Geetar Pedals - What are the best distortion pedals? - Page 2

Fibes · 10th March 2003, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Meriphew
If you're specifically looking for extreme, then check out:
ZVEX - Fuzz Factory
ZVEX - Fuzz Probe
Zvex - Machine
ZVEX - Wooly Mammoth
Prescription Electronics - Experience
Death By Audio - Soundsaw
Menatone - King of the Britains

Add the ZVEX super 2 in 1, the original black VOX Tonebender, a Big muff PI, EH Micro synth, MXR blue box and a Foot Pig and your in the sickness business... The fuzz factory is sick.

Messiah · 10th March 2003, 07:18 PM

Personally, I think the V-Twin sucks big time. It spends all it's time trying to sound like an amp instead of a pedal, and fails at both, IMO. YMMV.
If you want 'distortion', forget that one.....

("OK wiseguy" I hear!!) My faves then;

I think the 3 I couldn't live without are;

1) An original Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi (I've no experience with reissues). I disagree with someone earlier who said it's versatile, to me it only does one thing in truth, but that one thing is ****in' great...

2) RAT. I don't think it can be beat for edgy, full on distortion that still keeps it's dynamics. I like the fact these can go from just taking over where the amp left off to full on Viagra hard on distortion. I also prefer the smaller one's to the big one's (anyone? Turbo is the biggun?)

3) Lovetone Big Cheese. It's quality, it does a good Big Muff impression, it does a good RAT impression, it will do everything in between and it's got some more tones all of it's own too. I think all the Lovetone stuff is great..

I also wouldn't like to part with any of my Roger Mayer pedals. The Octavia, Voodoo-Bass, Voodoo-1, Axis Fuzz and Voodoo Vibe in particular are well worth checking out.

Other dirt pedals that I really dig (and I've rejected more than I've kept!!);

The blue Fulltone one(?)...cool..
Marshall Guvnor and Drivemaster
Lovetone Brown Sauce
Coloursound Fuzzface
DOD Fuzz (FX52 I think)
Carl Martin pedals
T-REX pedals (Danish maker, I've only seen them in Denmark)

I'm not a huge fan of Boss pedals, but I think the GX700 and GT6 are a good way to get a lot of Boss OD/Distortion for a reasonable price.

I'll rap it here otherwise it'll go on and.........

cram · 10th March 2003, 09:10 PM

Quote:

What are the best distortion pedals?

The one that I made.

Nutmeg II. · 11th March 2003, 05:25 AM

Thumbs up for Marshall Guvnor and Drivemaster!

I like the TC 1140 it's a ugly eq but a great efx box!
The TC 1140 into a poweramp into a Ampeg 8x10.:eek: Instant earth shaking distortion!

One could get a lot tones out of it with the 4 parametric eqs and it also sounds good on bass.

pounce · 11th March 2003, 05:45 AM

i use a sans amp pedal on my drum machines or vox, but i ain't a guitar player so i actually don't knwo as much about how it sounds on guitar. i thought the sans amp was pretty flexible in terms of tone, so it was the winner.

Sir Bob · 11th March 2003, 04:10 PM

Speaking of SansAmp, I read that Billy Corogan of the Smashing Pumpkins used such a pedal while recording those big Pumpkins hits.

malice · 11th March 2003, 04:21 PM

Hi Kent, nice to see you back, how was Salvatore ?

malice

drummerman15 · 11th March 2003, 07:02 PM

Go for the EH Big MUFF or the old MXR's - definitely a go to item!

faeflora · 11th March 2003, 07:53 PM

Shizmo, this is gonna be a lot of money. Anyone want to unload some of their old favies, particularly one mentioned in this thread? I'm buying.

chap · 12th March 2003, 03:47 AM

I love my Big Muff and Distortion plus. I pulled them out of a flood (3 feet) once, dried them with a hair dryer and they still work. I got the Muff in 1960! It's a one trick pony with a good trick.
At risk of being flamed, the Line 6 distortion pedal into a tube amp (Matchless, Vox, Dr.Z, Fender etc..) sounds pretty ****ing good. Ok, kill me.yuktyy

chap · 12th March 2003, 03:48 AM

...or the old Yardbirds trick. Take a small tube amp and slit a speaker to taste. You'll be surprised.

