OD/Distortion Pedals

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darknailblue

New member
Any input? I play prog rock/metal. I need a pedal that will give me crunchy power chords, and sharp single notes, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNDDDDDDDDDDD clarity when playing complicated chords. Ideas?

~dnb
 
The Boss Super Distortion DS-1 is a rock and roll staple... been useful and used for decades... and a steal at $39 (Musiciand Friend... others...)
 
Boss....

all my pedals are BOSS i dig them but for my overdrive i bought a Digitech it's great when played straight into a mixer but into an amp it's very harsh and thin....going out on a limb but go for BOSS :D
 
darknailblue said:
...clarity when playing complicated chords.
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Not very likely. From what I understand virtually no stomp does this, certainly none that I own or have ever used. I have read that one boutique stomp, the name of which I've temporarily forgotten, does it and the new DigiTech "Bad Monkey" overdrive may, but I'm skeptical.

Lack of clarity with chords - especially "complicated" ones, as you mention - is primarily the reason I virtually never use distortion/OD stomps.
 
the reason i say complicated is because a lot of the chords that i play are extended chords and encompass 2+ octave range, and when that occurs, the bass notes usually drown out the upper melody therefore loosing lots of definition. You say you stay away from stompboxes. What kind of amp do you use? And no one mentioned TUBE pedals.... any thoughts on that?

~dnb
 
It all depends on your needs, circumstances and..............a whole lot of other things so:

If you have the money, your may want a valve amp, and get your dist. form the amp.

Would you like the set-up for gigs or recording or...............

The pedalthing works fine with small amps but for gigs it may be different.

Tube-pedals, well yes, they can come close to the real thing, but again........... ah with the pedals you may have less worries about sevicing your valve amp and..............too many options here eh?

Of course you could all forget the ideas here and just go for what you know and feel ........................

Good luck,

Eddie
 
darknailblue said:
Any input? I play prog rock/metal. I need a pedal that will give me crunchy power chords, and sharp single notes, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNDDDDDDDDDDD clarity when playing complicated chords. Ideas?

~dnb
Click to expand...

Yep, get a good tube amp. You can use whatever pedal you want and you will not get what you want. The only way to do it is by a tube amp!!!
 
I use a fender deluxe (I think) which is an all tube amp and has great cleans, but as many of you know, fender isn't very good at gain. I would love to get a tube head. I play the deluxe through a bogner ubershall cab and get plenty of volume, but not the gain im looking for. I would also love to get the matching ubershall head (or an ectasy head) but I don't have 2,100 - 3,000 dollars to throw around right now. (I work full time, and go to school full time, AAAAANNNND I'm broke). I know that I'd probably get what I'm looking for in a head, but right now that's not an option. I'm just looking for a good pedal.

~dnb
 
just hit the front end of the amp hard with an overdrive/distortion pedal, letting the two work together to get your sound. also, experiment with an eq pedal, a combination of both might do the trick. go to your local guitar store and try out everything, if they dont have something similar to your setup, call ahead and bring you own. pickups can also be the reason for a not so clear overdrive sound, what kind are you sporting now?
 
Pickups aren't the problem. Usually when I get a guitar I'll fit them with new pup being either DiMarzio, SD, or PRS (EXPENSIVE!!!) unless the guitar has one of those already in them. An EQ pedal is a good thought though..... Has anyone tried a T-Rex Mudhoney Distortion Pedal, or any Tonebone Distortion Pedals?

~dnb
 
I have a question Darknailblue.
What other effects are you using when you play distorted?

If you use lots of reverb, delay, or chorus, or combinations of these while distorted, it will muddy up your chords.

I do alot of proggy metal stuff too, and have problems with definition if I use combinations of effects with alot of gain and distortion. I have found that if I back off off those effects, or run dry or with maybe a touch of 'verb, the muddiness tends to go away, at least enough to hear the chords.

Also, if you're playing a seven string thats detuned, the bass strings tend to be powerful and kill the higher notes. I don't play detuned for this reason.

