Distortion Pedal Questions!

Ol' Donie · 23-10-2014 9:45pm #1

Hi folks,

Can anyone help me, I want to buy a pedal that will allow me to switch from clean tone to reasonably heavy distortion, but there are so many, many options. I don't know where to start.

What's the difference between overdrive, crunch, gain and distortion?

What's the view on multi effects pedals? Too much going on, would be my concern.

I'd like to get a sound somewhere along the lines of Slash and Van Halen.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, although I suspect we'll be in "matter of personal taste" territory pretty soon!

wild turkey · 23-10-2014 10:27pm

Your looking for something Marshall based so !

Personal taste and budget will be the main contributors

Wampler Pinnacle would be a good place to start for eddies tone
or if you can get a BSIAB pedal built for you that would be a lot cheaper
Marshall pedals, Joyo, Boss etc. the list goes on

Multi effects can be a good way to get to know what sound your after
You can pick up a Line 6 xt live for about €150 used.
Tones are pretty accurate and you get to know what you like, then decide whether you want to go down the individual pedal route

Ol' Donie · 23-10-2014 10:43pm

Thanks for the reply!

Would one of those orange Boss ones be worth a go? They look quite basic, but I think i'd prefer that!

Or maybe that Marshall Guv'nor one?

Budget is probably somewhere between 100-200 quid.

Ol' Donie · 23-10-2014 10:51pm

And sorry to ask again, but what's the difference between distortion and overdrive?

Xmusic have one range of pedals for each.

Bootsy. · 24-10-2014 1:08am

Overdrive is lower gain, dirty but not over the top, distortion is higher gain, heavier sound.

Marshall Guvnor would indeed to the job. I wouldn't bother with the orange Boss distortion, though the yellow Boss OD-3 is a great pedal, probably the best of the Boss ones and very versatile.

I see xmusic have a Joyo Hot Plexi Drive on sale for €30 which attempts to emulate the sound of the overdriven amps of Slash and Van Halen so that should be close the sound you want. It's based on the Wampler but for a lot less cash.

For that budget you could get both overdrive and distortion, like a Boss OD-3 (or an SD-1 for less money) and the Joyo.

If you're not digging them you can always sell 'em and try something else (careful, it can become an addiction!)

Ravelleman · 24-10-2014 8:21am

Wampler Pinnacle or MI Audio Crunch Box are the go-to Marshall-in-a-box pedals. You might also consider the CMAT Mods Brownie. I owned one a couple of years ago but rarely used it and moved it on. Good sounds though.

I used to have a Pod XT Live and never really liked it. It was ok for modulation effects but the overdrive and distortion tones were terrible in my view. Very tinny.

Ol' Donie · 24-10-2014 9:44am

Thanks so much guys, really appreciate it.

Do ye think this would be worth a go? There's one on adverts for €45.

http://www.xmusic.ie/Boss-Mt2-Metal-Zone.html

wild turkey · 24-10-2014 10:58am

Not really the sound your after and not a very good pedal stock , unless your prepared to mod it
how are you with a soldering iron?

bulbs2010 · 24-10-2014 11:05am

boss super overdrive sounds good or a tube screamer ,go to you tube and have a listen

Ravelleman · 24-10-2014 11:17am

The Metal Zone is an awful pedal.

Ol' Donie · 24-10-2014 11:25am

wild turkey wrote: »

Not really the sound your after and not a very good pedal stock , unless your prepared to mod it
how are you with a soldering iron?

Well, it's fair to say I'm not an expert!

Right, I'm looking at getting that Joyo yokey an a Boss one on the way home. Just gonna check youtube for a few mins first.

Excellent, thanks dudes.

Just one other thing...if i had these two and a wah pedal, does the order in which they are linked together matter?

Mr. CooL ICE · 24-10-2014 12:19pm

I'm generally against the idea of multi effects pedals. IMO, they are fine at home for experimentation and learning, but in a live situation and cranked up through a decent amp, the tone suffers a lot.