Steve · 12th March 2003, 06:04 AM

I'm a guitar player and a pedal snob. I can tell you there are a lot of amazing pedals out there. You can listen to some of them at musictoyz.com. I have a Barber Electronics Burn Unit. This pedal has the ability to get tones similar to Marshall, Vox, Fender, Boogie and the legendary Dumble od/distortion tones. The pedal has amazing clarity and note definition even when playing complex 13th chords. The Burn Unit has a dynamics control which is sort of a built in compressor that allows you to go from wide open Marshall Plexi tones to highly compressed Boogie tones. The pedal overall has a warm , dark, tubey vibe to it which works well in a bright digital recording. Highly recommend it. barberelectronics.com is the website

StuartMac · 12th March 2003, 10:51 AM

Lovetone Big Cheese

Menatone King Of The Britains

and if we can include some overdrives.....

Lovetone Brown Source

Fulltone Fulldrive II

Menatone Blue Collar

Of course a lot of this depends on the amp used. All of these pedals sound sublime in front of my Fender Bass Breaker, but I've never really used them properly with my old Marshall.

muddy · 13th March 2003, 03:34 AM

captain coconut 2 - http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/

tech 21 double drive and comptortion

ml

covert · 13th March 2003, 06:46 PM

Some of my favorites:

Boss dual OD Out of production, does two sounds with added footswitch. Probably my choice if I can only carry one.

Ratt Surprisingly responsive to dynamics

Maestro fuzz The old cheese wedge shaped units, with or without the attached cord. This is the Satisfaction sound. Obviously out of production.

Boss hyper fuzz Garage/pschedelic freak out noise

Matric mini boogee or mini matrix Tube pre with controls like a good amp. Very versatile. Long out of production

Although they work for others, I have found that anything with metal or turbo in the name just sounds like shit. The muffs can be fun, but tend towards excruciating treble content. For total obiteration of anything resembling natural guitar tone, an old little muff driven by one of the Maestro fuzzs was amazing.

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10th March 2003, 07:18 PM	#32
Messiah Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: North West Coast, UK. Posts: 602	Pedals.....ooh, me, me. Personally, I think the V-Twin sucks big time. It spends all it's time trying to sound like an amp instead of a pedal, and fails at both, IMO. YMMV. If you want 'distortion', forget that one..... ("OK wiseguy" I hear!!) My faves then; I think the 3 I couldn't live without are; 1) An original Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi (I've no experience with reissues). I disagree with someone earlier who said it's versatile, to me it only does one thing in truth, but that one thing is ****in' great... 2) RAT. I don't think it can be beat for edgy, full on distortion that still keeps it's dynamics. I like the fact these can go from just taking over where the amp left off to full on Viagra hard on distortion. I also prefer the smaller one's to the big one's (anyone? Turbo is the biggun?) 3) Lovetone Big Cheese. It's quality, it does a good Big Muff impression, it does a good RAT impression, it will do everything in between and it's got some more tones all of it's own too. I think all the Lovetone stuff is great.. I also wouldn't like to part with any of my Roger Mayer pedals. The Octavia, Voodoo-Bass, Voodoo-1, Axis Fuzz and Voodoo Vibe in particular are well worth checking out. Other dirt pedals that I really dig (and I've rejected more than I've kept!!); The blue Fulltone one(?)...cool.. Marshall Guvnor and Drivemaster Lovetone Brown Sauce Coloursound Fuzzface DOD Fuzz (FX52 I think) Carl Martin pedals T-REX pedals (Danish maker, I've only seen them in Denmark) I'm not a huge fan of Boss pedals, but I think the GX700 and GT6 are a good way to get a lot of Boss OD/Distortion for a reasonable price. I'll rap it here otherwise it'll go on and......... __________________ Best Regards, Carl.