Let me know what you find, as I'm always looking to improve my sound.
Good Luck!
 
want SCREAMER distortion?

a simple box; the TECH21 XXL !!!!!! it screaaaaams

got more money? get the TECH21 sansamp psa-1
, this is a 19"' racl unit with presets, yeah, some sort of amp simulator,
but i just call it MY DISTORTION unit,

its fucking great ! right now i got it connected to a marshall jcm900 and god,
the neighbours are complaining !!
 
Whatever you get, the trick to crunch and punch is usually less distortion, not more. Too much makes things mushy.
 
bongolation said:
virtually no stomp does this, certainly none that I own or have ever used. I have read that one boutique stomp, the name of which I've temporarily forgotten, does it
Click to expand...


My Budda PhatMan does it with easy. But then its a tube pedal. :D
 
boingoman said:
Whatever you get, the trick to crunch and punch is usually less distortion, not more. Too much makes things mushy.
Click to expand...

That is a very excellent point. There was a post a few months ago about how to use a tube amp. The basics to overdrive is as follows.

You have a gain knob and a master volumn. If the gain is at 10 and the master is at 1 you get a fuzzier OD. If the gain is set to 1 and the master to 10, you gat a punchier, cleaner OD. It all depends on which tubes you use, the preamp or power amp.

You should play around with these. They may be the answer you seek.
 
If there's no master volume on the tube amp, one may use an overdrive pedal in the way it was originally intended: To boost a clean signal to overdrive the preamp tube in the amp, with minimal coloration or distortion from the pedal itself.

There are still a bunch of tube amps out there with no preamp gain control.
 
When I play distorted rhythm parts, 90% of the time I don't use effects at all. The signal runs like this to the amp.

Guitar -> Volume -> Wah -> Noise Gate -> Amp
|
|
Distortion

The Distortion is in the Send - Return Part of the Noise Gate. This really works for me especially on my single coil strat.

I Then have all the other necessary effects in the effects loop.

When I play clean, its usually with a touch of effects being reverb, and delay, or a chorus, depending on what is needed.

As far as gain goes. When I first started playing guitar, I put the gain on 10 all of the time, and wondered why everything sounded so sloppy. Now 5 years later, I run my eqs just about flat, and depending on the part of the song run my gain at about 4 for rhythm and 6 for leads. That all depends on the amp or distortion box though. A friend of mine has a peavy xxx, and when I played that I put my rhythm gain on 2!!! That amp has some sack to it lemme tell ya!!

~dnb
 
The things I would consider, in order would be pickups, amplifier, speakers, then pedal. As you know, some pickups output a lot more gain than others. For instance, a set of P-90's will really tear it up if your clean channel is high enough. My tech told me that different pickup are would a number of time to achieve a desired effect. The pickups in a lot of Rickenbackers and G&L's have a more mellow sound. I've heard them compared to specifically some of the 1960's Fender models. This style of pickup will allow more clarity with less volume(loudness). It won't be naturally edgy.

We all know and have discussed what amplifiers can do to your sound. It sounds like you're gentle with EQ. That's a good thing. I don't think any EQ can really help you with what you're looking for.

Try a cabinet or combo with smaller speakers. Like a Deville(4x10). The ten's should give more clarity to what your doing. Bigger speakers can push the air for low end but, sometimes you can experience a loss of distinction.

I would certainly recommend a tube pedal. Also, if you aren't already, be sensitive with your picking hand on those crazy chords.

Personally, I know the search you're on. I've been looking for a sound that will respond to the colorful chords I use. I played a Deluxe for 6 years and I just sold it a bought a lower wattage Mesa combo. The overdrive in the preamp is really letting me express myself a lot better. And I play a Rickenbacker through it. It sounds great.

Good luck on your search.
 
I use a boss mt-2, don't overdue the distortion and use an equalizer pedal. I find that my distorted sound is ufll of great tone and plenty of individual chord note clarity. I am running everything through a Fender Hot Rod Deville. Don't laugh, I know that it is a 4 x 10 speaker but I tell you my sound is heavy.
 
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