The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

Cos I do not like complicated amp circuits 99% of the time..

Single channel NMV amp. Pedal for boost, roll your volume for clean.

I suspect I am not alone.

. . . no, you are not alone mate !

[Boogie Bill]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

There are a lot of different ways to get the job done is this biz, and what works for some probably won't work for me. The important part is that I learned what works for me, but I also try to keep an open mind, waiting for that occasional "AHA!" moment to pop into my head.

When I did a solo act back in the '70s and '80s, I used a SUNN Solos II solid state 212 combo. It did the job; I paid the rent with it. That wasn't a cheap amp either back then--they actually sold for more than a Twin. It's a good sounding amp, but when I started playing with a band in the early '90s I found it limiting. I'd owned a BF Bandmaster set that was stolen before I got the SUNN and liked Fender amps. So I went through a series of Fender amps, and Marhshalls, and even an old Acoustic 156 610 stack--none of which satisfied me, until I found my first Mesa Mark III around 1994. I've been a Mesa guy ever since. (Please note that the "Boogie" in my screen name comes from something else entirely though. ) Still, over the years, I've collected a really nice stable of amps: three Mark IIIs, a IV, and a V; a pair of Maverick 212s and a DC-3 112. Depending on my whims at the moment and the venue, I can cover just about any gig. And, I'm HAPPY.

I've had some dirt boxes over the years, but to me, they just don't sound good at all. They don't distort like a tube amp, IME. That said, if there is one pedal I want for my current rig, it would be a pedal that gives me more of a Marshall tonality. I haven't done a lot of searching yet, but I have some ideas. I'm not sure that I can find what I'm looking for in a pedal, but we'll see.

The boutique pedal industry is interesting to me. When I look at some of the pedalboards featured in the guitar mags, I realize that there are very few boutique pedals on those boards of touring pros. There are instead, a lot of Boss, MXR, Dunlap, Line 6, Vox, Digitech--mainstream companies. If you're in the biz to pay the rent and make some money, there's something to be said for using the cheapest equipment you can find to the job done. If you're doing bar gigs, you could probably get by with a Squire guitar and a Peavey Bandit--certainly the drunk at the back of the room who's playing pool and trying to get laid doesn't care what kind of gear your use, and couldn't tell the difference if you put a gun to his head. You really think he can HEAR the difference between a Tim and a DS-1? So tell me again why you need that $400 distortion pedal?

Most of us aren't working pros, running our music careers as a business--no, we are ARTISTS. Image is certainly important--Spinal Tap simply HAS to show up with a wall of Marshalls--a BF DR on a folding chair just won't cut it. I suspect that Gene Simmons has a room full of vintage basses, but he's going to be stuck gigging with his AXE bass until they put him in the ground. It's his image. Picture SRV playing a shiny brand new strat--nope, it don't LOOK right...that's not what a Texas Bluesman would play...it has to have the MOJO of a 1,000 sweaty bar gigs ingrained in it. Anybody doing jazz gigs with a Dual Recto? Didn't think so. Image is an important thing. And we do need the tools to create out art...but I wonder...did Da Vinci obsess over his paint brushes? Or his easel?

Because we are artists, we're allowed to "chase tone". Though sometimes I think the tone is chasing us. I know very few guys any more that just love to get up and play who are happy with the way they sound. Why is that? Why aren't we investing more into ourselves and less into these little boxes? Getting a new toy--we THINK they are going to make us happy--but it doesn't really do that, and when it does, it's temporary.

I found that I'm happier getting my tones from a Mesa amp. Pedals don't make me happy.

Expressing my soul through my music does.

Bill

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

This may sound crazy but I managed to get a fantastic sound out of a crate 100 watt solid state amp with a dead reverb tank, using a boss ME70 with some verb, noise suppression, and a clean preamp model and my Plimsoul OD in front of that and it sounded great.
Guitar->pedals->amp

Haters gonna hate. Ignore them, bro. Keep your ME-70.

About the only amp I've used that I could go with solely would be the Fender Supersonic, probably one of their most underrated amps. Two different internal amp circuits, two channels each with clean.

