Distortion pedal

jph100

hi

looking to get my first distortion pedal. is this one any good?
http://www.xmusic.ie/product.php?productid=18209&cat=332&page=1



Thanks!

brendansmith

jph100 wrote: »

hi

looking to get my first distortion pedal. is this one any good?
http://www.xmusic.ie/product.php?productid=18209&cat=332&page=1



Thanks!

I have the line 6 uber metal. I think it is the most amazing pedal ever.

rcaz

Well what sort of distortion do you want?

If you want a big fuzz sound or a light crunchy sort of thing, no, that one probably won't be any good. Distortions aren't totally universal!

darrenw5094

The Boss distortions and overdrives are a bit behind the times by now. Before the net made all brands available to the consumer, Boss were in every music store.

The Line6 Uber, as mentioned above gets good reviews.
Also the Krank Distortus Maximus is one of the big boys with a big price tag.
In the same price range, the new Digitech Hardwire range of pedals seem good value for money.

Thornography

Ok without confusing you, Stick with a Boss for your first Pedal. You simply cant go wrong with them regardless of whats out there.

If ya tell me what sort of stuff you are mainly playing we can make suggestions then.

rcaz

Thornography wrote: »

Ok without confusing you, Stick with a Boss for your first Pedal. You simply cant go wrong with them regardless of whats out there.

Well that's awful advice. Pedal newbies will only be able to work a Boss? Boss are the only company that make pedals suitable for newbies? It's certainly not true that Boss don't make bad pedals.

I love my SD-1 and DD-6. But what about DS-1s or Metal Zones? Terrible gear. But then that's all opinion, so:

Brand names should not come into the equation at all.

What music do you like to play, jph100?

Thornography

El Pr0n wrote: »

Well that's awful advice. Pedal newbies will only be able to work a Boss?

PMS?

The post I made if you can get your lip out of your eye's was directed at `you simply cant go wrong with them as a noob` fact.

My metal zone, 6 years old is still as awesome as the day i bought it, But after 6 years of going down the road of a tone chaser its only now I know that theres better out there.

Back 6 years ago I would have heard similar pedals to the MT-2 and tought `theres no difference`

So lets get off the pretentious high horse please and advice on gear thats good at starting out, because trust me, music taste changes on your progression into a music instrument, and ya don't want to be stuck with a metal heads advice of a metal distortion pedal.

Boss = good all rounders

Boss = good for noobs - and yes, they damn well are.

Boss = live forever.

rcaz

Hey, less of the personal attack please. I was criticising your suggestion, not you - just because I don't agree with your ideas doesn't mean I'm PMSing.There was nothing pretentious about my post. Brands shouldn't be a part of the decision.

Yes, Boss make some good pedals. As does every other company who makes pedals. Boss make bad ones too, as does every other company.

Thornography wrote: »

The post I made if you can get your lip out of your eye's was directed at `you simply cant go wrong with them as a noob` fact.

Why should he get a Boss pedal if there's a pedal being made by a different company that would suit and sound better? That would be going wrong with Boss.

Thornography wrote: »

The post I made if you can get your lip out of your eye's was directed at `you simply cant go wrong with them as a noob` fact.

And if you do know that there are better pedals out there after your six years of 'tone chasing' (Pretentious? Moi?), why would you suggest Boss so blindly to a guy starting out? We shouldn't all have to learn your lessons over again. Start as you mean to go on.

Thornography wrote: »

Boss = good for noobs - and yes, they damn well are.

Yes. They're good for intermediate players too. And professional working musicians. They're good for anyone who likes the sound they get from them. I'd ask what your point is, but from your tone, you clearly know so much more than me about the matter.

My point, and I think it's a very valid one, is that if you want a good pedal, you should get the one that you think is best. Maybe it won't be made by boss. Boss make pedals, just like every other pedal company in the world. There's nothing special about Boss pedals.

brendansmith

I had a boss DS1 and at first I was delighted but gradually found it didnt really cut it and got the uber metal and found that it is a much more metal friendly pedal. I have dimebags sound down perfect and the pitch harmonics and whammybar squeals are effortless.

jph100

hi thanks for all the help.

i play bands such as interpol, the strokes, editors, all american rejects, franz ferdinand, arctic monkeys etc.

dont really mind which brand the pedal is but just cant afford anymore than 100 euro at the moment for one.

thanks

brendansmith

Dont get the ubermetal so.

rcaz

jph100 wrote: »

hi thanks for all the help.

i play bands such as interpol, the strokes, editors, all american rejects, franz ferdinand, arctic monkeys etc.

dont really mind which brand the pedal is but just cant afford anymore than 100 euro at the moment for one.

thanks

Hmm. I'd recommend a ProCo RAT. I use it for similar sorta music (not any of the bands you listed, but I like some alternative rock stuff). I think a RAT can make a good stab at all sorts of sounds - light/crunchy - full-on distortion - almost fuzzy. If you were gonna go to some shops and try some gear out, I'd definitely recommends seeing how you like a RAT.

