Overdrive/Distortion

[Doadman]

OK, so at last I've managed to save enough to get my BKP's and now it's time to save for my next indulgence  :D

I figure to get the best out of my new pups I should invest in a couple of decent pedals but this is an area I know very little about unfortunately. I only have the one guitar so it needs to be versatile so I'm assuming I'll need two pedals to do what I want. I play quite a range, from modern high gain stuff like A7X, through classic 70's and 80's Rock/Metal like Iron Maiden/Black Sabbath/Deep Purple/Diamond Head/Thin Lizzy etc to Blues like BB King, Eric Clapton and Gary Moore. Finally, as I now have Cold Sweat pups, a John Sykes sound on the song of that name would be nice too  

Pedals I've been considering to do this job are:

BD-2 Blues Driver
MT-2 Metal Zone
OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion
Distortus Maximus
Metal Muff
Some kind of Tube Screamer

These are just my initial thoughts so you don't need to restrict your comments to these pedals. The question is simple (relatively), which two pedals should I buy?

[Ratrod]

Unless you're 12 - 16 years of age, I wouldn't recommend the metal zone.

From your list and what you want to play, I would suggest the blues driver dut not the stock boss. Spend a couple of extra bux for the Keeley blues driver.

If you want some kind of tube screamer, the HBE Power Screamer would be nice.

[Twinfan]

What amp are you playing though???  How much gain does it have in itself???

Given an amp with at least some gain (i.e. not toally clean) I'd suggest a DOD 250V overdrive reissue for the lower gain blusier (Moore, Clapton) and rockier (Lizzy, Purple)) stuff.  I use one in front of my Klipps in YC/DC and it's a very natural and transparent overdrive.  Simple electronics that don't colour your guitar's tone, works well with 'buckers and single coils (something a lot of overdrives don't do) and the 9v batteries last for ages.  Cheap pedal too.  Only slight downside is that you need an awkward power supply if you're not using batteries.

For the heavier stuff I'd like to know what you settle on!  I'm looking out for something similar at the moment and the EH Metal Muff is the one that's caught my eye.  Not sure if it's more "fuzz" than "distortion" though?  I currently use a Marshall DriveMaster.

With regard to Tubescreamers, I only find them good for solo boosts.  I think the tone gets too smooth and compressed for a good rhythm sound.

[Doadman]

Firstly, I'm sad to say that I am considerably older than 12 - 16!

The Keeley Blues Driver sounds really good; would anyone know where I can buy them in the UK or would it have to be shipped from the States?

(Edit: Scrub that last bit, I just found the thread for it on this forum. It's not cheap at £125 but it certainly sounds good.)

As for the amp I use, it's a Crate GT65. It's solid state and has 3 channels for clean, overdrive (they call it the rhythm channel) and high gain (they call this one the 'solo' channel). The clean channel is good, which is why I bought it; the overdrive is OK and I'm not so convinced about the high gain channel as it lacks edge.

[indysmith]

to be honest mate if you're looking to show off the tone of your BKPs the first thing you need to get is a good valve amp. A solid state amp just can't show off the dynamics, harmonics, and clarity of BKPs in the way valves do.
Pedals should be thought of as luxuries to hone your tone and make tweaks to it, whereas an amp is vital, and will provide the basis of your sound.

[Doadman]

I did consider a valve amp at the time but as I'm mostly a home player I reasoned that I'd never get it cranked up enough to drive the valve properly. I did also look at a couple of amps with valve pre-amps as a compromise but wasn't entirely happy with the Vox and the Crate I bought sounded a hell of alot better than the version they do with a valve pre-amp. I chose this one because, right or wrong, it had a good clean tone that I figured I could use as a basis to build on using some good pedals. That's why I chose not to get a modelling amp at the time. I admit it's not a choice many would make and perhaps I was wrong but that was the reasoning at the time.

[everton_fc]

What about this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MXR-Zakk-Wylde-Overdrive-Distortion-ZW44-Guitar-Pedal_W0QQitemZ130100957861QQihZ003QQcategoryZ22669QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Kicks ass!

[Twinfan]

I second Indy on the valve amp suggestion.  The Laney LC15 is a great (and cheap) little valve amp and sounds good at lower volumes.  You can then flavour the tone with pedals.

In my experience, solid state amps don't respond well to overdrive pedals.

[Ratrod]

What about this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MXR-Zakk-Wylde-Overdrive-Distortion-ZW44-Guitar-Pedal_W0QQitemZ130100957861QQihZ003QQcategoryZ22669QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Kicks ass!

Great pedal but I think it was meant to boost a valve amp.

[Pierre]

None of the pedals you mentioned are stuff I'd buy...I'd really get a nice valve amp first man.


And then:

Distortion: MI Audio Crunchbox

Overdrive: MI Audio Blues Pro

Then I'd be set hehe...

[gingataff]

If you want to keep your amp why not get a valve overdrive/distortion pedal, maybe even splash out on a Radial Tonebone.

[Pierre]

Because then his amp would still be Solid State and nothing would change. Except he'd have a pretty lightbulb on his pedalboard  :lol:


WAY better to warm up some SS pedals through a valve amp then try to warm up an SS amp with valve pedals. Why do you think pedals are SS to start with? ;)
Ok because it's easier to build... but so are SS amps.

[the_bleeding]

for amps, the crate V series. NOT THE VTX, thos have built in effects which eat up the tube tone and make them sound like cr@p.  The v series are very very nice sounding.  Either that, or the peavey jack daniels, another sweet sounding amp

Now for overdrive, i reccommend a maxon OD 808.  Into a clean amp, its perfect creamy bluesy overdrive; into a dirty amp it will drive your preamp harder with its boost, and also add an extra gainstage, perfect for anything in between rock and metal.

Distortion (if you think still think you need it after the maxon ;)) i'd say a metal muff or a distortius maximus.  I'm personally not a boss pedal fan due to their lack of true bypass and low impedance inputs, makes your cleans sound less alive when the pedal is disengaged.

[Roobubba]

I know I'm going to get laughed off the board here (especially with only 4 or 5 posts...!) - but:

I'm using a Randall 200W solid state RG200-G3 (OK, it's a "Valve-Dynamic" amp, but for almost all purposes, it can be considered solid state only), and it goes very well with my effects pedal.
Now I know it's not the most advanced pedal in the world, but I'm most happy with it: it's a Zoom G2.1u
It does take some tweaking to get the ideal sound, but I really like the build quality and versatility of this little pedal.
Based only on my cuirrent set-up (yeah I know it's not exactly huge experience!) I'd say that, if you have a good solid state amp, it will accommodate any effects pedal pretty well ;)

Roo

[hunter]

If you want to keep your amp why not get a valve overdrive/distortion pedal, maybe even splash out on a Radial Tonebone.

Good suggestion, tube pedal into SS amp makes sense.

Otherwise, MI Audio Crunch Box, it's the best, trust me!