What is the best distortion and/or overdrive pedal?

[Robert]

Let's hear what you say! There are many options of course....

I'll start by saying Maxon Sonic Distortion SD-9 (http://www.dolphinstreet.com/guitar_pedals/maxon_sd9/). A very smooth and fat sounding distortion pedal.

For a super cheap, good sounding pedal, I say Danelectro FAB Distortion.

The Proco Rat is also great, but I'm not quite sure which model is which anymore - Turbo Rat, Rat 2, Rat this, Rat that. :whatever: Maybe someone can clarify this.

For overdrive - the already legendary Zonkin' Yellow Screamer, by our very own DuhVoodooMan himself! (Ask him nicely and send him lots of gifts if you expect him to make you one...)

What rocks your world in the distortion pedal department? :rockon:

[Adrian30]

Just recently I read few good reviews on Nobels ODR-1. I've never tested one but I'm just throwing this in here. Perhaps some of the fretters own(ed) or tested one.

It's obviously an overdrive, so technically not a distortion pedal.

Here's the link to manifacturer.


http://www.nobels.com/en/index.htm


No afiliations etc. etc. etc....

[stingx]

HAO Rust Driver, hands down!

http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/HAORD-1Big.jpg

[Robert]

Let's talk about overdrive pedals in a different thread. Keep the topic on distortion pedals only, if possible.

[LowEndWonder]

The Electro Harmonics Double Muff ! :beavisnbutthead:

[Justaguyin_nc]

The Proco Rat is also great, but I'm not quite sure which model is which anymore - Turbo Rat, Rat 2, Rat this, Rat that. :whatever: Maybe someone can clarify this.

What rocks your world in the distortion pedal department? :rockon:
Welp..to make it easy... get the RAT that has them all!! Im really thinking about this one.. nice features!
http://www.ratdistortion.com/deucetonerat.htm

Im still so new to all these sounds for the last few years. The one Distortion that I keep finding more sounds in though , is The Vintage Rat..

Not Original rat.. but original circuit..does that make sense? It can be a muff,fuzz,zipper,fly etc etc... and can clean up to overdrive..
In fact.. a much more expensive B.K.Butler I had, to see how good it was has been e-bayed because the RAT is so close at times..
and the B.K although very warm in overdrive was to fuzzy "to me" on distortion and was so HUGE!! (about 4 pedals in board size)
The foot print of the RAT though is the size of two pedals.. it's only fault..

I recently got a pedal with a RAT clone..well its nice.. but NOT! this same pedal though has a TS9 clone in it..
I never had or tried the real thing here either..
but another nice sounding Distortion/overdrive it seems.. I am hoping to match The RAT to it.

Yet, each has its own feel.. but if I can only have one..
The Vintage RAT...loves tubes..

Maybe it has to do with which you play with the most..
and figure out how to use it..
as they all seem adjustable to some point..

my 2 cents..
and about all my opinion is worth..
REALLY! I know this..;)
But I have fun...:)
Try a Vintage or Original RAT sometime..
and give it some time and adjustments..

[stingx]

Let's talk about overdrive pedals in a different thread. Keep the topic on distortion pedals only, if possible.

I thought that is a distortion pedal :messedup:

Semantics...

[Robert]

Ahh, good point. I guess the difference is not so clear. Let's change it then to distortion AND overdrive pedals! :AOK:

From http://www.bossus.com/bugonline/how_to.asp?art=great_tone :


What’s the difference between an overdrive and a distortion?

Generally, an overdrive is designed to work and sound like an old tube amp turned up loud. A good overdrive can produce the same overtones and harmonics that an overdriven tube amp produces, hence the name Overdrive. BOSS started the overdrive revolution with the legendary and very collectible OD-1.

A distortion usually goes beyond the amount of gain and harmonic crunching typical of an overdrive. They tend to get more distorted, are usually (but not always) louder than typical overdrives, and often have multiple gain stages for abnormal amounts of sustain. The BOSS MT-2, probably the best selling distortion pedal ever, is a good example of a distortion pedal with those features.

[Sblack]

Ibanez SM-10 Super Metal -- I bought one in 1986, and to this day and several pedals later, its distortion is unmatched to my ears.

[markb]

Older RATs with the LM308 chip do it for me. Everything from boost to fuzz that cleans up nicely when you back off.

