Overdrive/Distortion pedals suck!

[horns666]

OK, since my PC was down. My son and I have been playing around with slammin' the front end of our amps...My Marshalls, My Bogner, His 6505 and Line 6 combos. They sounded best through his Peavey...but we still like the Peavey's own overdrive MUCH better. We have a Boss DS-1, SD-1, Digitech Hot Head..which is more DS-1 than a DS-1 ..meh....and a TS-9. OK outta that group ..the SD-1 wins hands down for less "buzz"..second would we the TS-9. But after dialing up the best tones I can with the gains of the amps backed off, including clean channels. These specific amp's gain rule supreme in comparison

I did try them as a clean boost and that's probaly the best way to go..I could see a use for that. Also for late night shredding..more juice, even though fuzzy ..helps with that.

I can see these being needed with a 800 and the like, but not high gain amps that are designed for that sole purpose. Especially when finding the best amps to your liking. I heard it can "tighten" up certain amps and I could see that. But, the trade off with said amps' organic gain isn't worth it. Actually, I think it tightens up the player more than the amp. I can get away with "slop" a hellava lot more than without them. They do make harmonics and squeals a breeze. I can see why Zakk loves 'em. I always thought it was his wah that made him sound nasally..the DS-1 is HIS sound.

Also, with these pedals ..I think "touch sentive" is not nearly as blatant.

I will keep my faves to have a usable metal tone whenever an amp may require it.

OK, bye..Fuck the typos. Deal with it. I'm Bill Z Bub...fuggums.

[Axewielder]

Have you tried the DOD FX86B? As mentioned in my sig, I have two of them in my pedalboard. As with most distortion pedals, it sounds best with the distortion on 10 (clean sounds are for pussies LOL!) I have the first one on at all times. The second one gets clicked on as well for when I want a solo boost, or I just don't want to hear the other guitarist at all. So, in order to get just a dB boost without much gain, I've got that second one dialed back to 9. I might add a third one down the road for those times when the frickin soundman is straight pissing me off with the volume levels.

[Axewielder]

I forgot to mention, I usually play an EMG 81 pickup with a 18-volt power supply and an EMG Afterburner installed (which has a separate 18-volt supply as well). That gives me a decent amount of grind, but is a bit weak sounding for solos with just one distortion pedal.

[roodyrocker]

I think it depends what pedal and what amp. With my Uberschall, I run no distortion/overdrive pedals as that amp has tons of gain built in. But with either my Marshall Randy Rhoads or JCM 800 ZW heads, they just don't have enough gain. What they do have is lots of volume! With these heads I've been using mainly a Fulltone OCD or a Retro-Sonic 808. The OCD having more gain than the 808 of course. I love the sound of all these combinations!

[Axewielder]

If you want to replicate my tone, I've compiled some advice (seasoned by years on the road)

- Practice, practice, practice! Yes sloppy playing sounds phenomenal the more the volume is turned up, but clean playing sounds even better.
- Sometimes less is more when it comes to distortion! If you have the three FX86B configuration, don't be afraid to play with only two of them on. If you play on a budget with only two, dial back the distortion on the second one even more to 8 (or even 7!)
- If you have separate 18 volt supplies for both the EMG 81 and Afterburner, CHANGE ALL FOUR BATTERIES AFTER EVERY GIG! Tongues are for licking pussies, not testing batteries.
- Don't worry about that second guitarist if you have the dual FX86B configuration. He might as well unplug and go home, because he won't be heard. Nobody wants to listen to his bullshit pentatonic runs anyways. The only thing you are going to hear is a bit of snare drum. Consider the triple FX86B mode if you don't want to hear that fuckface either.

[Hellbat]

I forgot to mention, I usually play an EMG 81 pickup with a 18-volt power supply and an EMG Afterburner installed (which has a separate 18-volt supply as well). That gives me a decent amount of grind, but is a bit weak sounding for solos with just one distortion pedal.

I'm with you Bill. My amp's native gain/distortion is better than any pedal I've tried. I don't have much experience with the real ones but with modelling I find that like JCM-800s, Recto's love tubescreamers as well because it adds in some extra "shck-schk-schk" on the pick attack and makes muted power chords a little more percussive. I would think that would translate to real world as well. I do know that I can nail MOP era Metallica tones perfect using a Mark IIc and a tubescreamer.

[rattlehead74]

I use a modded ts9 with a boogie nomad 100. To me less is more also, gain on the amp down to where the rhythm chugging is very tight sounding and the ts9 on as a clean boost. I don't like distortion pedals though, I'd rather use the amps natural gain.

[tonemonster]

clean sounds are for pussies

I think I just found my new Signature Axey.

[Hellbat]

I think I just found my new Signature Axey.

I think I prefer "Tongues are for licking pussies, not testing batteries."

[tonemonster]

I think I prefer "Tongues are for licking pussies, not testing batteries."

Hey you didnt need the with that quote, there is nothing funny about it. its the truth! Good one!

[BenoA]

I'm with you Bill. My amp's native gain/distortion is better than any pedal I've tried.

+1!!! Even bought a Wampler plexi-something a year ago hoping to have an amp in a pedal for our rehearsal. Well, sold it as quickly as I ordered it.

I know some get great results with pedals but for me, nothing beats my amps' distortion channel.

And to the old farts out there, is it me or as you get older, you feel more confortable with less gain. I'm not saying "pussy clean" as some have said above but I've noticed that I feel more confortable with a bit less gain than I used to be.

[Axewielder]

You guys wouldn't be laughing if I pushed your frickin faces right into my Crate amp at full volume right before I ripped into the Cowboys from Hell riff. Then you'd have a conversation that would go something like this:

Tonemonster: I NEED TO GO BUY A COUPLE OF THOSE FX86B PEDALS!
Hellbat: WHAT?

[Grim]

What settings? I use a TS9 with Level on 10 and Drive on 0 and I'm fairly sure it makes all my amps sound better for high gain.

[Axewielder]

Here's my trusty ESP LTD that I use to push my Crate amp. This was a guitar and amp pack that I bought at Walmart and got a smoking deal on. This came pretty much ready to ROCK. All I had to do was route it for a middle pickup, install the EMG's (EMG 81/EMG 81/EMG 81), and totally rewire the guitar. With the dual FX86B's it's a pretty hot signal, but it is all very useable gain. I may change it to mini-switches so that I can have all three EMG 81's on at the same time.

Oh, I also darkened the fretboard with some shoe polish. You can't even see me when the stage lights go down!!

[Vass]

Here's my trusty ESP LTD that I use to push my Crate amp. This was a guitar and amp pack that I bought at Walmart and got a smoking deal on. This came pretty much ready to ROCK. All I had to do was route it for a middle pickup, install the EMG's (EMG 81/EMG 81/EMG 81), and totally rewire the guitar. With the dual FX86B's it's a pretty hot signal, but it is all very useable gain. I may change it to mini-switches so that I can have all three EMG 81's on at the same time.

Oh, I also darkened the fretboard with some shoe polish. You can't even see me when the stage lights go down!!

Someone took their awesome pills today.