# Good Rock Distortion Stompbox



## TheOz (Oct 19, 2006)

well...

i was wondering if i could get some opinions on good distortion stompboxes for Rock music (along the lines of nickelback, creed, alter bridge, zakk wylde), if possible it would be appreciated if there could be some links to actual sound samples to hear what most of the pedals sound like.

what do you guys usually use to play rock? 
and also to play a more bluesy type of rythm (distortion)?

now i leave it up to the pros to lay it down on the line :bow:


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## Newton (Sep 11, 2006)

Distorsion or overdrive?


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## TheOz (Oct 19, 2006)

both would be really appreciated :thanks5qx:

and if anyone can give me a review on the *Visual Sound Route 66 American Overdrive*
that would also be a really great help.


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## Baconator (Feb 25, 2006)

TheOz said:


> both would be really appreciated :thanks5qx:
> 
> and if anyone can give me a review on the *Visual Sound Route 66 American Overdrive*
> that would also be a really great help.


Unfortunately, I don't have any direct experience with the Route 66. I've got a variety of distortion and fuzz boxes and in my humble opinion, one of the best deals out there for that kind of tone is the Rat. It can get buzzy at the upper range of the distiortion knob, but it's capable of some pretty good tones and they can usually be found fairly cheap. I got a beat up one modded by Keeley for around $100 a few years ago and I love it. If you have any soldering experience I'd recommend trying out a Build Your Own Clone mighty mouse pedal kit from http://www.axeandyoushallreceive.com/ . While I didn't build this particular kit, I've built a few other ones and love them. 

For overdrive, the tube screamer and its clones are a staple for a reason. They generally work well and sound somewhat 'natural'. I picked up a modded one cheap from this forum and love it. Again, BYOC has a kit for this pedal with various mods included. 

I'm not sure what the local guitar shop situation is in Burlington, but you should bring your main guitar and amp along if you want to know what the pedals really sound like since many pedals sound very different depending on what they are used with. You might want to drop a line to Scott at axeandyoushallreceive since he really knows pedals and seems to really like talking about them. 

The quest for good tone can be tricky, but it should be fun - enjoy!


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Check out Diamond Pedals, Canadian, well built and they have sound samples available. 

http://www.diamondpedals.com/products.html


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## TheOz (Oct 19, 2006)

*Paul*

i've fallen absolutely in love with the sound of the Diamond Pedals, honestly they're really nicely built and they sound absolutely amazing.
do you have any of their pedals or have you played with any of their pedals? (just to know if the samples are 100% viable)

very nice link :bow: 

*Baconator*

i fully agree with you, the quest for good tone can be tricky, but it's always alot of fun. i've played around my pedalboards all my life, anything from zoom, boss to line6, being that the latest was the Pod XT Live, and the sounds are really good and really easy to access and it's a really handy tool to play live (almost no problem to create a sound of your own)

but right now i'm getting more and more interested in actual pedals, analog pedals for that matter, i have a ibanez fl9 original and it has a really nice flanger sound, one of the best sounds i've ever heard, those diamond pedals that Paul suggested are amazing, and in my view nothing can compare to that feeling of actually looking around for something that sounds more like the sound that you had imagined, it's always a hard quest but always a lot of fun 

i'm going to try and get those two kits that you said, or even try to find someone that makes those types of replicas. i've heard that the ProCo Rat was one of the best of it's kind, and that Route 66 one i was asking about seems to be a great stompbox to play lighter music, more in a bluesy style. and obviously i've heard alot about the tubescreamer, so i'm going to have to check further into that one too!

thanks for all the suggestions so far, keep them coming! :rockon:


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

I have #61 of the J Drive TR pedal which was a 100 pedal run. Yes the sound clips are right on.. The TR Boost which is basically the rangemaster style boost is great. You can use boost individual of OD which is nice. The Jfet portion of the boost is very transparent and nice to have. I have examined the internals of the pedal, and I have built some of my own pedals, the build is very top notch. Everything is up to par with what the web site advertises.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

The Jekyl and Hyde pedal may do the job for you. It has overdrive on one side, distortion on the other. Both can be combined. I love it. I also have the RT66 and combine the compressor side of the RT66 with the J&H. Its fantastic!

