's great for the distortion sound I'm looking for.
Click to expand...

Some good posts here, loads on info, thanks:)

Neil, I am considering the new POD XT, which one you got? Is the distortion scaleable from a little distortion to mega?

Maybe I should also consider getting a tube practice amp too:) The Digitech gnx2 looks interesting as well. Decisions, decisions:(
 
Barber Direct Drive. $99, hand-wired, killer range. You owe it to yourself to check it out.
 
BIG MUFF sovtek style...

I dont have one, my buddy does, but if he ever turns his head I will own one, those things kick ass...:cool:
 
i love my metal zone, but i do use it through a tube amp with an eq, and i play rather hard stuff, so my situation may be somewhat unique. i love the mesa v-twin, at least through a decent amp-way beefy-it's kind of like buying a boogie. good stuff. i have a marshall guv'nor, too-not really hard distortion, but plug it into a fender, and i swear it sounds like a marshall.
 
I have recently acquired the POD 2, not the XT, although to be honest I am very happy with the sound I get from it. I have heard there is very little difference between the XT and the POD 2 distortion sounds.
The POD is the most versatile and useful piece of equipment I have ever bought. In my opinion, everyone should have one.
Hope its helped in any way.

Neil
 
POP QUIZ

What Overdrive circuit that starts with a "D" cost $15,000?
 
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