List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

[PearlyHellhound]

Playing through both Marshall JVM205c and Peavey 6505 combos. Using a Gibson Les Paul Studio, 498t/490r pickups and Ernie Ball 10's. The following pedals I found were reliable and had rich tone;

Boss Metal Zone
Digitech XMM Metal Master
Electro Harmonix Big Muff w/ Sustainer
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive
Dunlop Fuzz Face
Maxon OD-808
Fulltone Fulldrive 2 w/Mosfet

If you have a favorite say so and why. This thread is more for individuals who are overwhelmed by the volume and variety of dirty pedals.

 

[Grandturk]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

The following pedals I found were reliable and had rich tone;

Boss Metal Zone

:eyecrazy:

 

[jeremy]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

thats the first thing i thought too

 

[mrpinter]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

Hermida Audio Zendrive - the kind of OD you could just leave always on; creamy rather than crunchy breakup, very smooth and rich sounding; a good foundation for stacking with other pedals; the voice control is very useful.

Subdecay Super Nova Drive - this one has a great crunchy, sort of grindy breakup and is a great complement to the Zendrive; it has a very wide gain range.

Wampler Leviathan fuzz - I don't have a lot of experience with fuzzes, but this one just sounds great; two very useful voicings (Roar and Rumble).

Dirt boxes I used to have/use: a Boss SD-1 - actually a very good OD with it's own personality. It had a kind of nasally upper mid bump I couldn't ever quite get on with. a Boss DF-2 Super Feedbacker and Distortion pedal - a unique pedal that I understand was like a DS-1 with an added feedback on demand function. While clever the feedback feature wasn't all that useful, but the distortion effect was OK. Both of these had the unquestioned Boss durability.

 

[Maynardo]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

metal zone?¿?????? really ?????... that thing is a "bees in jar" factory, not to mention how harsh with no balls it is, no wonder I see threads about people usign 50k pots in their humbuckers

 

[zakk_speed]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

Into a Blackstar HT, in order

Monte Allums Boss SD-1 GT
Monte Allums Boss OD-3 Plus Dual Gain
Keeley Boss DS-1 Ultra (clean channel only)

Into a Kustom hv-65

Monte Allums Boss MT-2 Sustania (rhythm channel only)

Dont discount the modded MT-2..seriously, this is the one pedal I have that can do pretty much any gain tone I want, on any amp. I only did this mod as I got the bits for free on a 3 for 4 deal, on an old beaten up mt-2, and i expected it to be awful, and it was freaking awesome.

 

[thespricket]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

I've had my Swollen Pickle for a few weeks and I'm still very much in love it. A good fuzz can be so versatile!

 

[Diego]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

I had a Metal Zone. Stock... well, what can I say. Not very good IMO.
Sharp, flat, either hollow or nasal mids and very stiff, didn't feel like an amp and it didn't clean up at all.

Then I had it modded, with the Diezel mod. Much, much better.
Thicker, better mids, the highs sat just right, and it actually cleaned up. Sort of.
But it could only do the most brutal sounds. You wanna play Boston, Van Halen or maybe some Bon Jovi? Forget it.
Anything softer than Metallica and the pedal would punch you.
It was amazing for Death Metal, or downtuned stuff like Machine Head and In Flames. Really awesome, the bass was just manic.

But I don't play that, so I sold it.
But it's a good pedal... once modded.

I'd try two Marshalls if I was you: The Jackhammer and the Guv'nor.
Both are amazing, I hope to find a cheap Guv'nor anytime soon.

 

[Bludave]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

I really haven't used many in my days as a player but I was always able to dial in a good sound with what was available at the time. I've used:

Rat: I used this with a Super Overdrive going into a Jazz Chorus 77

Boss Super Overdrive: When I sold the JC & bought my Super Reverb I used this.

Bad Monkey: I used it 3 times & for the money(I paid $20.00 used) its a decent OD

TS9: I have two... one modded by John Spina & one stock RI. The modded TS9 is always on my board. The other I use with smaller amps

TS808: Mine is a custom made Ts808 on steroids (Xssive made it for me). I use it all the time it has some serious bite to it. It really isn't a TS808 but its close

Most of these I would describe as overdrives not distortion pedals. This is no real hard facts here just what I have used. I am sure there are a bunch of pedals that sound great that I haven't used. Boutique pedals I would imagine are going to sound great but I just have a hard time dropping $300.00 or more for an OD/dist. pedal.