Check out the John Perry video demo at the bottom of the page for this link; 
http://visualsound.net/mp3.htm


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

ne1roc said:


> The Jekyl and Hyde pedal may do the job for you. It has overdrive on one side, distortion on the other. Both can be combined. I love it. I also have the RT66 and combine the compressor side of the RT66 with the J&H. Its fantastic!
> Check out the John Perry video demo at the bottom of the page for this link;
> http://visualsound.net/mp3.htm



...as a previous owner of the jekyll and hyde pedal, i'd like to recommend the radial tonebone trimode. its far more transparent, and much more organic (natural) sounding.

-dh


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...as a previous owner of the jekyll and hyde pedal, i'd like to recommend the radial tonebone trimode. its far more transparent, and much more organic (natural) sounding.
> 
> -dh


Tonebone's are very nice pedals! The Plexi Tube is a better fit for me, although I would like one of each. Drool


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## erikm5150 (Mar 3, 2006)

MI Audio Crunch Box!
Here's a clip of some guy playing it:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=189407


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

erikm5150 said:


> MI Audio Crunch Box!
> Here's a clip of some guy playing it:
> http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=189407


Nice! Very nice! I need to get one!


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## TheOz (Oct 19, 2006)

it definately sound very very interesting.
i have to try and get my hands on one to try it out.

thanks for the links guys, keep on posting :rockon:


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

erikm5150 said:


> MI Audio Crunch Box!
> Here's a clip of some guy playing it:
> http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=189407


I have one for sale if you're interested. It will be in the "for sale" thread section. It's the first generation which is a tad darker than the newer one but can be upgraded if necessary. Works great with Fender style amps. Feel free to delete this (or tell me to) if it's considered spam or inappropriate in some way.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

davetcan said:


> I have one for sale if you're interested. It will be in the "for sale" thread section. It's the first generation which is a tad darker than the newer one but can be upgraded if necessary. Works great with Fender style amps. Feel free to delete this (or tell me to) if it's considered spam or inappropriate in some way.


Darn, if it was version 2 I would definitely have been interested.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

ne1roc said:


> Darn, if it was version 2 I would definitely have been interested.


Not a lot in it in my opinion. Here's a link to a couple of clips of V1. The second one is pretty good. I'm assuming it's a humbucker in the bridge position.

Let me try that again..

duh!!!!!

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=179308&highlight=crunchbox


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

No link? :confused-smiley-010


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## chesterb (May 28, 2006)

Check out anything by Fulltone. The OCD is awesome, the Distortion Pro is nice (take the time to tweak it though) and the FullDrive is a nice overdrive


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

chesterb said:


> Check out anything by Fulltone. The OCD is awesome, the Distortion Pro is nice (take the time to tweak it though) and the FullDrive is a nice overdrive


The OCD is an excellent pedal.


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## cale0906 (Apr 15, 2006)

*Od pedals*

I have a Reverend Drivetrain ( black one ) , Tonebone , Full Drive 2, and a V-Stack CLassic.

My fave for OD is the Drivetrain and for higher gain settings my favorite is the V-Stack. (Can). Tonebone is very tweaky but good , Fulldrive is similar to Drivetrain but not as clear .

just my $.02


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## TheOz (Oct 19, 2006)

*davetcan*

those samples of the crunchbox on the link that you gave were amazing, i'm starting to develop a serious interest in that pedal of yours. who knows? maybe i'll take it off your hands.

by the way, can anyone tell me where to get that V-Stack pedal?
it seems to be pretty interesting, it's just a shame that there's actual samples of the pedal online :frown: 

if you guys can, post some samples of your own


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## Baconator (Feb 25, 2006)

TheOz said:


> *davetcan*
> 
> by the way, can anyone tell me where to get that V-Stack pedal?


http://www.axeandyoushallreceive.com/biglist.htm

As I said earlier, you should talk to Scott there - he's a great guy and knows his distortion.


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## TheOz (Oct 19, 2006)

*Baconator*

i'm going to do that right now!
if he knows that much about effects, then he's the right person to talk to!

thanks!


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