dist pedals

[benbenben]

yeh, pretty boring topic, just wanna have a wider idea of the sorts of distortion pedals out there.

I know theres the typical Marshall-in-a-box pedal sorta thing? The DS-1s and a lot of the modded ones have that description. The MI Audio CrunchBox too.

What other different distortions are there? American, British, what's out there, and what pedals are good for it.

 

[kjrocks]

Re: dist pedals

Carl Martin Plexitone, my Marshall tone search ended there

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: dist pedals

I like my DS-1. But I can't wait to get a Mesa Nomad, that thing will have my DS-1 up for sale in a minute!!!!

 

[benbenben]

Re: dist pedals

do you guys just have one distortion sorta sound and thats it. You use that sound for your distortion crunchy rhythms. Or do you use different ones for different songs. I'm thinking i might just use one box for my overall distortion. Say if im covering a song, who cares if its the same? It's a cover, so you need your own little jizz to it. Am i right in thinking that.

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: dist pedals

do you guys just have one distortion sorta sound and thats it. You use that sound for your distortion crunchy rhythms. Or do you use different ones for different songs. I'm thinking i might just use one box for my overall distortion. Say if im covering a song, who cares if its the same? It's a cover, so you need your own little jizz to it. Am i right in thinking that.

To an extent. I like to adjust the amount of distortion I use depending on what I'm playing, but mostly I shape the tone with my guitar. Though once I get a head I'll be dialing in EQ more specifically as the EQ wont be universal. Yeah you're probably not going to sound 100% like any artist unless you get all their gear and use the same settings, but you can always try to come close, but there's nothing wrong with putting your own tone on it, so long as it doesn't sound out of place (e.g. scooped metal tone for Little Wing).

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: dist pedals

I use a bunch of pedals, and a bunch of different tones. My "main" tones are a semi-scooped, thrashy metal rhythm, a lead tone that's similar to Andy Timmons's tone from his album Resolution, a super thick fuzz, plus a really warm, thick, middy stoner tone.

Then again, I typically come up with a different sound every time I play anymore.

 

[wahwah]

Re: dist pedals

For versatility, I like to have an overdrive pedal and a distortion. Added to this, I like those two pedals to work together, ie, I like to be able to have them both on at the same time and cascading nicely to create a beautiful, sustaining, harmonically rich solo tone. In this way, you have four gain stage options, CLEAN, OD, DIST, BOTH. Then it's a matter of setting the drive controls of the pedals to an optimum setting where they will work well on their own, and together. Since not all pedals work well together, some experimentation is necessary to find combinations that work. One combination that works brilliantly is MI Audio's Blues Pro and Crunch Box, in fact, Mike Ibrahim designed them to do exactly that, and they do it superbly.

Other great distortion pedals include ZVex's Box of Rock, ProCo RAT and Turbo RAT , old 70's script logo or early block logo MXR Distortion + (not the Dunlop reissues, which are caca by comparison throughout the entire range) and Dave Ulbrick's handmade (made in Melbourne!) range including the 12AXE (which Robben Ford recently took home after touring here...he and Larry Carlton also both bought Ulbrick amps to take home after putting their Dumbles aside to use Dave's amps at gigs!). There are tons of distortion pedals out there, and obviously different players like different pedals for their own reasons. One man's holy grail is another man's piece o' crap, so you really have to hear them for yourself. Hope this helps.


Cheers.................wahwah

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: dist pedals

I think of these as representing the different types of distortion ...

SFX-03
Silver Dragon
English Muff'n
DS-1
Huckleberry/Fuzz Head
Big Muff/Little Big Muff

 

[benbenben]

Re: dist pedals

Wahwah!!! Another down under slinger! haha Ummm i've heard of the Ulbrick range, just never seen their pedals. Whatsthe Zvex box of rock supposed to be like, is it similiar to the marshally sounds like what the CB and the DS is supposed to follow?

Uhhhh DR PZ, can ya sorta elaborate a tiny bit more about the how they are diff?

