What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

[Empty Pockets]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

i liked my DS-1 before it was modded....I like it even more now that it's modded.

If you want JCM800 it's close to that sound. Makes my Strats and Bassman sound pretty Slayery if i want it to...and it has more gain than I even want, which is cool 'cuz I'm one of those 'dern teen metalpunkcore' kids.

-X

 

[Naps]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

I really like my sparkle drive by voodoo labs. Not high gain, but a mild overdrive. It really adds definition and punch.

 

[Jonny R]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

+1 :bigthumb: G2D absolutely rock. For SRV tone get the Creamtone, but the Custom Overdrive is definitely a goer if you want more distortion.

Another +1. Custom Overdrive is the most versatile OD pedal I've used so far - using predominantly with a G&L Legacy through a Fender Twin.

 

[rhmcfarland]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

Lovepedal Eternity and COT50 overdrives
BSM treble boosters are fantastic as well, but they can only work their magic with a good tube amp.

There's also been some recent buzz about the Hermida Mosferatu and Zendrive, as well as Pro Analog's Power Driver.

http://www.lovepedal.com/
http://www.treblebooster.net/
http://www.proanalog.com/

 

[CraigJC]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

I'm goona get good 'n cheap here. Pocket-change cheap.

Overdrive a Strat? Digitech BAD MONKEY. Cheap pedal, sounds great. Yes, it is possible to get a great sounding pedal that's not a boutique or custom-modded thingie.

+1 on the Compressor before the overdrive/distortion. Set it up for mild compression and unity gain with the humbucker. Plug in a Strat and, wow, it has the output of the humbucker. I'm amazed that more folks don't use compressors as "guitar output compensators". You lose a little bit of dynamics, yes, but IMHO you gain more than you lose. I've been using a Boss CS-3 for 20 years now. It's good enough to keep me happy.

 

[Slann]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

I used to use Big Muff Pi, but switched to Precision Electronics Experience pedal....it's loaded with other cool stuff (incl. octave effect)....can dial in lots of different tones/fuzz effects....unpredictable in a cool way

 

[75lespaul]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

Well, I decided to try out the Digitech Bad Monkey and Hot Head distortion pedals along with some good patch cables and power conditioner. They're cheap and the demos sounded real good so what the heck. One thing I noticed was that on the digitech site, the demos were all loaded up with chorus, reverbs, delays etc... Musicians friend's demos seemed to be just the effect. Of course, that gives the better demonstration of the pedal, but I also liked the sound simpler as well, which is how I usually run the amp--straight in with something for overdrive or a wah if I want to kick it up a notch, and some reverb.

I'll report what I find. It should all be in by mid week. :smoker:

 

[Armotron]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

Fulltone '69 Fuzz Face is a killer pedal. I run my american strat thru it and get some great solo tones, think Cream Clapton and Hendrix or just that plain 60's/early 70's rock more mid oriented compared to treble oriented tone. if thats the kindof distortion your looking for then a Fuzz is the way to go!

Fuzzes overall just really sound great with Strats IMO, they dont completely reshape the tone you get from your fingers to the amp that makes a strat's transparency so cool. A fuzz will just accent it more with "fuzz".

 

[pac112]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

Is that Boss DS-1 good in its stock form or does it need a mod? i've been reading some horrible review on it, expecially the Taiwan models. Supposedly the Japanese model (older ones) are pretty good.

IMHO the DS-1 (stock) is not a good distortion pedal but it can be use as a tone colourer/ conditioner used on low gain setting. do a search for lew's tips on using it.

what is lacking from ur amp distortion that u want in your pedal? looking just for a different sound ? or more gain?

 

[coachc55]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

:beerchug: Along with the Duncan PU Booster, as I mentioned Pro Rat is good, but a DS-1 will work fine for less$. Also some on this post have really raved about the new Duncan Tweak fuzz.

CoachC

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

The first thing that jumped into my head was a Mesa V-Twin. That'll get you a couple of true overdriven tube tones out of one pedal.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

First I want to thank EVERYONE for their input. I almost went a few different ways and I may try out the Fulltone as well.

Maybe it's just me, but the two digitech pedals sound fantastic. The Bad Monkey sounds great with my strat and much better than my modded TS7. The Hot Head sounds like crap with the strat but with my humbucker guitars I would swear I'm listening to a Marshall if I closed my eyes.

Now I was playing them through my two 65 Univox U45-B amps which sound incredible to begin with and I had to play with the settings on the Digitechs to get that sound--had quite a few poor sounds as well--but I'm extremely happy. The bypass is great and off, the guitar sounds exactly the same as if I plugged directly into the amp. This was very important to me because if I want the "Plexi" sound, the Univox does a great imitation at like 2% of a Plexi's volume, lol!

Great stuff. Like anything, they may sound bad through my other amps but I do all recording with these amps so this did it. :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :jester: :jester: :jester:

 

[strat_master]

Re: What's a good overdrive or distortion to use with a strat.

i have a stock ds-1 and it sounds alright with my strat. It sounds pretty good with a bridge hotrail, but when i go to the stock single coils in the enck and middle it sounds pretty decent enoughf or me at least. its not terrible. Just not very clear or crisp.