HardRock distortions?

[Hegs]

Hi, I have a fender squire, and peavy studio pro amp and im after a distortion pedal which i can use satifactorily (?!) for both live performance in a rock band and recording. Basically, the sound I want is hard rock, possibly creeping slightly into the metal genre. Though i know i have crap equipment, the sound i would ultimately like would be similar to ACDC and the Darkness. I just got a Boss Metal Zone, but it just seems too heavy and loses too much of the guitars tone. I can take the metal zone back, so does anyone know of any pedals which may suit me better?


Thanks a lot

 

[Lee123]

IMHO...the metal Zone is the best boss pedal for distortion. You can dial in most distortion types with it. Try playing with the settings a little more. If you are after a more creamy tone....try something like the blues driver.....

Also, I used to own a Peavey Studio Amp....great for practice, but you might want to invest in a better amp....IMHO....

Lee.

 

[spoonie g]

the metal zone is a bucket of bees. Way too compressed. The sound you mention (ac/dc, darkness) can be had with the marshall jmp's from the late 70's, being that that was what was used to create them. They have a pretty fat sounding low-medium gain grind, especially for a Marshall. As far as a pedal that can capture that, it depends on how close you want to get. If you want to nail it, you really need that amp or something similar. A pedal is like a sauce, amp distortion is like a marinade. If you still just want to use your present setup, the best would probably be the menatone king of the britons. If you need something cheaper, you could check out a visual sound jekyll and hyde or even a boss blues driver.

 

[Outlaws]

The Boss BluesDriver is something to look into.

I have a MXR Distortion+ (its the yellow one) and it is has a somewhat Darkness sound too it. It a very good distortion pedal IMO.

 

[Hegs]

how bout the ds-1 by boss - would that be suitable (and its certainly cheap)?

 

[donkeystyle]

Hi, I have a fender squire, and peavy studio pro amp and im after a distortion pedal which i can use satifactorily (?!) for both live performance in a rock band and recording. Basically, the sound I want is hard rock, possibly creeping slightly into the metal genre. Though i know i have crap equipment, the sound i would ultimately like would be similar to ACDC and the Darkness. I just got a Boss Metal Zone, but it just seems too heavy and loses too much of the guitars tone. I can take the metal zone back, so does anyone know of any pedals which may suit me better?


Thanks a lot

ibanez tubescreamer

 

[spoonie g]

ibanez tubescreamer

the tubescreamer is a very hard clipping device and is an overdrive at best. in front of a clean amp, it sounds fairly bad, and is intended for use in front of an amp that is already distorting (or on the verge).

 

[spoonie g]

how bout the ds-1 by boss - would that be suitable (and its certainly cheap)?

pretty cheap and ratty sounding, if you ask me. the blues driver would be a far better alternative. but, try one out (or both if you can), you might like it.

 

[Outlaws]

the tubescreamer is a very hard clipping device and is an overdrive at best. in front of a clean amp, it sounds fairly bad, and is intended for use in front of an amp that is already distorting (or on the verge).

Exactly.


I think there must have been a lot of noobs that got suckered into buying a TubeScreamer because SRV used one. There should be a warning lable on the thing that says the point of the TubeScreamer is to make a "tube" "scream". aka overdriving a vaccum tube.

 

[ibanezrocks]

DOUBLESHOT DISTORTION!!! hands down the best distortion pedal. try one out and you'll agree

 

[donkeystyle]

the tubescreamer is a very hard clipping device and is an overdrive at best. in front of a clean amp, it sounds fairly bad, and is intended for use in front of an amp that is already distorting (or on the verge).

i respectfully disagree. he said hard rock, but then went on to talk about rock and roll bands. a metal zone or ds-1 might work and he might even be able to turn the gain down enough to get a led zepplin or ac/dc sound, but in my opinion the tube screamer would be a more accurate immitation. the dod overdrive/preamp 250 might work as well. anymore i prefer that over my tubescreamer when i'm goofing off with the ol' practice amp.

i think using a pedal is about the worst way to immitate those guitar sounds.i think the best way would be to overdrive the power section on an amp like a jtm45 or even the gibson ga-5. he specifically asked for pedals though.

 

[spoonie g]

i think using a pedal is about the worst way to immitate those guitar sounds.i think the best way would be to overdrive the power section on an amp like a jtm45 or even the gibson ga-5. he specifically asked for pedals though.

.......like I said in my first post.

....and I will reiterate, a tube screamer is made to push an already overdriven tube amp, hence the name "tubescreamer." The ds-1 or blues driver or any other distortion pedal is made to imitate an amp going into overdrive by providing the said signal to a clean amp at manageable volumes. We all know that said amps would work better but the poster a. didnt ask for it and b. probably wouldn't want to pony up the cash judging from his current setup.

