Does the world need another overdrive/distortion pedal?

mike_l

monquixote said:

mike_l said:

But, at least to my ear, the MXR's don't sound similar to the Boss'.

I shall back-to-back them this evening and confirm.

It's based on a Keeley DS as is the Satchurator so that might be the better comparison.

Yay, more to compare, although (without back-to-backing them) the MXR isn't much like the Satchurator. The MXR have a more "classy" sound.

mike_l

I mean, the MXR would probably suit more guitarists tham the Satch or DS-1

monquixote

mike_l said:

I mean, the MXR would probably suit more guitarists tham the Satch or DS-1

Things can change quite dramatically with fairly minor changes. 

The Rockbox Boiling point is apparently only a couple of components away from a TS and the various RAT variants differ only in the type of clipping diodes used.

mike_l

Yeah, I think the Satch is aimed more specifically (shredders) than the MXR. 

I'm not going into the interior gubbins because I don't have enough information available to make a scientific/accurate differentiation between them.

However I do have a range of pedals which I can back-to-back and compare toneally.

 

samzadgan

i think there are enough...but no harm putting out more...if not for funky graphics!

 

recently i went through trying a bunch of different ones...but then i worked out that they all sound similar, and by the time i put them in my setup and eq'd to the sound i like, then they sounded almost exactly the same as the one before...same with fuzz pedals too.

 

My distortion and fuzz pedal on my board now have been there for a while and i cant see any reason to replace them with anything else.

austint01

samzadgan said:

My distortion and fuzz pedal on my board now have been there for a while and i cant see any reason to replace them with anything else.

Wait until Company X release the next latest and greatest must have distortion pedal that you obviously need. 

austint01

Cirrus said:

No man, the DM4 is really good. Seriously. Sounds way better than the equivalent models in the Line 6 M series multieffects. I was shocked at how useable the TS, Rat, Compressor and even fuzz sounds were, and this is comparing them all to the real pedals through an AC30. Plus with 3 band EQ on every model it was super easy to get a particular pedal to hit your amp just right - clarity without icepicks, and bass that didn't sound either too lean or fart out the preamp stage.

Sounds mad, I really didn't expect it to be the case. But I gigged it for about 6 months and only sold it because it was a bit big for my board. And I couldn't believe what I was hearing in a side by side with an M13 - I'd have thought they'd sound the same but to my ears the DM4 is much more dynamic and lively sounding, probably due to cheaper A/D and D/A on the M13?

Don't get me wrong, it was perfectly possible to MAKE it sound like ass gravy. )

What's the attraction to single stomps compared to a good sounding, small-ish, one stop shop tool? Why isn't the Line 6 popular.. I'd never heard of it until this post!

RocknRollDave

What annoys me is that the oodles of Tubescreamer clones don't even bother to hide the fact that that's what they are - I mean, OD pedal in the same-ish green colour, do we really need to be so obvious?!

ICBM

austint01 said:

What's the attraction to single stomps compared to a good sounding, small-ish, one stop shop tool? Why isn't the Line 6 popular.. I'd never heard of it until this post!

It's not really small-ish - it's the size of three standard pedals, and can only do one at once so even with four presets it's arguably less flexible than three well-chosen single pedals that you can stack in up to seven combinations. And you can't replace just one of the sounds, if you don't like it.

After I had the problem with my DL-4 I found the same was true - I replaced it with three standard Boss delays, then quickly reduced to two.

austint01

ICBM said:

austint01 said:

What's the attraction to single stomps compared to a good sounding, small-ish, one stop shop tool? Why isn't the Line 6 popular.. I'd never heard of it until this post!

It's not really small-ish - it's the size of three standard pedals, and can only do one at once so even with four presets it's arguably less flexible than three well-chosen single pedals that you can stack in up to seven combinations. And you can't replace just one of the sounds, if you don't like it.

After I had the problem with my DL-4 I found the same was true - I replaced it with three standard Boss delays, then quickly reduced to two.

Ok. So thinking about bettering something like the DM-4 then. What about the following:

1. Smaller size, with 3 buttons for 3 chosen patches.
2. Buttons would then allow stacking the patches.
3. Some easy way to change the 3 patches (without menus and screens)
4. Tactile control with plug and play feel
5. Good sounding, either all digital or digitally controlled analog
6. A range of sounds to choose from for the 3 presets. Not too many for choice overload, but maybe some kind of tone print option to make the available choices custom to you.
7. Other stuff I've not thought of.

What about that?

meltedbuzzbox

Or you get an Empress Multidrive :-)

ThorpyFX

you could say the same about wine, food, whiskey etc etc. all of them have subtly different flavours and the aficionados can tell them apart (for me all whiskey just tastes like burn). The cream will rise to the top so do we need more, the answer is probably not, does it hurt to have more? the answer is not at all. 

jeztone2

I think this is the golden age of pedals, some are better than others, but im constantly impressed by whats coming out. I just think amp builders need to raise their game regarding loud clean portable combo's

EricTheWeary

thorpy6 said:

you could say the same about wine, food, whiskey etc etc. all of them have subtly different flavours and the aficionados can tell them apart (for me all whiskey just tastes like burn). The cream will rise to the top so do we need more, the answer is probably not, does it hurt to have more? the answer is not at all. 

that's about right. I quite like whiskey though. I once did a whiskey tasting and compared to each other you could tell the differences. However, give me a shot of whiskey and it's just whiskey flavour to me. Err, so do ten TS variants sound different? Possibly and you could hear changes one from another. Do they all do basically the same thing and are effectively interchangeable? Yep.