If you are only practising at home, I recommend going into Musicmaker or Xmusic and playing around with all the pedals there and buy the one that sounds the nicest to your ears. Don't stick to any one brand, as there are loads of flavours out there among the unknown brands.

wild turkey · 24-10-2014 2:48pm

normally wah goes first but can go after also depending on taste
while you're trying out pedals today try stacking them

My distortion sound consists of 3 pedals stacked, a klon into a purple plexi 800 into a z vex super hard on and sounds pretty much what your after

Try a bad monkey at low to medium gain into the joyo etc into a eh screaming bird, the 3 pedals will still be within your budget and sound fantastic

Super Freak · 25-10-2014 1:14pm

This might help, make a cup of tea and sit down to watch Griff for 30 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5fXapM7uJE

il gatto · 25-10-2014 4:35pm

Overdrive is more flexible than distortion. Can go from hairy cleans to pretty high gain with a good overdrive. Distortion is fuzzy and won't get a Slash like tone.
Marshall Guv'nor (do they still make them?) or a Tech 21 would do the job.
If you're unsure, the Joyo British or Hot Plexi are cheap and apparently sound excellent. I have the Joyo/Harley Benton AC Tone and it's a wonderful sounding pedal. For the price of the Guv'nor, you could get one and a distortion and have both sounds.

il gatto · 25-10-2014 4:37pm

And the Metal Zone is really a heavy metal pedal. Fun for a while, but unless you're into heavier stuff, I'd avoid it. Very buzzy, harsh, and all bass and highs.

Ol' Donie · 25-10-2014 4:50pm

Thanks again everyone for the help.

I went to Xmusic this morning and tried a few out. Tried the Boss OD3 and a couple of others.
I found it quite hard to judge, because I wasn't using my own amp or guitar (and I was in the middle of a shop!).

In the end I got a Marshall Jackhammer (because it's got overdrive & distortion). Have spent a while jamming with it, not sure if it's the right one for me yet. Someone said it above, there is a real danger of this becoming addictive, there were a few more I really wanted.

Fella in Xmusic was very helpful, i feel i should mention.

That video above is great too.

hidinginthebush · 25-10-2014 4:53pm

Ravelleman wrote: »

Wampler Pinnacle or MI Audio Crunch Box are the go-to Marshall-in-a-box pedals. You might also consider the CMAT Mods Brownie. I owned one a couple of years ago but rarely used it and moved it on. Good sounds though.

I used to have a Pod XT Live and never really liked it. It was ok for modulation effects but the overdrive and distortion tones were terrible in my view. Very tinny.

Great pedal, it's a jcm800 in a box. Joyo do a cheap cone of it as well.

il gatto · 25-10-2014 4:57pm

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Thanks again everyone for the help.

I went to Xmusic this morning and tried a few out. Tried the Boss OD3 and a couple of others.
I found it quite hard to judge, because I wasn't using my own amp or guitar (and I was in the middle of a shop!).

In the end I got a Marshall Jackhammer (because it's got overdrive & distortion). Have spent a while jamming with it, not sure if it's the right one for me yet. Someone said it above, there is a real danger of this becoming addictive, there were a few more I really wanted.

Fella in Xmusic was very helpful, i feel i should mention.

That video above is great too.

Jackhammer is a good pedal. You should be able to get get in the area of Slash's tone with a humbucker through the Jackhammer. Spend a while playing with it as the sounds are in there, it just sometimes takes a while to find them.

martinedwards · 25-10-2014 10:35pm

Never understood all the hate for multiFX.

There are a load of pros who use them

I know that Mike Oldfield and Francis Rossi both used Roland GP8/16s back in the day.

kevin65 · 27-10-2014 9:45pm

The BEST Marshall in a box has to be Marvel Drive by Ramble FX. Trust me, I bought one and am as happy as a pig in sh*t, and I'm a fussy pig! A good quality pedal will stay with you.

Not cheap, but you get what you pay for:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BISRZEy4-JQ

Distortion Pedal Questions!

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