 

[Hegs]

thanks a lot for all the replies in a short time. I did breifly try a ds1 and bluesdriver, and though it seems most of you are pushing the bd more than the ds1, I seemed to find (though I may have needed more time to experiment) that the bd did not provide much distortion. While it may have done the old ACDC stuff, if you listen to the Darkness (or newer live ACDC), it can sound pretty heavy at times (though is certainly not the same sort of heavy you get from a boss mt2).

man.... i dunoo!

 

[Outlaws]

thanks a lot for all the replies in a short time. I did breifly try a ds1 and bluesdriver, and though it seems most of you are pushing the bd more than the ds1, I seemed to find (though I may have needed more time to experiment) that the bd did not provide much distortion. While it may have done the old ACDC stuff, if you listen to the Darkness (or newer live ACDC), it can sound pretty heavy at times (though is certainly not the same sort of heavy you get from a boss mt2).

man.... i dunoo!

Try the MXR Distortion + or the Big Muff.

 

[spoonie g]

thanks a lot for all the replies in a short time. I did breifly try a ds1 and bluesdriver, and though it seems most of you are pushing the bd more than the ds1, I seemed to find (though I may have needed more time to experiment) that the bd did not provide much distortion. While it may have done the old ACDC stuff, if you listen to the Darkness (or newer live ACDC), it can sound pretty heavy at times (though is certainly not the same sort of heavy you get from a boss mt2).

man.... i dunoo!

check out a clips of the menatone king of the britons if you can. musictoyz.com might have one?

 

[spoonie g]

here ya go: http://musictoyz.com/guitar/pedals/mena.php

 

[jimistone]

Hi, I have a fender squire, and peavy studio pro amp and im after a distortion pedal which i can use satifactorily (?!) for both live performance in a rock band and recording. Basically, the sound I want is hard rock, possibly creeping slightly into the metal genre. Though i know i have crap equipment, the sound i would ultimately like would be similar to ACDC and the Darkness. I just got a Boss Metal Zone, but it just seems too heavy and loses too much of the guitars tone. I can take the metal zone back, so does anyone know of any pedals which may suit me better?


Thanks a lot

Humbuckers are better for the metal sound......plus, you have to scoop the mids out of your guitar sound. The studio pro is a great little amp, but when you scoop the mids and go for the metal sound, you have to have a pretty powerful amp to really push the bass frequencies. I have a studio pro, and I tried to get that metal sound on a recording one time....the speaker rattled. I also have a boss blues driver....great for blues and classic rock....not so good for metal. The distortion you need is on the studio pro amp...you just have to scoop the mids and tweak it. you will need an external speaker cab to handle those bass frequencies. (possibly a volume pedal of somekind to...the amp is not real powerful)

 

[spoonie g]

Humbuckers are better for the metal sound......plus, you have to scoop the mids out of your guitar sound. The studio pro is a great little amp, but when you scoop the mids and go for the metal sound, you have to have a pretty powerful amp to really push the bass frequencies. I have a studio pro, and I tried to get that metal sound on a recording one time....the speaker rattled. I also have a boss blues driver....great for blues and classic rock....not so good for metal. The distortion you need is on the studio pro amp...you just have to scoop the mids and tweak it. you will need an external speaker cab to handle those bass frequencies. (possibly a volume pedal of somekind to...the amp is not real powerful)

i don't think ac/dc and the darkness are metal. both bands have quite a bit of meaty marshall mids in their tone.

IMHO; cut mids = cut tone. The guitar's range is greatly situated in the midrange. If you cut that, what do you have?

...though the humbucker suggestion was a good one.

 

[jimistone]

IMHO; cut mids = cut tone. The guitar's range is greatly situated in the midrange. If you cut that, what do you have?

...though the humbucker suggestion was a good one.

I agree. I can't stand the scooped mid metal sound myself....I play classic rock and blues. I was just telling him how to get the "metal sound". Its hard to get the ac/dc sound with single coil pick ups.

 

[Thurgood]

Here is how you det an ACDC sound with single coils. Dispose of the stock single coil pu's. Replace with emg sa assembly with mid booster. Plug into Marshall 100 watt add 2 or 4 speakers and off you go. But seriously, when listening to old acdc as per Spoonie G and others you will notice the presence of midrange not the absence (scooped). By removing the mids you are eliminating the possibility of ever getting the ACDC sound. Also, the type of pedal for that sound (if there is such a thing, I don't believe there is otherwise I could have saved my self a couple grand) would be more along the lines of an overdrive type. Go to Tonefrenzy.com and check out the demos. What surprised me just recently was, believe it or not, the Marshall Guv'nr. I have 2 marshalls now, JTM 45 and DSL 100, 4 over the years and that silly pedal does a suprisingly good job of "mimicing" the Marshall sound. Good luck and thanks to all earlier posters I picked up some good sound advice. Bad pun I know.