ICBM

austint01 said:

Ok. So thinking about bettering something like the DM-4 then. What about the following:

1. Smaller size, with 3 buttons for 3 chosen patches.
2. Buttons would then allow stacking the patches.
3. Some easy way to change the 3 patches (without menus and screens)
4. Tactile control with plug and play feel
5. Good sounding, either all digital or digitally controlled analog
6. A range of sounds to choose from for the 3 presets. Not too many for choice overload, but maybe some kind of tone print option to make the available choices custom to you.
7. Other stuff I've not thought of.

What about that?

Zoom G3.

OK it does have screens and menus of a sort, but it's extremely simple and intuitive. I don't think it has 'tone print' - or I haven't really looked into it - but if it did this would be the way forward in FX, to me... a universal multi-button box that you can load any effects you want into via USB or whatever.

ChrisMusic

EricTheWeary said:

thorpy6 said:

you could say the same about wine, food, whiskey etc etc. all of them have subtly different flavours and the aficionados can tell them apart (for me all whiskey just tastes like burn). The cream will rise to the top so do we need more, the answer is probably not, does it hurt to have more? the answer is not at all. 

that's about right. I quite like whiskey though. I once did a whiskey tasting and compared to each other you could tell the differences. However, give me a shot of whiskey and it's just whiskey flavour to me. Err, so do ten TS variants sound different? Possibly and you could hear changes one from another. Do they all do basically the same thing and are effectively interchangeable? Yep.

That reminded me of a stormy night spent in small bar in Gairloch, with a lovely selection of whisky bottles along the back shelf.

Every one had a very different character, and I developed potentially expensive habits that night.

With little prospect of a good sunrise, and the attendant promise of good photography that the stunning area the Torridon on the north west coast of Scotland offers in abundance, my friends and I worked our way across the shelf, swapping tastes of each others choice of whisky until we hit the bottle that was £200 for a single measure ! 

We stopped there, and that's a bit like how I feel about pedals.  Except maybe the temptation that is Kingsley may have to be sated sometime.  And maybe I'll get back to Torridon and see if that whisky really is that good, and if it really is £200 a shot, or whether that is just a story for the southers to take home.  Even the barman hadn't dared to try it, so maybe it has promise...

ThorpyFX

ChrisMusic said:

EricTheWeary said:

thorpy6 said:

you could say the same about wine, food, whiskey etc etc. all of them have subtly different flavours and the aficionados can tell them apart (for me all whiskey just tastes like burn). The cream will rise to the top so do we need more, the answer is probably not, does it hurt to have more? the answer is not at all. 

that's about right. I quite like whiskey though. I once did a whiskey tasting and compared to each other you could tell the differences. However, give me a shot of whiskey and it's just whiskey flavour to me. Err, so do ten TS variants sound different? Possibly and you could hear changes one from another. Do they all do basically the same thing and are effectively interchangeable? Yep.

That reminded me of a stormy night spent in small bar in Gairloch, with a lovely selection of whisky bottles along the back shelf.

Every one had a very different character, and I developed potentially expensive habits that night.

With little prospect of a good sunrise, and the attendant promise of good photography that the stunning area the Torridon on the north west coast of Scotland offers in abundance, my friends and I worked our way across the shelf, swapping tastes of each others choice of whisky until we hit the bottle that was £200 for a single measure ! 

We stopped there, and that's a bit like how I feel about pedals.  Except maybe the temptation that is Kingsley may have to be sated sometime.  And maybe I'll get back to Torridon and see if that whisky really is that good, and if it really is £200 a shot, or whether that is just a story for the southers to take home.  Even the barman hadn't dared to try it, so maybe it has promise...

the difference between the kingsley and the £200 shot whiskey is that once bought the kingsley will save you money, nothing will get close so you'll stop bothering to search. If the whiskey was that good, you'd be in debt very quickly unless you have very deep pockets.

ChrisMusic

Good, and persuasive, point    

Grunfeld

ICBM said:

There are enough dirt pedals.

At least which sound like 99% of the ones we already have.

I know you're right.

I know you're right.

I have a Rat.  I have a TS.  I have itsy-bitsy gainers and ultra-cock gainers.

So...

Why TF am I thinking.... Boss DS-2?

Why?  The day before yesterday I hadn't even heard of this pedal now a part of my brain is f*cking obsessed with it.  I don't need it... A BIT OF MY MIND DOES. 

The world does not need another dirt pedal.  It's basically.... our addiction.

Nomad

My entire history of dirt pedals since starting guitar nearly 40 years ago...

Boss DS-1 in my formative years.
Boss HM-2 for many years.
TC Nova Drive a few months ago.

I tend to the view that there are no magic bullets, and that the character of the sound can be changed quite a lot with EQ outside of the pedal. It has never occurred to me that most pedals are pretty much clones of each other and that there's not much difference between them.