Here's what Robert Keeley says about the difference between old and new RAT's. I can hear the difference and I'm not that picky usually.


ATTENTION OLD RAT FANS!!!! Hey, they don't make them like they use to. Heck, they don't make like they did last year, so if you are hoping our Rat mods will make your pedal sound like the one you remember 10, 15 years ago.... might not be the thing to hope for! These pedals have changed so much over time, and only the Name Badge is the same. They act very differently. So, if you had favorite settings, etc., buy an old one and check it out. Some folks say ours nail it perfectly, others hear some nuances in the old one they are just addicted to.

[Spudman]

Best distortion hands down for me is the Radial Tonebone Hot British. Nothing else even comes close, but it has a tube in it.

Next in line would have to be a Rat, and I wish I had one of the old ones because they do sound different.

[marnold]

Normally I just take what the amp gives me, perhaps with some OD to push it over the edge (yes, I like my Behringer pseudo-Screamer a lot). I have a lot of fun when I use the Muff model on my EX-7. The Muff is by no means a be all/end all. It's more one of those "if you need this particular sound, it's the only way to go" pedals.

[GREENMACHINE]

Hey Guys
Well I don't have much experience with pedals but I have found the Eric Clapton Crossroads pedal is pretty versatile with the sounds you can get out of it. Like blues, jazz, rock, hard rock to maybe alittle metal distortion.

Cheers
GREENMACHINE

[deeaa]

I've said it a dozen times, Marshall JH-1 Jackhammer in OD mode is the best JCM-800 in a box I ever heard. But all these are largely matters of taste.

[DeanEVO_Dude]

I've got one...

Washburn LSESLD Soloist Distortion (a rebranded Artec SESLD). It has a good bit of gain and I think it sound great... and it's real cheap to boot (if you can find 'em still), got mine from Target when they were clearing them out for under $30. There is a store near that has them for $20, I was thinking about picking up a 2nd one for backup.

Cheers!

[ZMAN]

Best distortion hands down for me is the Radial Tonebone Hot British. Nothing else even comes close, but it has a tube in it.

Next in line would have to be a Rat, and I wish I had one of the old ones because they do sound different.

+1 on the Radial tone bone. Tweakability and it's own 12AX7

[tunghaichuan]

I've got one...

Washburn LSESLD Soloist Distortion (a rebranded Artec SESLD). It has a good bit of gain and I think it sound great... and it's real cheap to boot (if you can find 'em still), got mine from Target when they were clearing them out for under $30. There is a store near that has them for $20, I was thinking about picking up a 2nd one for backup.

Cheers!

+1. I like that pedal a great deal. Does a nice cranked plexi sound.

[jpfeifer]

I think that it depends on what type of sound you want from your overdrive. I don't think that there is one pedal that does it all, they all excell at different things. I have the Fulltone OCD and now the Hermida Zendrive. Both of these pedals are amazing at what they do, but they are totally different.

The OCD is great for nice tube-like distortion. It works really well for big power chords and fat sounding lead tones.

The Zendrive is more for mild distortion and bluesy sort of tones, where you need a fat sustaining sound that is very sensitive to your dynamics, but not so grainy or saturated. It's kind of like the Boss Blues Driver on steroids. It does the Larry Carlton/Robben Ford thing really well. It a fantastic pedal.

--Jim

[kiteman]

Is the DOD Grunge a distortion pedal?

[dipper]

An Epiphone Wilshire (reproduction) running through an EH Big Muff Pi into a Fender Amp with a good wack of reverb makes me smile every time.

[Tone2TheBone]

I really really...really like my Marshall Guv'nor Plus pedal I use it for everything on the Blues Jr. It makes any amp sound like a Marshall stack. Fat fat fat...but a tight fat. It sounds like my Jubilee.

[Robert]

Tone, how does the Guv'nor compare to the SD-9 copy you have?

[deeaa]

Hey Tone, I also love the Guvnor+, I've had it twice...it's VERY nearly the same sound as the Jackhammer, well basically sounds the same, but the Jack has a little less of the 'tubescreamer' dark fuzz backing and is more pure OD, yet a tad more like a JCM800. I need those pure-ringing chords without any tubescreamer-type overtones. But they're very close. It was hard to decide - hence I sold and later re-acquired the plus again - but in the end the Jack just has so large balls and clarity it's been my fave for several years now.

