Re: Favorite distortion/overdrive pedal?
I'll tell you what I like about my personal faves:
TS-9, It's the one overdrive everyone ought to own. Great sound, flexible. Might run a little lite on the OD for some. Get the turbo version if this is you. I love it as is!
Stamps Drive-O-Matic, My absolute favorite these days. 2 levels of od, presence control, and a tight/loose switch. I like using that with my fender pro jr. I can set up clean/slight breakup/drive/over-drive tones. Goes firther than the ts-9.
Boss Hm-2, Don't laugh. I call that pedal MR. Growley. It's way less of a Heavy Metal pedal in my opinion than a basic rock distortion. I do a lot of ZZ top with that!
Washburn Stack-in-a-box, 4 (count'em) stage FET distortion. Totally underated. I can get an ultra Marshall tone with that thing. Should be cheap if you can find one.
Boss Metal Zone, probably my favorite all around metal sound.