Distortion Pedals

I have owned the DS1. It is okay, but limited. Good for modifying and making better ...

I now have the MI Audio Crunch Box and it is vastly superior, even to my modded DS1. I would recommend that one, the MXR Distortion III, or the Visual Sound "Son of Hyde" for classic rock distortion.

Oddly, all are red.

I'll have to agree with slej I have the DS-1 unmodded and it's OK at best. I don't really like the distortion you get from it. I bought it because it was cheap.

well, Ill stray from the other two, and say that I absolutely love my DS-1. I also have a Digitech Bad Monkey, and a reissue Ibanez Tube Screamer. The Tube Screamer beats out the other two, but my second choice is the DS-1.

well, I love my tubescreamer, but it doesn't get metal sounding at all.
the Boss distortion I had was far crunchier and sustaining than my sweet tubescreamer.
the problem with the Boss was it was too mushy and generic. it made nosiey metal.
not the defined metal distortion I hear on records. (ya, I know studio).
I am getting of the opinion is you get what you pay for in the pedal world now.
anything under a hundred is fine for the masses. but if you want that tone you hear in your head
then it's boutique city and a couple hundred bucks.
there are so many pedals in the catalogs. move up from a cheapie to a low mid range priced box.

dog that's a good discription of what I hear kind of a mushy not well defined distortion

i have the DS1 as well and it's not that bad. It makes one sound and that's about it.

I have a ProCo Rat II that is stellar and very versatile, IMO. And you can get a nice one used...I think I paid $40 for mine.

My all-time favorite distortion pedal is actually an OD pedal...it's the Danelectro FAB Overdrive...and at a whopping $15 for a brand new pedal you can get however many you want lol. But seriously, use your neck pickup, put the FAB in front of a nice tube amp with a little reverb and it's heaven. I use the blackface model on my Vox, and it's my favorite guitar tone and has been for a few years now.

you might also want to check out the fuzz variety, like big muffs. I had a double muff that was fun but in the end I really like the overdriven sound more than any other kind of distortion.

I have a modded DS-1, and I like it. The stock DS-1 is good too, and for the $ you can't beat it. Check out some sound clips on youtube.

Hmm U2 I have the same FAB overdrive pedal I got from a member here Wes and never liked that one either but I'm going to have to go home tonight and dig it out and see what kind of sound I can get.

I have a DS-1, a FAB Overdrive and a Marshall G'vnor and really don't like any of them that much. I'm either very picky or my ears are shot but I just can't seem to find the tone I want with any of those in any combination.

I do use an equalizer and I have been tweaking that lately and that seems to help tighten the sound up a bit but still not what I'm looking for.

The DS-1 is ultra reliable, and has the quality and sound, except I don't own one myself. We have other BOSS pedals.

I use Bluesbreaker and Ibanez TS-5's and TS-9's, 2 of each, plus TS-7 for very light distortion, suitable for all the Blues.

For flat out out crazy and insane distortion, which is totally adjustable and not always psycho, I love my SM-7 Smash Box.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--IBATLSM7 and good reviews.

I have a DS-1, a FAB Overdrive and a Marshall G'vnor and really don't like any of them that much. I'm either very picky or my ears are shot but I just can't seem to find the tone I want with any of those in any combination.

I don't know the FAB but the new Danelectro Cool Cat pedals are shockingly good, well made, and inexpensive. I am actually selling my Crunch Box (on ebay) to get a new Dano "Drive" pedal as I can use another overdrive pedal more than a distortion.

Check out the Crunch Box sound clips on youtube; this pedal really gets an amp-like crunch sound. Much more Marshall sounding than the Marshall Guv'nor; go figure. It may be the type of thing you're looking for.

In my opinion the DS1 benefits from two mods; raising the midrange and swapping one of the clipping diodes (D5, iirc) for an LED. Easy to do; relatively easy board to work on, too.

Good advice above, slejhammer.

I'm back to correct a link, not edit. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-ToneLok-SM7-Smash-Box-Pedal?sku=150290

Yes, it's interesting, distortion vs. overdrive, wow, that's a topic. :lol:

cnev,

I use my FAB OD as a pure boost pedal...I put the level all the way up, the tone all the way up, and the OD all the way down. I've found if i use it in front of other clean models on my vox, it's not as good, but it really melds well with the fender black model on the amp. it responds well to picking dynamics and has a really nice crunch when you dig in. it's very warm (but I imagine a lot of that is the tube dynamics of the amp). what i really love is that it allows me to get really nice crunch and distortion without it going overboard and muddying the notes. can't beat it for $15.

I have a nice collection of distortion pedals: DS-1, a Behringer Tube screamer, Boss Metal Zone along with a few clone pedals I built myself (a Marshall guvnor clone along with a TS-808 tube screamer clone and a EH Big Muff Clone). You'd think I'd happy with my distorted tone but i still have alot of tweaking to do until i get the sound I'm looking for. I still have alot of E.Q experimentation to do, I may have to try out a few different amps and guitars as well.

It's funny, I have no problem getting a good clean tone, even if I add a bunch of pedals, but finding a perfect distorted tone is tough.