Ever seen an amp that could do everything? Nope. 'Cause they don't exist. That krappy Crate half-stack can't do fuzz like Hendrix, its cleans mostly suck, and its channels are so predictable and stereotyped that it's pointless to own one unless you're a beer-chugging "just in it for the chicks" amateur musician. Most those go nowhere.

It's not surprising that many, when they finally have enough money to buy whatever gear they want, throw away their Crate half-stack and get a lot more gear. Look at the pro musicians out there and their gigantic pedal boards. There's a reason: because no one piece of equipment does everything.

So I say, respectfully: who gives a krap? Play what you like and what sounds good to you. Jack White was using krappy gear that sounded good. So what? I respect that. Now he has nicer stuff, but it's worth noting that he was able to make it work for him, which is really the point at the end of the day: does your gear sound how you want it to in your head, and does it work for you? If the answer to both is "yes", then you're good to go.

[DreX]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

I love the Boss ME line, they keep getting bigger though, and the 50 had a lot more dirt models than the 70 that replaced it.

[dominus]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

Ever seen an amp that could do everything? Nope. 'Cause they don't exist. That krappy Crate half-stack can't do fuzz like Hendrix, its cleans mostly suck, and its channels are so predictable and stereotyped that it's pointless to own one unless you're a beer-chugging "just in it for the chicks" amateur musician. Most those go nowhere.

Those Crate half stacks do death metal just fine.



The band playing them seems to do just fine.

[MetalManiac]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

--certainly the drunk at the back of the room who's playing pool and trying to get laid doesn't care what kind of gear your use,...

I do too!

[LesStrat]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

Meh. Don't listen to me. I play a POD most of the time. I like the versatility. There are several songs that we do in which I use acoustic, clean, crunch, and lead sounds in each one. I also sing lead. I don't have time for a pedal dance or instrument switches. I have a bank with those sounded, and it takes pressing ONE button to switch between each.

, I also have switchable effects in each channel, too.









35

[sosomething]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

Thanks for keeping the conversation civil, guys. A lot of people can really internalize their gear choices and take it personally when somebody else prefers different stuff. I don't really see any of that in this thread and I appreciate that.

I think the obvious moral of the story here is that there's no wrong way to get it done when it comes to making music. It's nice to see that attitude reflected here.

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

Those Crate half stacks do death metal just fine.



The band playing them seems to do just fine.

I said everything, not one thing.

[crusty philtrum]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

I've never used a distortion pedal. An overdrive into a tube amp can get me plenty of dirt, and i never crank the drive levels on the OD pedals either. The less dirt, the bigger the sound.

[dystrust]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

I've never used a distortion pedal. An overdrive into a tube amp can get me plenty of dirt, and i never crank the drive levels on the OD pedals either. The less dirt, the bigger the sound.

That reminds me of watching a video of Megadeth from the European Monsters of Rock Tour in 1992. They sounded huge, and I almost couldn't believe how clean Dave's guitar sound was.

[sosomething]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

I've never used a distortion pedal. An overdrive into a tube amp can get me plenty of dirt, and i never crank the drive levels on the OD pedals either. The less dirt, the bigger the sound.

Guitarmanclature aside, overdrive IS a form of distortion.

[Aasinsilta]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

When I was using my Vox VT30 as my main amp, none of the distortion channels really had the midrange I was looking for. The TubeScreamer boosted it nicely, and it also makes the trip with me to rehearsal studios in case I need to help boost the amp there. It also helps because I can use a lower distortion on the amp, so I can get more use of my volume knob for cleaning up if I turn it off.

Since I've gotten my Orange Dark Terror though and expanded my pedal collection, it's seen much less use at home. The Orange responds better to my volume knob, and there's too much footwork if I want to turn off my POG and turn on my TubeScreamer at the end of a clean section. The TubeScreamer also seems to be the culprit of my tone loss when I use it with my Phase 90 and aforementioned POG, so it hasn't seen much action in the house lately. When I was playing through my Vox though, it was godly.

[marvar]

Re: The distortion pedal - why are they still so popular?

...because the person that has the most pedals when they die, WINS!