[riverrick]

I pulled the trigger yesterday on a new noise reduction pedal by Rocktron. Should it go in a specfic place in my chain???

[tunghaichuan]

Is the DOD Grunge a distortion pedal?

I believe so, it sounds a lot like the Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion in the boosted mode.

[Tone2TheBone]

Rob - The SD-9 clone (Duhvoodooman's Sonic Tonic) sounds like an actual distortion generator is how I would describe it. Turn the knobs and it produces various amounts of distortion. You can shape the output tone sound with the single tone knob but the distortion remains the same. Good for what it does and when used sparingly as an overdrive OR when used maxed out for some righteous sounding fuzz. It also works best I think when your amph is breaking up already...then it sounds really nice.

The Guv'nor Plus sounds like a Marshall amph in a pedal simply put. Take a Marshall stack...either half stack or full...and put all that mojo and sound into a metal box. That's it. It acts like an amph. It has so much variation in tone because of the bass, treble, mid and super bottom bass boost knobs. It's a great overdrive amph I mean pedal and an awesome Marshall stack replica that will make any amph sound like a Marshall.

Deeaa - I have to agree with you on the Jackhammer. I played one once and it slays. All out saturation. Much better sounding pedal than a Metal Zone.

[M29]

I got a Jackhammer a few months ago and I absolutely love it! Just like everyone says, fat and sweet!

[DeanEVO_Dude]

I pulled the trigger yesterday on a new noise reduction pedal by Rocktron. Should it go in a specfic place in my chain???

Normally the noise reduction pedal goes first if you don't use a compressor or after that if you do. Sometimes, people use two of them, one at the beginning and one at the very end of the chain. For the most part, it does depend on what noise you are trying to rid your signal chain of... 60hz hum from the guitar, hiss from a compressor/sustainor, overall noise from an excess of distortion/overdrive pedals.
I hope I have helped a little. Cheers!

[deeaa]

Deeaa - I have to agree with you on the Jackhammer. I played one once and it slays. All out saturation. Much better sounding pedal than a Metal Zone.

Oh, yeah...the drive mode is pretty much Metallica. But I don't actually use that mode much, just the OD side, and even there only about 2/5ths drive...perfect slight OD then with so much clarity it's uncanny! (But if you do need the metal tones, it's nice to have the parametric mid band.) Anyway, I suspect many looking for an OD pedal end up not testing the OD side much, and take it for too 'metal' a pedal for them - so I urge people to concentrate on trying the OD side of it. Just like Guvnor, only some more clarity.

All in all, I've really liked every Marshall pedal I tried so far. I also have the ED-1 compressor, and I really like it for not being the normal 'squeeze' box but can be adjusted to only compress highs or lows and it rather boosts than restricts. Excellent pedal. And now I've been looking into getting the delay of the series, I read some reviews and it seems like a real nice box too. Plus they are far from the most expensive and yet not many a pedal is so sturdy in construction. They don't seem to ever be the traditional approach & sound, they always have something else to them, like not just a tubescreamer in Guvnor but added a marvellous EQ system, or not just compressor, but a multiband compressor, etc, etc...you may not get that familiar effect right off the spot, but something a little different.

[Ro3b]

It's interesting to me how nobody ever recommends the regular old tube screamer in threads like this. It's the platonic ideal of overdrive, really. Nice and creamy tones with a good healthy mid hump so you can cut through. What's not to love?

[DeanEVO_Dude]

It's interesting to me how nobody ever recommends the regular old tube screamer in threads like this. It's the platonic ideal of overdrive, really. Nice and creamy tones with a good healthy mid hump so you can cut through. What's not to love?

I think that the reason is two-fold: :poke
1. They are just too darned expensive for "vintage" ones, and the new ones are kinda cheap (though, not any cheaper feeling than any of the Behringer pedals). Even at $40 for a TS-10, it just doesn't seem like a big draw.
2. Kinda like Pink Floyd - "Another Brick in the Wall, Part X", It has just kinda played itself out. Many, many, many recorded guitars, played through Fender, Marshall, and VOX amps with a TS of some flavor pushing the front end of the amp into glorous, creamy, saturated overdrive.
Remember, these are only my opinions, so...