(But I've heard of a huge decline in quality with the RAT in recent times, according to big-time RAT fans - any one with a serial number over 3,000,000 was made after a big move to cheaper components. Maybe consider buying second hand?)

Thornography

El Pr0n wrote: »

Terrible gear. But then that's all opinion, so:

Brand names should not come into the equation at all.

contradiction's in all your posts..

rcaz

Thornography wrote: »

contradiction's in all your posts..

Really? Because you're not doing a very convincing job of arguing against them. I'm basing my opinion on the sounds I've heard, and saying that everyone else should do the same by not preconceiving anything based on a company's reputation or marketing campaign.

A brand name is just writing on a box. Do you think the electrons or the listeners' ears care about writing on a box?

Seziertisch

Thornography, if Boss pedals sounded so great there wouldn't be a whole industry around modding them. They are reliable (no doubting that) but even the newer versions of the "classic" pedals (the ones that Boss first made their name with) are fairly uninspired and in a lot of cases quite different from the originals.

There are so many great, inspiring sounding pedals available now, made by individuals who really care about their product.

To the original poster, if you are in Dublin go out as far as X-music and check out the range of pedals they have there. Or if you are in town, go to Waltons, they have a number of those Dunlop/Way Huge pedals in stock. If you want to risk it, there are also any number of reputable online dealers offering good deals (particularly considering the weakness of the dollar and the pound against the Euro).

feylya

Thornography, El Pr0n, drop it.

Denalihighway

funny really - good old Boards - a guy comes for a bit of advice and 2 other guys end up scrappin

dude, the best bit of advice here was to take a trip to X-music - go there and plug your own guitar (or something like you play) to an amp as close to what you play and go test out some pedals to see what you like. As illustrated here, you ask someone which pedals they like, they'll tell you based on their own preferences and based on the pedals they've played or heard extensively. Just gets confusing. Unless everyone has played every pedal on earth, it just gets confusing so do a bit of homework yourself and it'll stand to you.

I could be wrong but by the sounds of the bands you play, you may want something in the overdrive area. Funny enough, my first ever pedal was the Boss Turbo-D, I still use it all the time, it's quite versatile and as has been mentioned above, it's Boss so it's still going strong, which is good starting point.

Good luck

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Thornography wrote: »

My metal zone, 6 years old is still as awesome as the day i bought it, But after 6 years of going down the road of a tone chaser its only now I know that theres better out there.

Back 6 years ago I would have heard similar pedals to the MT-2 and tought `theres no difference`

So lets get off the pretentious high horse please and advice on gear thats good at starting out]

You only develop an ear for good tome when you use good gear. I thought my marshall MG was fantastic when i bought it, after i upgraded the amp, I seen how bad they were, and i would never recommend an MG to anybody. Its the same with pedals, why not recommend a very good pedal to the OP, so their ear for tone will develop quicker?

as for the DS2, i have never played through one, so i cant comment on it.
In general I find that Boss dont make great distortion pedals, they make 2 good overdrive pedals, the blues driver and super overdrive. One of my mates traded me a DS1 for an old zoom multi effects, I traded back in a few days! terrible pedal. However I love the DD3 and the TU2

I know this costs a lot more than the DS2, but in my opinion they are the best overdrive/distortion pedals on the market.
http://www.xmusic.ie/product.php?productid=17794&cat=0&page=1
Ive played through this pedal before, fantastic distortion. the other guitarist I play with uses the black star dual overdrive. They come with a 3 band EQ as well.

EDIT: just seen that your budget is >100 so the black star is out! Go to Xmusic and bring your guitar, they will sort you out. Very nice people there

darrenw5094

Check out the new Digitech Hardwire pedals on youtube.
They are within the €100 price range. Also, a second hand Rat Co Pro could be good to try out. As was said earlier, just try out as many pedals as you can and trust your own ears, as those are the ears that will be listening to it most.

To my ears the Boss distortions are rotten.
By the way, what kind of amp and guitar do you have at home????

MetalDawg

Been following this thread with interest for a bit now, Read some reviews of Boss SD 1 and they say works best with a tube amp. What I want is a pedal to make a sh!tty practice amp (solid state of course) sound ok. Ive a pocket pod, but its limitation is you cant switch on/off with footswitch. Thoughts anyone? I'd go 2nd hand not a bother. I'd considered Boss but I'd have to be careful. Would never get their metal ones.

