Your favorite distortion pedal?

[Edgecrusher]

My favorite pedal and the pedal I would take if i could only have 1 are different.

My favorite is the old Ibanez SM9. Its got its own flavor that you dont really find in other pedals. It doesnt do modern tight metal sounds so good but for early 80's stuff its a gas.

But if i was forced to have only 1 pedal I would keep my Bogner Exctasy red. Its super versatile for me and sounds great.

 

[Nightburst]

Many moons ago I careried around a Rocktron Silver Dragon, that was an awesome pedal! Too bad it was very noisy and when the input jack broke so I threw it away. Wish I had kept it but oh well, got some other cool stuff after that.
Got the chance to try a Wampler Triple Wreck which is amazing too.
Since I don't need a distortion pedal anymore (got great amps who do the real thing) I keep an OCD clone on my board and it is amazing both as boost and by itself.

 

[GuitarStv]

It's hard to beat a Boss BD-2. Does overdrive, crunchy sounds, and almost fuzzed out craziness . . . and responds well to cleaning up with the volume knob. Has a butt ton of volume on tap if you want to force an amp into giving up the goods as well.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Since I don't need a distortion pedal anymore (got great amps who do the real thing)

You know i used to feel exactly the way you do, then I realized that not only am I just a fan of dirt, all kinds of dirt, that many of my most beloved tones were created with pedals. No amp sounds like a rat or a big muff. I no longer discriminate because dirt comes out of a box or doesn't come from a tube.

 

[JohnnyBsurfin]

Analogman Mt2

 

[Demanic]

Analogman Mt2

You should try a Keeley version.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Erlend_G]

My fav. distortion pedal- is my EHX Allied Overdrive.

And I haven't tried many OD/dist pedals, just very very few .

But the EHX Allied OD, can do everything from a slight clean boost/sparkle, to a middy tubescreamer thing- all the way to a rich and saturated lead distortion.

It has it's ups and downs, but I think it's a great tool.

-E

 

[FuseG4]

Either of these. Left is a lm308 rat.
I like it used with low gain and high level to push a slightly crunchy amp but that's cuz I use it on tandem with bd-2 sometimes for lead boost. The filter has a wide range and plenty of gain available if you have a clean amp. Sounds 80s to me and has great mids, higher mids and just more agro than tube screamer, but with a healthy bass cut to keep things from being a mess

Bd-2 already mentioned above, I concur. Tons of volume boost, can be used for a almost fuzzy sound with gain up Cleans up great, tone knob pretty useful
Little bass cut but not as much as ts

JCM mod ds-1 is pretty good at giving clean amps a marshall flavor. Won't fool any purists but surprisingly good at putting in "bite" and "british flavor", without too much gain. Insane value. Loves tube screamer in front.

 

[Artie]

This is tougher than picking my favorite pickup. I love many, but if I absolutely had to name a fav, it would probably be my Duncan Twin Tube Classic. Two channels, and it's hard to beat true high-voltage, tube overdrive.

I've got to give honorable mention to my 5150, Keeley Blues Driver, Soul Food, and my Rocktron Rampage. Oddly, I think the Rocktron was given to me by a forum bro who hated it. It's got it's own grungy thing going on.

 

[Dudeman7]

Either of these. Left is a lm308 rat.
I like it used with low gain and high level to push a slightly crunchy amp but that's cuz I use it on tandem with bd-2 sometimes for lead boost. The filter has a wide range and plenty of gain available if you have a clean amp. Sounds 80s to me and has great mids, higher mids and just more agro than tube screamer, but with a healthy bass cut to keep things from being a mess

Bd-2 already mentioned above, I concur. Tons of volume boost, can be used for a almost fuzzy sound with gain up Cleans up great, tone knob pretty useful
Little bass cut but not as much as ts

JCM mod ds-1 is pretty good at giving clean amps a marshall flavor. Won't fool any purists but surprisingly good at putting in "bite" and "british flavor", without too much gain. Insane value. Loves tube screamer in front.

Nice to see Chicago Stompworks get a mention. He makes really great pedals and manages to keep costs way down.

I bought an Angry Green Bear a few months ago. That one is a Green Russian Big Muff clone and it's amazing. I'd put it up against a SUF or Wren and Cuff anyday.

 

[FuseG4]

Nice to see Chicago Stompworks get a mention. He makes really great pedals and manages to keep costs way down.

I bought an Angry Green Bear a few months ago. That one is a Green Russian Big Muff clone and it's amazing. I'd put it up against a SUF or Wren and Cuff anyday.

The other pedal on my board is a green russian but it's ehx lolol! Awesome!!
Chicago pedal is built well and sounds perfect for me, can't say a bad thing about it!

 

[Edgecrusher]

You should try a Keeley version.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

Ive had both and for my taste I liked the analogman better, The keeley is more aggressive but the AM the EQ works so much better and takes away a bunch of the plastickyness. For a bedroom rig playing alone I would take the keeley but live and being able to get the pedal to cut through the AM worked better for me.

Funny enough Ive long sold both of those pedals and the MT2 I have now is just a bone stock one. It is actually still my go to pedal when im playing late at night and I want scooped chuga chuga at sub conversation volume. The fact that it doesnt cut well through a band means it doesnt carry through the house also.

 

[GuitarStv]

Chicago pedal is built well and sounds perfect for me, can't say a bad thing about it!

Been thinking of picking up a rat of some sort to use with my BD-2 as well. With the Mr. Vermin I read a couple reviews that the gain knob is finnicky and moves too easily to set nicely for low gain stuff . . . have you had any issues with this?