 

[El Dunco]

Re: dist pedals

The Rocktron Zombie is a really heavy rectified distortion. Sounds close to a cranked Mesa if you use it through a good tube amp like a twinreverb. The "stare" knob is has a "psychoacoustic" symmetry effect that changes the tone dramatically so you can really tweak it to get the sound you want.

It's great if you are a metalhead... (geez I sound like an advertisment)

 

[benbenben]

Re: dist pedals

BTW, what's the new Lava Box gonna be like? Is it in the same vein of distortion as the DS-1/CBs?

 

[wahwah]

Re: dist pedals

Wahwah!!! Another down under slinger! haha Ummm i've heard of the Ulbrick range, just never seen their pedals. Whatsthe Zvex box of rock supposed to be like, is it similiar to the marshally sounds like what the CB and the DS is supposed to follow?

You can check out the Box of Rock here... http://www.zvex.com/vexterbor.html Have a listen to the audio demo. Yes, it's Marshally, but very, very good, and it also has a separate boost stage with a second footswitch, very handy. I wouldn't say that it's similar to a Boss DS-1, I'd say that it's in a different league, as is the Crunch Box. As has been noted, there are many different flavours of distortion, from those which emulate power tube distortion right through to those that do the 80's scooped mid thing, so it helps if you know what kind of sound you are wanting from your pedal.


Cheers....................wahwah

 

[benbenben]

Re: dist pedals

Just mainly rock and blues.
So i don't want that sorta scooped mids distortion and stuff. Just really classic sorta american and british stuff
what about the Carl Martin AC Tone?

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: dist pedals

yeh, pretty boring topic, . . .


What other different distortions are there? American, British, what's out there, and what pedals are good for it.

If you are asking about pedals that simmulate other amps, do try the Carl Martin AC-TONE :firedevil


. . . that unit sounds better than the real deal !!! FACT !!!



My 2cents
JP

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: dist pedals

do you guys just have one distortion sorta sound and thats it. You use that sound for your distortion crunchy rhythms. Or do you use different ones for different songs. I'm thinking i might just use one box for my overall distortion. Say if im covering a song, who cares if its the same? It's a cover, so you need your own little jizz to it. Am i right in thinking that.

NO . . . i have more that one tone for my rythm, as i am not a lead player i like to have many options in front of me !

I also like to use FUZZ (a lot of the times) as a "fuzzy-crunchy type tone) for my parts - think Fu Manchu, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and so on !

In fact, i think fuzz makes for a FANTASTIC rythm pedals, if used correctl;y !


Cheers
JP

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: dist pedals

Well, Lynch over the years had one thing fixed, alder body guitar with duncan pups into the TS808. But he always played with amps, that's why we can say that its all him every time but different type of textures and vibes in his crunch. I think that's the way to go if you want to have different distortion sounds but still have your "thing" present at each one of them - one pedal that's YOU and different amps ..... maybe....

 

[BG00]

Re: dist pedals

radial hot british is an awesome dist box. I want to get one for my little laney combo to have a second channel.

 

[pedalinbob]

Re: dist pedals

Not trying to threadjack, but the newer distortion pedals have allegedly become extremely nice in tone, so I have been on a half-hearted search for a new one...or two.
There is a tone that I have been trying to replicate for a very long time: that of Yngwie's "I'll See The Light Tonight."

I have no clue why, but I have always loved that tone...and it appears the only way is to use a custom amp (from Nate at Bumbox), with the DOD/YJM, etc.

Anyone know of any distortion pedal that can get a similar Marshally tone?

 

[JfromHouston]

Re: dist pedals

CM Plexitone is another good option.

Really nice crunch sounds and the OD is pretty nice too (if a little noisy). And judging by it's name it definitely leans to the Marshall side of the sonic spectrum. It also has a great clean boost so you actually get three pedals in one box. It's all powered by it's own 18volt cord so no need for batteries or another wall wart.

 

[benbenben]

Re: dist pedals

so would you say like having a marshally sorta dist ie DS-1, CrunchBox and Plextitone sorta stuff, and say a AC-tone would be a good range of tones?
Modded DS-1 and an AC-tone? This is Distortion btw.