I also own an EHX Micro Metal Muff and I like it, use it with my Marshall.

Welease

MetalDawg wrote: »

Been following this thread with interest for a bit now, Read some reviews of Boss SD 1 and they say works best with a tube amp. What I want is a pedal to make a sh!tty practice amp (solid state of course) sound ok. Ive a pocket pod, but its limitation is you cant switch on/off with footswitch. Thoughts anyone? I'd go 2nd hand not a bother. I'd considered Boss but I'd have to be careful. Would never get their metal ones.

Can you not get a cheap floorboard to switch the pod effects on/off? Probably be about the same price as a distortion pedal.

(no idea if the pod has the right midi connections though, i have the pro rack version which does)

MetalDawg

Welease wrote: »

Can you not get a cheap floorboard to switch the pod effects on/off? Probably be about the same price as a distortion pedal.

(no idea if the pod has the right midi connections though, i have the pro rack version which does)

Nope mines just this model http://www.thomann.de/ie/line6_pocket_pod.htm
its not compatible with floor switch or Line 6's 4 way footswitch.

Grolschevik

To the OP, I don't think you can go too far wrong with something like the Marshall Guv'nor GV2. Cheap enough, and does the range from mild overdrive-type sounds to heavyish distortion. Very tweakable tone controls too. I used mine for ages, and it's still my number 1 backup pedal now.

MetalDawg

Grolschevik wrote: »

To the OP, I don't think you can go too far wrong with something like the Marshall Guv'nor GV2. Cheap enough, and does the range from mild overdrive-type sounds to heavyish distortion. Very tweakable tone controls too. I used mine for ages, and it's still my number 1 backup pedal now.

Indeed, nice pedal. I used to own a Jackhammer, also worth tryin.

zafo

Digitech badmonkey, you'll get one for well under your budget. Think 25 quid second hand. It's an overdrive but from the sounds of what bands you like it's pretty much what you're looking for. I used one for a while til I built a modded TS808 for myself.

@MetalDawg The bad monkey sounds just as good as the tube screamer using a ****ty practice amp. It should pretty similar to an SD 1 too for a good bit cheaper.

waltersobchak

jph100 wrote: »

hi thanks for all the help.

i play bands such as interpol, the strokes, editors, all american rejects, franz ferdinand, arctic monkeys etc.

dont really mind which brand the pedal is but just cant afford anymore than 100 euro at the moment for one.

thanks

the Boss DS2 is absolutely perfect for that style of music keep an eye out on adverts and ebay you could get one for a steal

also keep an eye out for the Boss Od20 overdrive ive used one live and in the studio and its an extremely versatile pedal, with a awesome sound..

Baggio...

It depends on your budget as well. I think Boss pedals are decent for entry level - so you can't go far wrong with one. But if you are like me, who is kinda' picky about your distortion sound you might end up wanting to change pretty quickly.

A lot of it depends on what sound your after too... A lot of people like the pro rat, but I really hated it. It's just too damn fuzzy and non aggressive enough for my taste (I gave mine away). A good option is to go and try some of them out (as already stated). But I'd definitely think about buying online, one you've figured out the brand your after, as it's a ****load cheaper than anywhere in Dublin.

The two pedals I use at the moment are Digitech's "Black 13" and the "Land mine" distortion pedal. The better pedal is the Landmine for sure, and I get pretty much the sound I want out of it. The Black 13 also has some nice modeling sounds in there too. Both can be used independently of an amp which is a nice feature. That means I can record it directly into my 8 track.

One thing I would say about the Digitech pedals... the more expensive pedals are pretty good (like the black 13), but there lower end pedals (some of them anyway) are not all that great imho.

Also, I got my B13 for HALF the price it would be over here, and that includes shipping. So shop around!

sock puppet

waltersobchak wrote: »

the Boss DS2 is absolutely perfect for that style of music keep an eye out on adverts and ebay you could get one for a steal

also keep an eye out for the Boss Od20 overdrive ive used one live and in the studio and its an extremely versatile pedal, with a awesome sound..

I've a DS2 and it isn't bad but imo it's a pointless pedal. The only time it sounded good to my ear was when it was on the DS1 setting. Whenever the turbo setting was switched on it just sounded like crap.

If you're going to go for it save a few quid and just get the DS1.

rcaz

sock puppet wrote: »

If you're going to go for it save a few quid and just get the DS1.

I humbly disagree :pac:

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

went into the local shop to get a cable last week, walked out with this!
http://www.thomann.de/ie/mxr_distortion_plus_bodeneffekt.htm

very nice little pedal for the money.