 

[FuseG4]

Been thinking of picking up a rat of some sort to use with my BD-2 as well. With the Mr. Vermin I read a couple reviews that the gain knob is finnicky and moves too easily to set nicely for low gain stuff . . . have you had any issues with this?

No, no issues, I feel like there's a low to mid gain sweet spot and you just learn to recognize by ear and I have no trouble hitting it by sweeping the gain up from low until i hear the amount of saturation you want. I'm using the lower half of the gain knob, with the volume set to boost, 99% of the time so take that for what it's worth.
some people use it with more treble and gain and less volume, perhaps in those territory it is more finicky?
I'm using into an already just slightly crunchy sound that might be compressing and masking what others experience, I also thought of that. maybe if you were dialing in on a twin reverb it would be touchy?
the rat is what I use for darker and edgier low crunch to kinda wide saturated mids with a touch of fuzz when the volume is up so keep in mind I'm also setting it to a point where it's kinda saturated and finding sweet spots with guitar volume knob which is only as touchy as your volume knob!

the pots feel solid, smooth rotation and you can feel a little resistances to turning.
​​​​
edit also I gotta add, cuz I sometimes turn it on in tandem with the bd-2 there's an easy way to identify the sweet spot for me Turn on the bd-2 with your settings, I like the knobs at noon but volume at 10:30. Turn your guitar volume up to max. Kick on the rat. Does it sqeal? Too much gain. Back it off until it just stops. That's the sweet spot.
Now back the guitar volume off a touch that's my kicked up lead sound. The rat color fills in and compresses the crap out of the bd-2 and ads mids and cuts bass, for me the perfect complement
Kick one or the other off for crunch and guitar volume back for dirty cleans.
​​​​​

 

[jeremy]

who can tell me about the ts9b?

 

[GuitarStv]

No, no issues, I feel like there's a low to mid gain sweet spot and you just learn to recognize by ear and I have no trouble hitting it by sweeping the gain up from low until i hear the amount of saturation you want. I'm using the lower half of the gain knob, with the volume set to boost, 99% of the time so take that for what it's worth.
some people use it with more treble and gain and less volume, perhaps in those territory it is more finicky?
I'm using into an already just slightly crunchy sound that might be compressing and masking what others experience, I also thought of that. maybe if you were dialing in on a twin reverb it would be touchy?
the rat is what I use for darker and edgier low crunch to kinda wide saturated mids with a touch of fuzz when the volume is up so keep in mind I'm also setting it to a point where it's kinda saturated and finding sweet spots with guitar volume knob which is only as touchy as your volume knob!

the pots feel solid, smooth rotation and you can feel a little resistances to turning.
​​​​
edit also I gotta add, cuz I sometimes turn it on in tandem with the bd-2 there's an easy way to identify the sweet spot for me Turn on the bd-2 with your settings, I like the knobs at noon but volume at 10:30. Turn your guitar volume up to max. Kick on the rat. Does it sqeal? Too much gain. Back it off until it just stops. That's the sweet spot.
Now back the guitar volume off a touch that's my kicked up lead sound. The rat color fills in and compresses the crap out of the bd-2 and ads mids and cuts bass, for me the perfect complement
Kick one or the other off for crunch and guitar volume back for dirty cleans.
​​​​​

Cool, thanks man!

 

[Demanic]

Ive had both and for my taste I liked the analogman better, The keeley is more aggressive but the AM the EQ works so much better and takes away a bunch of the plastickyness. For a bedroom rig playing alone I would take the keeley but live and being able to get the pedal to cut through the AM worked better for me.

Funny enough Ive long sold both of those pedals and the MT2 I have now is just a bone stock one. It is actually still my go to pedal when im playing late at night and I want scooped chuga chuga at sub conversation volume. The fact that it doesnt cut well through a band means it doesnt carry through the house also.

It will cut. You just have to turn the mid knob to about 2 o'clock. Both mid knobs.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Edgecrusher]

It will cut. You just have to turn the mid knob to about 2 o'clock. Both mid knobs.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

My comment was meant within the scope of my rig and how I play. I'm sure it works for other people just not me. I dont like the sound with both knobs at 2, Ive always ran the mids flat with the frequency around 11. Turning them to 2 makes it take on a nasally quality that I dont like. Thats where the AM pedal appealed to me. The EQ has been modded to work in more settings. Its actually really versatile on the AM pedal.

By the same token though I could easily see how someone wouldnt like the AM changes. Its almost like an un-metalzoned metalzone. The AM has far less gain than stock. If you run your gain higher than about 10 maybe 11 on a stock pedal it wont have enough for you. Because it has been un metalzoned it doenst do big wall shaking chug as well and not nearly as good as the keeley. Just 2 different animals I can easily see why 1 person would choose 1 over the other.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Suhr Riot - All day everyday.

A few runners up: Wampler Plexi-Drive Mini, Ibanez DS9M, Boss Digital Metalizer

Great, great, great pedal. Nearly a three-in-one deal with the voicing switch. I put my clone back on my board this weekend after giving it another go.

 

[treyhaislip]

This is a very tough question...totally depends on the type of distortion for the type of guitar IMO.

The one that I have never parted with is the Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion. It does excellent crunch to high gain thru solid state or tube amps. Really seems to make single coils react like humbuckers–would be my "desert island" pedal. I've played it through tons of guitars and rigs–always sounds phenomenal.

PROCO Rats (all variations) get an honorable mention in my book especially through Fender tube amps. Lovepedal Eternity Drive would be my go to if I only used P90s.