 

[cayle_6]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

I've had/tried:

Barber Dirty Bomb - Great classic high gain tones. Perfect for hard rock. It's not for the nu-metal players, i guess.

Barber Direct Drive Super Sport - It's my favorite marshall in a box pedal. Smooth, creamy medium high gain overdrive, which can sound a bit brown at certain settings.

Visual Sound Route 808 - I love this! It's very smooth and adds a bit of hair to the tone. I just got this pedal and I love it stacked with the Direct Drive.

Fulltone OCD Clone - It was made for me by a local pedal builder. This has some great Brit sounds coming out of it. But I do prefer the Direct Drive's compression.

Lovepedal Eternity burst clone - It was made by a great local pedal builder, who also built clones of Marshall amps. It sounds phenomenal and I wish i didn't sell it. An real eternity burst owner told me that my clone and his Eternity sound the same.

Boss MT2 - Meh...the mid control and the buffer was nice though.

Vox Satchurator - It's very vocal sounding, which a lot of the pedals I've tried don't have. The buffer on this pedal is excellent as well, although I find the pedal to have only one useful setting for my rig.

Sansamp GT2 - I loved the Fender simulator, and I used it for my clean sounds for quite a while before I sold it. The high gain Marshall and Mesa emulators, I do not like so much.


Right now, I only have the 2 Barber pedals and the Route808, but the Dirty Bomb is sitting in its box. I love the Super Sport. You guys should try it.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

Can't do it. It's too easy to go to a shop that carries used pedals and pick up some strange. Can't talk about all of 'em.

 

[AcousticSmash]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

I use two Electro Harmonix boxes, the Graphic Fuzz which I use for rhythm and lead for now, as well as a Big Muff Pi for saturation effects on certain songs. I really like both of these pedals, but I plan on at least getting a dual channel with a strong clean channel and a lead channel that can do everything so I can just use the Graphic Fuzz as rhythm. I don't understand why someone would spend more for the ZVex Fuzz Factory when the Big Muff Pi is just as good at a fraction of the price.

I also like the Ibanez Steve Vai dual distortion pedal, it's pretty nice and has some pretty smooth lead tones.

 

[WoodGrain67]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

Careful with that talk of a Metal Zone. Folks 'round here will stack wood around your feet and utter the work "witch"...

But yeah, there is exactly one decent spot for all six of those pots where the sound is actually cool. Aw heck, is that oak or birch around my feet???

Otherwise, I'm liking my Radial Hot Btitish and Octavia clone kit from General Guitar Gadgets.:nana:

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

:eyecrazy:

yep stopped reading after that sentence

 

[PearlyHellhound]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

I personally don't need a dirty pedal with my amps, but if your not using a high gain amp a pedal might be helpful.

 

[NT02]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

Paul C Tim adds a little oomph to your cleans or dirt without changing the tone.
Tube screamer added to any rhythm sound gets it into lead, mine's a self-modded TS5 that has beat out some of the cherished oldies.
Black Russian Big Muff with the TS pushing it can do all kinds of dirt, from ZZ Top fuzz to Gilmour leads to 80s metal.

A lot of dirt has come and gone, including some expensive boutiquey stuff. Those 3 still are still around.

 

[AlexR]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

Having a lot of fun with my Carl Martin Plexitone at the moment. I've just been listening to a lot of Buddy Guy just recently, and the Strat thru the crunch channel nails 'Damn Right I've Got The Blues'

 

[jacksontrader]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

Using a Visual sounds Jeckyl n Hyde, it works great for anything but nu-metal, which I still need a pedal for that, it never ends.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: List of Distortion/Overdrive/Fuzz pedals

I personally don't need a dirty pedal with my amps, but if your not using a high gain amp a pedal might be helpful.

In general, the more gain your amps have naturally, the less your OD pedal needs.....then it's a matter of tone and fatness.

I've had a lot of good OD's, and the two I have on my main board do two different things very well. The Klon sounds natural but has a bump in all mid frequencies.
My Way Huge Green Rhino has an emphasis in low mids and plenty of bass.

Try a Green Rhino. They're $130, and even less with GC discount coupons.
Fat OD is what that pedal is all about. Don't forget that Way Huge was one of the first boutique pedal companies, and their prices hit the roof before they started making Dunlop versions which are just as good.