11th March 2003, 05:25 AM	#34
Nutmeg II. Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: GEARmany Posts: 905	Thumbs up for Marshall Guvnor and Drivemaster! I like the TC 1140 it's a ugly eq but a great efx box! The TC 1140 into a poweramp into a Ampeg 8x10.:eek: Instant earth shaking distortion! One could get a lot tones out of it with the 4 parametric eqs and it also sounds good on bass. __________________ "Any recording engineer who uses a tube U47 is obviously not a professional" Stephan Temmer 1979

11th March 2003, 05:45 AM	#35
pounce Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: columbus, ohio Posts: 804	i use a sans amp pedal on my drum machines or vox, but i ain't a guitar player so i actually don't knwo as much about how it sounds on guitar. i thought the sans amp was pretty flexible in terms of tone, so it was the winner. __________________ cheers paul paper street audio company www.paperstreetaudio.com

11th March 2003, 04:21 PM	#37
malice Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: France Posts: 876	Hi Kent, nice to see you back, how was Salvatore ? malice __________________ thewombforums.com

11th March 2003, 04:10 PM	#36
Sir Bob Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Pasadena, CA Posts: 240	Speaking of SansAmp, I read that Billy Corogan of the Smashing Pumpkins used such a pedal while recording those big Pumpkins hits.

11th March 2003, 07:02 PM	#38
drummerman15 Gear nut Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Houston Posts: 97	Go for the EH Big MUFF or the old MXR's - definitely a go to item!

11th March 2003, 07:53 PM	#39
faeflora Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: washington dc Posts: 2,010	Shizmo, this is gonna be a lot of money. Anyone want to unload some of their old favies, particularly one mentioned in this thread? I'm buying.

12th March 2003, 03:47 AM	#40
chap Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: CT Posts: 948	I love my Big Muff and Distortion plus. I pulled them out of a flood (3 feet) once, dried them with a hair dryer and they still work. I got the Muff in 1960! It's a one trick pony with a good trick. At risk of being flamed, the Line 6 distortion pedal into a tube amp (Matchless, Vox, Dr.Z, Fender etc..) sounds pretty ****ing good. Ok, kill me.yuktyy

12th March 2003, 03:48 AM	#41
chap Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: CT Posts: 948	...or the old Yardbirds trick. Take a small tube amp and slit a speaker to taste. You'll be surprised.

12th March 2003, 06:04 AM	#42
Steve Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 14	best distortion pedal I'm a guitar player and a pedal snob. I can tell you there are a lot of amazing pedals out there. You can listen to some of them at musictoyz.com. I have a Barber Electronics Burn Unit. This pedal has the ability to get tones similar to Marshall, Vox, Fender, Boogie and the legendary Dumble od/distortion tones. The pedal has amazing clarity and note definition even when playing complex 13th chords. The Burn Unit has a dynamics control which is sort of a built in compressor that allows you to go from wide open Marshall Plexi tones to highly compressed Boogie tones. The pedal overall has a warm , dark, tubey vibe to it which works well in a bright digital recording. Highly recommend it. barberelectronics.com is the website

12th March 2003, 10:51 AM	#43
StuartMac Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 810	Lovetone Big Cheese Menatone King Of The Britains and if we can include some overdrives..... Lovetone Brown Source Fulltone Fulldrive II Menatone Blue Collar Of course a lot of this depends on the amp used. All of these pedals sound sublime in front of my Fender Bass Breaker, but I've never really used them properly with my old Marshall.

13th March 2003, 03:34 AM	#44
muddy Gear addict Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: N.Y.C. Posts: 309	captain coconut 2 - http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/ tech 21 double drive and comptortion ml

13th March 2003, 06:46 PM	#45
covert Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: capitol district NY Posts: 523	Some of my favorites: Boss dual OD Out of production, does two sounds with added footswitch. Probably my choice if I can only carry one. Ratt Surprisingly responsive to dynamics Maestro fuzz The old cheese wedge shaped units, with or without the attached cord. This is the Satisfaction sound. Obviously out of production. Boss hyper fuzz Garage/pschedelic freak out noise Matric mini boogee or mini matrix Tube pre with controls like a good amp. Very versatile. Long out of production Although they work for others, I have found that anything with metal or turbo in the name just sounds like shit. The muffs can be fun, but tend towards excruciating treble content. For total obiteration of anything resembling natural guitar tone, an old little muff driven by one of the Maestro fuzzs was amazing.

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