The "Best" Distortion pedal

[Panamark]

Discounting AMP modelling,
what do you think are the best Distortion pedals out there.

As the distortion pedal is probaly the most important effect in
the chain. (For us Hard Rockin MoFo's)

My faves, Boss DS-1 Boss Heavy Metal -2 and the Ibanez Tube
screamer...

[Eyes of the Night]

I never understood why a peep would need a distortion pedal ... sure I had one back in the day but that was many moons ago ...

I'm into grunge so I used a RAT!!! ... there wasn't 1 pedal I liked for diztortion to be honest ...


(rippin' on pana's thread mode off)

[The Scatologist]

tube screamer is a overdrive lol


But distortion pedals suck ass anyway. Too harsh for my tastes. I like overdrive pedals a lot better.


Panamark, try look for a Fulltone Fulldrive 2

They don't make em anymore, I think, but shouldn't be too hard to find used. You're gonna love these fucking things.

[GAR]

They call these effects distortions because they cause a square-wave distortion of the harmonic content as seen on a scope or curve tracer.

Fuzzes, gains, overdrives all qualify as "distortions" IMO for this reason.

In this case "best" being the most coveted? I'd vote

Vox Tone Bender 65-67
Colorsound Model Mk2
Bosstone 1967-72
Tube Screamer 1977-81

Of those my favorite multipurpose one would be the Tube Screamer.

[The Scatologist]

Overdrive is more round

Distortion is more square and looks a lot sharper

[Panamark]

Scat,

I mostly play directly into a Marshall 100watt stack.
No pedals. Just the humbuckers and me.
Thats how I get my distortion.
While you are technically correct, an overdrive and distortion
pedal (to me) are in the same family. I love the
Tube Screamer. (For when Im playing through pissy equipment
like Peavey etc)

Actually for a Peavey, the POD usually comes out...

[Nitro Express]

I like the DOD 250. It doesn't color the sound but just pushes the amp into distortion. It's the same peddle Yngwie Malmsteen pushes his 50 watt Marshalls with. This peddle even sounds good at low volumes. I don't even use a practice amp, I just turn my half stack down and use the peddle for practice. I get all the harmonics without mudding or farting out. So many distortion peddles mask your playing. This one won't.

[The Scatologist]

PODS suck ass. Trust me, try a fulltone fulldrive 2.

[Panamark]

To be honest, I cant beat the tone of my Destoyer plugged directly into the 100 watt Marshall, using the Marshall's own overdrive/distortion. The POD is a good toy if you want to record
when there are no real amps around or to play your axe through
a shit amp or stereo, but I dont use it that much..

Fulltone, hey ?? I'll have to check em out. I had someone try to
tell me a Zoom version of the POD was better, but that sucked.

[The Scatologist]

it's a 2 channel overdrive pedal. CREAMY

[Panamark]

So its not an AMP modeller, its an overdrive pedal ?

[The Scatologist]

Ah, here i've found a review.

Looks like it's still being made! Funny though, because i've never seen one new in a store

http://www.legendarytones.com/fulltone_fulldrive_2_overdrive2.htm

[Panamark]

Cool ! But that review pretty much says its a Tube Screamer.
How do you know that it kicks ass, if it hasnt been released yet ???
Just wondering ?
Do you get pre-sale test models ??

[The Scatologist]

Um, that pedal's been around for a LONG time

[ZahZoo]

My 1979 Tube screamer is the best I've ever touched... although I really don't use it for distortion... mostly just a signal boost to punch through. All of my distortion sound comes from the amp and those little glass thingys that glow orange when pushed enough!!!