Distortion Pedals

A

AsphaltMK

New member
hello everyone, I have been thinking about getting myself a distortion pedal for a while now, but i haven't really been able to make up my mind... mostly because of a lack of experience in pedals. This would be my first ever pedal if I do get one...
So, can anyone help me out? I want to know which distortion pedals are good bang for bucks or just good... =p
So far, I've heard from my friends that the Metal Zone is good, and so are the Dime Distortion, Wylde Overdrive, Double Shot Distortion and Tube Screamer. Can you guys tell me which of these are really good? and recommend me somemore? thanks!
 
well ..distortion pedals for wat particular genre ?? Wat genre u play ?? metal ? rock ??
 
yea.. ds1 .. if u wan more punch in ur distortion.. u could consider mxr distortion pedal .. or the dime and zakk sign. pedals ..
 
I second the DS-1. Unless your genre is very much towards metal, I usually don't find the MT2 useful for most situations
 
thanks for the replies guys! well, i'm actually quite influenced by bands like breaking benjamin, blink, the darkness, good charlotte, hoobastank.. and also, *guilty smile*, the whole punk rock revolution idea... bands like taking back sunday, funeral for a friend, green day.... yeah, u get the idea...
I like downtuned sounds... but not stuff as heavy as metallica or slayer... kinda more melodic stuff....
 
just a question for interest....when i use the ds1 with my clean channel...the sound i get is very transistorized and thin....it only works well with the lead channel...how come har?
 
Sounds like the DS-1 then~ hehz. It's cheap somemore.... only 75 at Swee lee and 80 at Davis. The last time I checked, Swee Lee's out of stock
 
GT2.. Relatively quiet. More gain than most people need and the ability to do the plexi thing might come in handy when you are tired of high gain stuff.

Dime distortion is quite noisy even when you are not playing. Zakk Wylde signature model is actually more of a booster than a standalone distortion. He uses it on top of his Marshall drive.

The recent line 6 tonecore(?) series is quite good, especially considering the fact that it comes with a built in noise gate if I recall correctly.

Other contenders would be the Rat series which you can get from MrMisse who also has serious offerings from Visual Sound, Line 6, Fulltone etc.. He's also very nice to deal with for those who have gotten things from him before.

PS: I think it might be good if we can come up with a sticky on effects pedals to purchase as such threads do come up abit often. Maybe a reccomendation list based on budget. :smt001
 
thanks a ton for the help you guys have given me... =)
I think i'll go check our the the DS-1 and the GT-2...
I heard the double shot distortion by MXR (or was is jim dunlop?) was quite good... any of you guys have any experience with that?
 
you can try Jekyll and Hyde too at Guitar 77 .. it's tone is not bad .. good for lead /blues etc etc ... and should be jus as good for 'not too heavy' stuff as well ..... price wise ... 200 ++ ???
 
Do note that the DS1 is very popular pedal to be modded. I for one am doing a mod which improves the mid and overall volume quality, with something of a tube-like response.

You can audition one (mikemann1 modded DS1) at Guitar Connection, just in front of Guitar77. You just give it a try if you haven't already got sold on the visual sound pedals uncle dennis has.
 
I just bought a DS-1 from cash converters for $15!! Yeah, but the paint is all stripped off by the previous owner, but it still works so who cares.. Haha..
Good sound, I can get very good mild overdrive (ala SRV tones) to quite high gain (not quite metal tones)..
 
wa....a silver/white DS1, RARE pedal! :lol:
*dun throw things at me!!*
i wonder how much the previous owner sold the DS1 to cash converter for...
 
Yeah...yeah... and tomorrow a bunch of softies will head on down to the various branches of cash converters. Hoping to to find a beat-up DS1 or MT2 for like $15-20.

Just like the stories we heard before on people finding Mex Fender strat going for $300 at cash converter in the early days. May or not be true or just a hoax.

IMO, such exploits should be kept to oneself, by exclaiming to the world of such find will bade no one any good. It's just a one-off incident.

The only one who gains is CC, as there could be some dude who don't want to waste the trip, so just buys something anyway (to console himself).
 
I have 2 friends who encountered sort of the same thing.

1) Sansamp Gt-2 $80 dollars at Cash Converter Dunno Where.
2) Peavey Vintage Made in USA Cream Single Coils guitar AT cash Converter For $100.

Their Luck i guess... :)
 
AsphaltMK said:
hello everyone, I have been thinking about getting myself a distortion pedal for a while now, but i haven't really been able to make up my mind... !
Click to expand...

Hi Asphalt, your option anxiety over choosing the right pedal is quite exciting is'nt it? So many to choose from and everything seems to be highly recommended. Choices Choices! One thing to note of is that there is no such thing as a single "One" perfect pedal but there are tried and survived ones out there and IMHO when all the hype and trends have come and gone only certain ones will still remain standing. I always recommend at least 2 types of pedals. Essentially an Overdrive and the other a Distortion and when coupled with a Compressor you'll have a very versatile setup that allows you a flexible combination of Drive, Tone and Sustain. Here's my recommendation;

Overdrive Pedals
1. Boss SD1 (Cheap, very good and is the basic design behind the Zakk pdl)
2. Boss BD2 (Slightly more but has a very dynamic character)
3. Ibanez TS9 (Smooth and works great as a clean boost with character)
4. Ibanez TS808 (The original Smooth...)

Note: The SD1 and TS series share the same circuit design so... :)

Distortion Pedals
1. Boss DS1 (This is where it all begins...Mods aplenty later on)
2. Boss Metal Zone (Heavy, Nasal but works very well in low drive settings!)

Also do check out the Visual Sound range. They are more costly of course but they do make use of a combination of some of the above stated pedals in a packaged design with better components.

I hope I've been helpful. Let me know anytime if you need further assistance in your quest for your own Holy Grail of TONE ya.

Cheers!

:)

Randolf Arriola (aka the embryo)
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/5/theembryo.htm
 
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