For distortion, get a amp with it or a pedal?

oahnuj

New member
Hi. I am a newbie who do not know much about guitar gears. I want to get a distortion tone for my guitar, but currently i am using just a 10watt amp with no distortion built in it. I am still schooling, so do not want to spent too much money, and wondering should i get a better amp which have distortion, or should i just get a pedal? does a pedal provibe distortion tone on a 10watt amp? please recommend me some models. TY =)
 
If you still want a 10 watter amp, and since you're schooling, pedals would be a better option for you..
Amp distortion would provide the "best" (which is subjective) distorted tones, but these amps are expensive.. I've hardly encountered 10 watters with good distortion..
Just asking, what amp and guitar are you using? And what is your budget for the pedal/amp? And what genre of music do you intend to play?
 
yeah built-in dirt on amps are the best but costly.the cheapest i can think of is the peavey valveking which is not very cheap for a student.
 
The 5 watt tube Valbee has quite an okay distortion onboard. Couple it with a drive peral and you are about there...
 
roland cube amps have built in boss effects like metal stack, metal, overdrive and distortion. The cube 30 has the modulations too. But if you're planning to gig/jam get a pedal:)
 
The microcube is a good investment of an amp..
Sound drive amps also have great onboard distortions!
If pedals, we can only recommend if you have something (genre) in mind..
 
If you still want a 10 watter amp, and since you're schooling, pedals would be a better option for you..
Amp distortion would provide the "best" (which is subjective) distorted tones, but these amps are expensive.. I've hardly encountered 10 watters with good distortion..
Just asking, what amp and guitar are you using? And what is your budget for the pedal/amp? And what genre of music do you intend to play?

The amp that i am using is from Marshall, standard micro amp, MS-2.
http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/images/img_prod/large/large_1.1.1.3.1.1-17-86.jpg
Guitar is Ibanez GRX40
http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Images/8/87/GRX40.jpg
Budget is around 100 bucks, but do not mind paying more if its really value for money.
Genre is erm...rock?(not very sure)
Songs that sounds like Canon Rock, Mt Fuji Christmas.
thank you.
 
roland cube amps have built in boss effects like metal stack, metal, overdrive and distortion. The cube 30 has the modulations too. But if you're planning to gig/jam get a pedal:)

ohh..actually not really for gig/jam la, but who knows maybe next time i maybe performing lol(dream big). I still not use to practising with distortion..haha, my hand keeps disturbing the strings and make lots of unnecessary sounds, so yar wanna practise with distortion on.
thank you
 
if you already have an amp I suggest getting a cheap Boss DS-1 distortion pedal to stick in front of it. Will give you the distortion that you want. Think its about $70 only.
 
alternatively, you can do this: http://soft.com.sg/forum/rookie-corner/51498-sharing-amplifier-alternative.html

but in planet distortion, there are namely 2 ways to go about doing things:

*distortion pedal
*amplifier

if you are on a budget, get a decent amp for practice, unleash distortion hell via pedals. there are indeed small, practice grade amps with above average distortion, Roland's microCUBE & Vox's DA5 are recommended.

if your computer's sound system is reputable, get this:

Line6 Tone Port GX
Line%206%20GX.jpg
 
there is a dude selling a higher model at $150.go check it out at the sound buy/sell section i think.
 
haha, my hand keeps disturbing the strings and make lots of unnecessary sounds, so yar wanna practise with distortion on.
thank you

Woah woah woah! Hold on there little fella! That's exactly why you shouldn't practice with distortion!!!
Play clean, identify your mistakes, and find ways to counter it.. No use playing with distortion if you wanna "hide" your mistakes.. LEARN from it..
I had guitar lessons for half a year UNPLUGGED because my teacher wanted me to clean up on my playing.. Once I improved, then we went on to some chugga chugga madness!
 
it's ok if you aren't up to scratch with your muting techniques when playing with distortion but please learn to do so.

when i started out, i played eveything twice- once clean then distorted. i made sure my distorted stuff are as muted/ controlled as the clean version.
 
Woah woah woah! Hold on there little fella! That's exactly why you shouldn't practice with distortion!!!
Play clean, identify your mistakes, and find ways to counter it.. No use playing with distortion if you wanna "hide" your mistakes.. LEARN from it..
I had guitar lessons for half a year UNPLUGGED because my teacher wanted me to clean up on my playing.. Once I improved, then we went on to some chugga chugga madness!

haha ty. I will keep that in mind. But what i meant is like what subversion said. So yar, need a distortion tone to practise my muting/controlling techniques.
 
it's ok if you aren't up to scratch with your muting techniques when playing with distortion but please learn to do so.

when i started out, i played eveything twice- once clean then distorted. i made sure my distorted stuff are as muted/ controlled as the clean version.

ohoh thanks for your advice.
hmmmm...i think i will go for the Boss DS-1 distortion pedal, suggested by Indigo_blues.
Any other ideas?
 
from what i see, alot of people start with ds1 cause it's simple... Most don't stick to it and upgrade later on. But i kinda like the tone:D
 
from what i see, alot of people start with ds1 cause it's simple... Most don't stick to it and upgrade later on. But i kinda like the tone:D

eh ya i actually found one really nice setting on the stock MIT DS-1 with the tone and dist knobs \ and / respectively (11 and 1 oclock) . not bad for old school stuff but it really started to rock after i did the keeley mod to it! but yea to lameshit, with a 100 bucks a ds-1 would be a simple stepping stone. :P
 
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