Distortion

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sonarstar

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There are so many different distortions out there that finding one that seems to fit well is one of the most difficult choices a guitarist makse other than his gutiar of course. Personally I have never found one that suits me perfectly. Boss pedals never seem to give that sound that you hear on good recordings but then even some 200 dollar pedals aren't much better. I do own a Marshall Jackhammer and a Zoom Hyper Lead. The Zoom seems to be great for grungyer sounds but the jackhamer certainly has a unique sound that is farily good. So what are the pedals that Creed, Limp Bizkit, U2, and the like use. Even in a nive stack amp and a USA strat that phat sound usually never makes it. Just looking for some other opinions on pedals and what sounds good.
 
I have found that the secret to good distortion is more the way the guitar is played, how the rest of the band plays, and how the song is written.
Of course, a decent distortion sound is also essential, but I'm a perfectionist.....
I've found some of the best distortion I've heard is through the dirty channel on a Marshall with lots of bass on the EQ and a little of the highs taken out (and I mean a little - one or two notches). That sounds sooooooo Phat. It's what the guitarist in my band uses. Amazing. We play a sort of Skacore - kinda Thrice crossed with Operation Ivy.
As for pedals, I'd suggest a Dane Electra (I think thats how its spelt......). I know quite a few good guys who use them and they get a full, think tone. Kurt Cobain used a Boss DS-1 on all his records, but I found it to be really thin when I used it.
BTW, everytime I've heard/tested a distortion its been running from Humbuckers. Usually SG's, Strats or (on the odd occasion) Les Pauls.
If you've got a lot of money, you could go for a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier head..... Oh my god..... Distortion to die for.
But me? I'm saving for a POD :)

Just my 2 cents.
 
I don't know that Limp Bizkit or Creed even know what a distortion pedal is. You see, when you get a certain amount of money, you can, well, just buy a bunch of amps and mix and match and switch on and off.

I am sure they have a nice rack full of EQs and processors though.
 
Limp Bizkit does use a couple Roland JC120's for their clean and chorus tone. I believe it is a few Mesa's for the distortion.
 
As far as distortion pedals go,.. I wouldn't even touch a Boss (and especially not a Zoom... don't even look at digital. :p) I would suggest trying out some of the lesser known pedals made by actual guitarists. (instead of some assembly-line, board-room, mass-produced hunk of plastic. :p) Try maybe looking into Maxon, or BJF Electronics.

I will admit, though.. POD's are pretty impressive (for digital). If you need an "all-in-one", instead of mixing and matching a bunch of pedals, then that's a viable option.

[edit] Just to clarify, for the confused :p , the POD is only viable if you don't have access to the "real" way of doing it (i.e. Marshal stacks and what not) [/edit]

WATYF
 
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In 30 years of playing I have been through a lot of pedals and boxes (god am I that old). About the only way I know, to get the phat sound is to use a great tube amp through some really great pickups. Simulations and stomp boxes just can't duplicate it. Some get close, but at high power they just seem to fall apart.

The other thing many guitarists overlook is the gain knob on the guitar. There is a fine line where you can achieve that perfect sound (a clean distoration is the way I describe it). A lot of the boxes out there simply take the gain knob out of the picture and you will get the same sound no matter where it is set.

I do have a POD and a Peavey Profex and a lot of other stomp boxes. They are fun to play with, but my favorite setup is a compressor into a Cry baby into my Twin reverb or Marchall stack (or both). Nothing can match it as far as I am concerned, for what I play (blues, jazz and metal).

The pickups do matter a lot as well, but many people don't see it because of the boxes they use. Feeding directly into an amp is where good pickups and different pickups show up. My strat and my SG have very different sounds when used direct, but through a POD, they sound the same as a squire or an epi or each other.

Needless to say, I am not a big fan of boxes anymore. The sound I am after is the Page, Clapton, SRV type of sounds. The only way to truely get it is to spend some big dollars and get the amp and guitars to get it.
 
I agree with juststarting out - don't expect too much out of a stomp box.
One of my greatest purchases was the Marshall Power Brake ($165 used). This has given me the ability to get all the distortion I need from overdriving the tubes, but at reasonable volumes. I'm sure the attenuator detracts from the tone - but hey, it's better than using a pedal.
When I do use a pedal, I crank the volume knob on the pedal and turn the distortion knob almost to zero. A cheap overdrive box is fine for this. If you're playing through a tube amp, give that a try. I've never tried a clean boost pedal, but that might help too.
 
...good lord, I become one of those engineer because in the past, everytime I had my own uniq distortion sound (...as I consider) and about to put it on the next track, then the engineer always mess my point. Although I finally put it there, he will mess it in the mix. I dunno much about many amps, since I only own regular fender amps and JCM800, I'll look for sound with pedal or stompbox instead. I know it's not that cool, but combination of Boss, Zoom, and Korg do me just great. At least, that's what I have... ;)
 
Listening to the U2 song on the radio, it sounds like the edge is playing through a very nice Marshall jcm or a custom one off. All the classic guitar sounds are amp heads not pedals. There are a couple of pedals made famous by certian artists, but they are still run into a decent amp.
 
Tone = fingers + strings + guitar body + pickups (and other onboard passive electronics) + TUBE AMP

One can get monster tone with a beefy guitar and a solid TUBE AMP.

It helps to be able to tickle those strings just right....
 
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