The best distortion pedal for single coils

Z

zidanek43

New member
Hello,
I want to ask you for help. I want to buy distortion/overdrive pedal for my strat. I have Squier Affinity Strat with Seymour Duncan SHR-1 in bridge position plugged into Kustom KG112FX. I want to play hard rock and sometimes metal but no heavier than Pantera. I will be happy if i'll have something like Slash sound :) This pedal could be good to Pink Floyd too. Can you tell me which distortion/overdrive pedal is the best for me and works good with single coils? And what do you think about Marshall Guv'Nor?
Thanks a lot for help and sorry for my bad English ;)
I wait for the answers :)
 
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Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

I have an MI Audio Crunchbox and I love it. It's described as a Marshall Stack in a Box. It definitely nails that dimed British tone.

You should check one out and see if it works for you. It plays very will with single coils and in my opinion prefers them.
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

+1 on the Crunch box. I owned one and gigged with it for couple of years.
It'll deliver those tones you describe.
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

One of the most successful pedals used for single coils is a TS808 or a TS9
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

Both excellent choices. If I was in your shoes, considering I would want to go into heavier gain territory, I'd check either the MXR Custom Badass '78 Distortion (for a good pedal at it's price point), or the Fulltone Plimsoul, which gives you two stages of gain for massive control, and really good feel response.
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

All of these suggestions are good. I would use a pedal with some kind of treble control to keep the single coils from getting overly bright ...
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

So many great options, especially for a strat. Crunchbox is great as mentioned above. I always liked the Xotic BB Preamp with my strat. You can dial it in to be nice and creamy and smooth, but the bass knob really makes it work well for rock rhythm tones. Very chunky. It can be aggressive too.

Fulltone dirt offerings are nice with strats. Fulldrive II, or the GT-500 (I never played the latter, but I've heard great things for the most part). If you want Slash or Gilmour leads, then you're looking for something smoother sounding. Pantera is a different story tho hehe.
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

I'll go with the Wampler Plextortion :headbang: real Marshally sound with b/m/t knobs so you can set your sound like you want.
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

I use two pedals with my Tele. One is the afore-mentioned Xotic BB Preamp, which is a really good "Tube Screamer with more". It's an overdrive pedal, though, and since you're looking to play harder rock, I think a distortion would be more up your alley.

I was going to recommend a modded Boss DS-1: lots of people like the Keeley, but I use the Monte Allums Recto mod. Both are big improvements over the stock DS-1, but modding pedals may not be your bag.

Then Phil_104 reminded me... the 78 Cutsom Badass Distortion. That thing is basically a Keeley modded DS-1, in a really cool candy apple red box. It's worth a tryout at your nearest music store.

The Crunchbox is another good one, a little more expensive. The CB is a little bit more "cranked plexi in a pedal" while the MXR is more of a distortion pedal. If you can try 'em both.

Heck, if you can, BUY 'em both. :cool2:
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

Thanks for your answers. I consider all of them. You write about this BB Preamp... Sounds good, but this is very expensive in my country. Could write about something cheaper? I don't know if I had cash for BB Preamp. Maybe about this Guv'Nor? Is it good for single coils?
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

Bad Monkey :)
Works it well with single coils? Can i use it for Guns N' Roses or Pink Floyd playing? Is it good for using like separate overdrive and to beef the amp up?
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

I think every guitar player should have some form of the TS. I like the inexpensive MXR Classic OD since you can normally find them new for about $30. They work well with with most guitars and amps.

Next, I would get some sort of fuzz to darken the single coils. The Seymour Duncan Lava Box would do a good job in this role.
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

The bad monkey is more of a boost pedal than a distortion pedal. It thickens up distortion you already have.
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

I really dig the purple plexi with single coils guitars, you can get alot of great sounds out of that pedal with a strat or a tele;
 
Re: The best distortion pedal for single coils

I guess you could use it as a dist pedal through a clean channel, but it doesnt soundvery good by itself. But it sounds like sex as an OD pedal.
 
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