I have toyed with the idea of getting one of the TS-10s and doing the 808 mod on it for myself, I gave one I modded to a friend of mine for Christmass one year, but I just never seem to get around to buying one. Oh, well, I will probably decied to do it when it is too late and they are all gone and discontinued. LOL

Anyway, cheers all. :rockya

[LeadedEL84]

Through the years I have owned many distortion and/or overdrive pedals. I have my favorites for different styles and different set ups. I will start with my overall favorite and most recent.

-Marshall Guv'Nor 2 plus-Overall the best sounding and feeling distortion pedal I have ever owned,by far. With all the EQ control on this I can shape any tone I need or want and can match it to work with anything I have tried to play it through. It has a good range of sounds from vintage to modern as long as you are looking for a convincing Marshall tone. I agree with earlier posters who said this is a marshall amp in a little metal case. It truly is. It sounds great but I also like the feel. It is very dynamic and is sensative to picking nuance. I was considering the Marshall Bluesbreaker 2 pedal(which is also great)but I am glad I got the Gov'Nor. It has a greater range and more gain when I need it.

-Boss Blues Driver-My long time"stand by"pedal for great blues tone. I keep this one on hand for when I want a more Fendery style tone for blues or classic rock. This one is best played through a small or medium sized tube amp. It is a fairly transparent pedal and is better at enhancing or adding to tone rather than totally creating a tone. I like to use it in situations where I am getting part of the overdrive from the amp and part from the pedal. It has a very creamy sound and is very dynamic and pick sensitive. I got it when I was playing through a Fender Blues Junior. I was replacing an Ibanez TS7 tube screamer that I didn't like.

-Danelectro Fab Distortion-I bought this days before getting the Guv'Nor 2. I needed a cheap temporary pedal with more gain than the Boss while I searched for a Marshall pedal at the right price. Didn't know how long it would be until I landed a Guv and didn't want to spend much $. I heard good things about the Fab and figured $15 wasn't much to loose in a gamble. I was totally surprised how good this cheap plastic pedal sounded. It's actually a well built little thing and has great tone. It screams through a tube amp and is fairly quiet and non-tone robbing. To my ears it's a tube screamer type tone that offers a little more edge and a bit more gain. I have owned a range of real tube screamers and find this Fab to be better than the lower end and mid model screamers. I think it is the best "bang for the buck"pedal on the market.

I have a Tech 21 Tri AC pedal I am totally impressed with for Marshall and tweed sounds as well. Since it is technically a modeling pedal I will save that for a future thread on that catagory. There are tons of great pedals on the market these days depending on what sound you want and how much you have to spend. IMO there is also alot of junk and overpriced crap with big names on them.

[deeaa]

Leaded you must have similar tone tastes as I agree on all counts except never tried the fab. Had all the others and they're all great. I also assume u like el84amps as I do too :-)

[sunvalleylaw]

I keep playing it, and keep finding more amazing tones. . . . . The ZYS Mark II!! I know it has been mentioned, but I have to throw it out there again. Just so good. Has that nice Tubescreamery hump if you want, but is so adjustable and is so much more.

[marnold]

I keep playing it, and keep finding more amazing tones. . . . . The ZYS Mark II!! I know it has been mentioned, but I have to throw it out there again. Just so good. Has that nice Tubescreamery hump if you want, but is so adjustable and is so much more.
I agree with my version of the OD2 which is kind of a poor man's ZYS. Actually, I find myself liking the sound of the clean MOSFET boost best with the distortion on my amph. Not sure why, but I like it :)

[LeadedEL84]

Leaded you must have similar tone tastes as I agree on all counts except never tried the fab. Had all the others and they're all great. I also assume u like el84amps as I do too :-)

Yes, I am crazy about EL84 amps. No matter if the amp is a Marshall,Vox,Fender,Bogner,etc..I usually like thieir 15-30-40 watt EL84 models the best. I like other amps too but I prefer the EL84s w/1x12 or 2x12

I clicked on your "posted images"and looked at some of your guitars. Didn't see any amps but it looks like we do have similar tastes. Check out my pics if you get a chance. Most of my good equipment is posted.

So as not to hi-jack the thread too much I will bring it back to dist.pedals. The Danelectro Fab Dist. doesn't match up to most of the high end pedals but it is great for an inexpensive alternative to the mid priced stuff. It sounds really good for a classic/hard rock crunch and has great harmonics for leads. I would highly rec.it for a beginner or anyone who needs a decent dist.but has little money to spend. It especially sounds good with humbuckers.