Distortion pedals - suggestions?

xtedmanzie

firepaulmusic said:

Suhr Riot ( not Reloaded)

+1 I love my Suhr Riot, but not compared loads of distortions so wouldn't like to say it's the best, but the sound is classic and it's built like a tank (has the nicest on/off switch of any pedal I've ever owned! It's the switch Mercedes would make if they made, er, effects pedals.

jonnygreentrees

Used to have a Crunchbox and it was awesome! Also the Bearfoot Uber Bee gets into distortion and sounds amazing

Dave_Mc

What about an od pedal into a distortion pedal? I tend to find most distortions are crunchier-sounding and don't really have the sustain or mids I need for leads, but a tubescreamer- or sd1-style boost into them tends to fix that. Doesn't need to be that dear, either, you can get e.g. an sd1 or tubescreamer clone plus a decent distortion pedal (say, crunchbox clone) for less than a lot of the single pedals suggested here.

TimmyO

Jalapeno said:

Nothing Xotic tickle your doodah ?

TRex Mudhoney, Alberta or my particular choice the Moller.

Yeah I've heard good things about the Moller - will take a look.

As for Xotic - the custom shop version of the BB Pre (BB MB) is one I have always liked so already on 'the list' 

TimmyO

Dave_Mc said:

What about an od pedal into a distortion pedal? I tend to find most distortions are crunchier-sounding and don't really have the sustain or mids I need for leads, but a tubescreamer- or sd1-style boost into them tends to fix that. Doesn't need to be that dear, either, you can get e.g. an sd1 or tubescreamer clone plus a decent distortion pedal (say, crunchbox clone) for less than a lot of the single pedals suggested here.

That's an interesting shout actually. I have an SD-1 (it's off the board at the minute while I have a play with and get used to the Guv'nor) 

Cascading/Stacking had slipped my mind - I'm sure XP -> Klone -> Guv'nor might sound interesting :-) 

ElectroDan

There are a couple of nice Kingsley pedals in the Classifieds now that sound great.

It's worth going to the website just to hear Simon demo them.

Grunfeld

So much depends on the amp.  Been doing a lot of pedal board building today and seeing how it sounds going into:

a)  Marshall JVM 410
b)  Orange CR-120

The distortion pedals sound completely different depending on the amp.
The Tubescreamer, which hasn't been off my board in 7 years, gets lost in the solid state Orange.  It does nothing.  The Rat suffers a similar fate but manages to do slightly better.
The Boss SD-1 and SD-2 on the other hand are perfect with the Orange and pretty good with the Marshall.
The Wampler Pinnacle is good with the Marshall and awesome with the Orange.
The best distortion for the Orange turns out to be a Tech21 GT-2 (which sounds fizzy with the Marshall).
The combination of Tech21 GT-2 and Boss SD-2 work best for the Orange.

It has taken hours.  Other pedals used:  Marshall Gov'nr; Bad Monkey; Boss MD-2 (wtf); OD-1; DS-1

Ears now f*cked.

robinbowes

The Wampler Pinnacle is the one that stayed on my board. For lower gain, I have a Tonebone Classic. R,

BintyTwanger77

Rat, absolutely.

Jonathanthomas83

Insta lead rock sound is Gunshot, all the way! One of my favourite pedals ever, try one!

Cabicular

I must be the only guitarist here who doesn't have any time for Rats. I don't know I just don't like fuzzes

Thorpys gunshot is very versatile only just got knocked off my board by my KOT

If you don't mind pedals that are a pain to power Kingsley Jester V2, butler tube driver (5 knob version) or if you can get one a butler real tube (black box with green writing)

Stack anyone of them with an OD with little gain and a bit of volume

Or jhs sweet tea which is an angry Charlie and tube screamer in one box

Branshen

How about something a little different? A fuzz face?


Pedal comes in at 1:15 of the second video

hubobulous

Suhr Riot

Mad Professor 1

Angry Charlie/Crunchbox

TimmyO

Branshen said:

How about something a little different? A fuzz face?


Pedal comes in at 1:15 of the second video

Ooh that 2nd one is special - thanks

Sporky

Cabicular said:

I must be the only guitarist here who doesn't have any time for Rats.

They don't work for me either - other people can do great things with them but they have a funny granularity thing that I find distracting when I play.

TimmyO

Me three

Corvus

There's a Reeza in the ads here. I just ordered a Weehbo JVM, hope it works out. Fave lead sound is a fuzz into a JTM Weehbo riding the vol pot, little clip about a minute into this.  Dunno about Marshall amps but they do like Fenders.

shady

I still dig my Seymour Duncan Power Grid.  Great range of dirt and very EQ-able. 

ICBM

Grunfeld said:

The Tubescreamer, which hasn't been off my board in 7 years, gets lost in the solid state Orange.  It does nothing.

The Boss SD-1 and SD-2 on the other hand are perfect with the Orange

That's very interesting given how similar the Tube Screamer and SD-1 are circuit-wise, but I agree. The SD-1 seems to have a unique ability to cut through a following distortion (amp or pedal) and still produce a lift even when it's actually not set to much above unity gain itself - so it will work both as an alternative rhythm sound into a clean channel (I'm not really a fan of it, but it's useful sometimes) or as a lead boost into a dirty channel, with the same settings.

If you're going to stack pedals I would *still* pick the DS-1 - with an SD-1 in front of it. You can buy both for less than almost any boutique pedal, and you get three great sounds.

I haven't tried the DS-1x yet.

Branshen

The second fuzz video is a bc183 silicon fuzz face. Lots about at all price points but beware being sucked into a rabbit hole.