Distortion pedals

Hootsmon

Not OD pedals, distortion

OD seems relatively easy to get right in a pedal but not so with the distortion pedals...methinks

LP into a clean twin type......what have you used with good results for the higher gain distortion tones?

monquixote

Shredmaster or Hyde (clone)

Riot

Super Badass.

NorthernStomps

Thorpy Warthog
Magnetic Effects bad robot 
Dr Scientist The Elements 
Zander Cranium
Raygun Soda Drive
Boss DS1

Loads to go at!

Sassafras

Way Huge Fat Sandwich. An aggressive but dynamic distortion. Chords ring out clearly.
Or a Rat. Or my personal favourite, the MXR Dist+, but the original ones are getting stupidly expensive and the Dunlop ones aren't worth bothering with.

JezWynd

Boss DA-2 Adaptive Distortion. Uses Boss’ MDP tech which results in exceptional note separation and clarity. Well worth a try.

UnclePsychosis

My personal faves

Red Llama
Boss DS-1 
EQD Grey Channel
Boss os-2 

Beexter

I've been on the hunt for distortion pedals recently as I wanted something with a bit more bottom end than my Rat. I've picked up a Hardwire SC-2 Tube Distortion and an MXR Super Badass Distortion and can recommend either of them.

stickyfiddle

Ignore the above.

The answer is always Rat. 

I'm only slightly exaggerating  

ICBM

Boss DF-2.

’Loud’ mode on the ME-50.

webrthomson

Mesa V-Twin, Riot or Marshall Guv'nor - all great

joetele

Tried many, currently very happy with the Fender Full Moon. Amazing tweakability and tonal transparency. Lovely with single coils and buckers. 

Flanging_Fred

I loved the Mk1 Marshall guvnor when I had my twin reverb. 

Grumpyrocker

If you can find one, a Digitech Hardwire SC-2, sounds glorious.

Otherwise Marshall Jackhammer.

timmysoft

By far the best high gainer through a clean amp would be the Mesa Throttle Box. Absolutely killed off all the other distortions I’ve ever had. It’s incredibly powerful and really delivers that fluid gush that you can usually only get from a boosted amps drive channel.

fatherchewielewie

I play a R0 into the clean channel of a HR Deville and my number one distortion pedal is the Weehbo Bastard.... active EQ and versatile af..... DC to 80s Metallica and more. I also have a lot of love for the Hardwire SC-2 and the Dr Scientist Frazz Dazzler V2 (think Rat on jet fuel).

jeztone2

The Goosoniqueworx 7thvn. I’ve owned everything and nothing touches it. Imagine a Friedman BE pedal with less gain and more cabinet thump with a warmer dynamic lower gain mode. Then imagine it’s virtually noise free. 

it runs on 12vDC though. You can use it on 9, buts it’s voiced best for 12.

The others I like are Suhr Riot and JHS @. The original Guv’nor and Drivemaster pedals were good too. 

dogload

stickyfiddle said:

Ignore the above.

The answer is always Rat. 

I'm only slightly exaggerating  

I'm inclined to agree!

TTBZ

Rat for heavy sludgy stuff, MI Audio Crunch Box for Marshally stuff. Or the Marshall GV2 if on a budget.

57Deluxe

Joyo Deluxe Crunch gives you a distorted HiWatt /Orange sound...

mark_jwedge

Thorpy Warthog

gearaddict

I keep trying distortion pedals but they never stay on my board as I find they all sound kind of synthetic compared to amp distortion. Of the ones I have tried, the MI Audio Crunch Box is very good, as is the Marshall GV2. They are as good as anything I have tried and I don't see a lot of point in spending more.

Unlike most people, I was really disappointed by the Suhr Riot (sounded very processed to me)  and I don't like the RAT or the DS1.

I'd be more a fan of stacking OD pedals into each other...I think you get a more natural sound than a distortion pedal that is giving you 'a sound', if you know what I mean. I'm a big fan of the original Danno Transparent OD, which is a Timmy clone...a couple of those would be good!