Getting a nice distortion

dimerocks

I always find it very hard to get a distortion that I really really like. I don't know if it is my amp or what but there is always a large amount of I guess fuzzing. Its never very, clean.....if that makes sense. Anyone got suggestions.
I'm using an ME-50 which i think may be the roots of it, I am however in the process of phasing it out to replace it mith single stomps. Any suggestions for what replacements too??

Giblet

The first thing a lot of people do is turn up the gain full and work from there. Big mistake. Try a little gain and a lot of volume. I do be amazed at some people using something like a MT-2 on full gain. You hear stuff like "I don't understand it, it sounded fine in my garage" which it may have done, but in a live situation, everything is louder and it will sound washed out or fuzzy.

Also, try not to turn any preamp controls up too high, like treble or bass. You want a good balance. The higher the volume, the less the gain should be

I'd recommend using the Rat or Guvnor on the ME-50 with the gain pretty low and crank the volume on your amp and pedal. Try not to over use the bridge pick up either, a lot of people use that if they can't get the clarity they need on the neck pickup. I always work towards getting a great sound out the neck and then adjusting it a little so I get a nice lead sound from the bridge pickup.

RustinPeace

I'm the opposite.
I use mainly my bridge for rythm and neck for solo's but it also depends where about on the neck.
For higher notes usually past the 12th fret I use the neck pick up.
Pedals are fine but IMO the only way to get a really great distortion is from a nice amp.

Doc_Savage

try the tube screamer effect off the me-50.. turn gain and tone up full.. its not too much distortion and you can work with the tone side of the sound from your amp!

Paladin

A massively underused tool in getting a good distortion is EQ.
Some distortion pedals have EQ built in (MT-2 for example), but an EQ pedal or the EQ on your amp has a huge effect on your distortion sound.

If you are going for a classic rock distortion (somethingmost people go for) then a mistake I used to make was having way too much treble. Id crank up all the dials without being careful about it. Dont make the same mistake.

-=al=-

i use my external EQ 90% of the time, i dont use distortion pedals so it works fine, it gives everytihngi need for my tone,

as for equing amps from scratch i put everything half way and boost and cut from there... i usually have a decent amount of mids too

feylya

Less gain, more volume and a good amp is really all that's needed for a nice distortion. That said, I used to get lovely distortions from the ME-50

jcoote

get a boss ge-7 with your new setup its invaluable to any player...and follow what the lads said less gain more volume its supprising how little gain u need to rock!!