# Distortion/Fuzz Pedal Suggestions



## notme (Mar 23, 2006)

I'm looking for a good quality pedal that is on the lighter side of the Diamond Fireburst. I'm not real sure what the difference is between distortion/fuzz, & OD pedals. I purchased the Diamond Fireburst pedal and liked the quality, low noise (for a gain pedal), and flexibility it has, but the distortion is just way too heavy for what I'm looking for. I now know what people mean when they say "it has a bite to it".
I'm using a strat with a traynor amp and play anything from folk to light rock. 
Any suggestions?

Thanks for any tips,

Paul


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

Hey Paul, if you like the Fireburst, you may want to consider sending it in to Diamond for a modification to lower the gain. I really like some of the sounds I can get with the gain control set really low.

gtrguy


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## notme (Mar 23, 2006)

Hey gtrguy,
Thanks for the reply!
I'm going to return the pedal (just picked it up yesterday). It's not a bad idea to asked them to lower the gain, but I'd be afraid after all that, it still may not be what I want. 
I do like the quality though, so I have looked at the Diamond J Drive, but it seems to be fairly heavy also (at least in the proguitarshop.com demo). I wish L & M had a room specifically for trying pedals.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

This might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I've always loved vintage Rat pedals for distortion bordering on fuzz. They're really versatile and can go from light OD to all-out rage (especially if you use the Ruetz mod to have a switchable low gain setting).


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I have a J-Drive and it definitely isn't too gainy. You can go from light break up to a heavier distortion with it. It also has a bright switch and independent boost. Awesome pedal. 



notme said:


> Hey gtrguy,
> Thanks for the reply!
> I'm going to return the pedal (just picked it up yesterday). It's not a bad idea to asked them to lower the gain, but I'd be afraid after all that, it still may not be what I want.
> I do like the quality though, so I have looked at the Diamond J Drive, but it seems to be fairly heavy also (at least in the proguitarshop.com demo). I wish L & M had a room specifically for trying pedals.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I'm looking at the pictures on the Diamond website (http://www.diamondpedals.com/build_quality.html) to see if I can spot a potential mod to make. However, the pictures seem to suggest two different builds.
This picture shows three diodes (the orange parts; undoubtedly used for clipping purposes) along an edge of the board way over at the left.








But this picture, and the accompanying PCB layout show a different location.















So, which layout do you have? I can probably figure out a partial reverse engineer and make some recommendations, based on thepictures, but I would need to know which one/s are the "real" pedal.


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## notme (Mar 23, 2006)

Hey guys, thanks for chipping in!
I'm not familiar with the Rat pedals, will have to check them out. 
I'm glad to hear that the J-Drive isn't too gainy, I'll see if they have one in stock, and hopefully be able to hear it.
As far as what layout the pedal is, I'm not sure (not at home). 

Here are some other pedals I've listen to, and at least online they sound close to what I'm looking for:

Radial Fullerton Bones Dual Distortion
F.O.D. Demeter
Fulltone GT-500

Any of you guys familiar with those?


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## FrankyFarGone (Dec 8, 2008)

notme said:


> Hey guys, thanks for chipping in!
> I'm not familiar with the Rat pedals, will have to check them out.
> I'm glad to hear that the J-Drive isn't too gainy, I'll see if they have one in stock, and hopefully be able to hear it.
> As far as what layout the pedal is, I'm not sure (not at home).
> ...


Sorry iam not  
But iam with any of the Rat Moded version...Got one recently! THe Rattle Snake
Very versatile..but iam still lookin for something
















True Bypass
Improved high quality electronics (switchcraft, alfa pots, etc.)
Boss style AC adapter
the famed LM308N Chip for that vintage RAT tone!!!
beautiful YELLOW LED!
Aside from the usual knobs (Vol, Filter, Gain) this little monster has 2 additional 3-way toggle switches. These let you select between Mosfet (warm overdrive sound),soft clipping leds (slightly more gain), hard clipping led (Turbo Rat), 2 clipping diodes (Vintage Rat) or directly through the LM308N chip (which makes the pedal act almost like a booster). 
9 options all in all give you a fine array of all sorts of Rat tones, from vintage to turbo and everything in between, including overdrive and boost

Here a demo clip of "Infested" a Rat clone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzNgO-LPYAg

Frank


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## notme (Mar 23, 2006)

Thanks Franky,
I've read up some on the Rat pedals and people really like the older vintage ones, but seem to think the newer ones are not as good (isn't that always the case).
Are the older pedals only available by ebay and the likes?

Paul


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

notme said:


> Thanks Franky,
> I've read up some on the Rat pedals and people really like the older vintage ones, but seem to think the newer ones are not as good (isn't that always the case).
> Are the older pedals only available by ebay and the likes?
> 
> Paul


Yes, you'll have to find a used one. They're on eBay all the time, and depending where you live, you might be able to find one on CL as well.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

mhammer said:


> I'm looking at the pictures on the Diamond website (http://www.diamondpedals.com/build_quality.html) to see if I can spot a potential mod to make. However, the pictures seem to suggest two different builds.
> This picture shows three diodes (the orange parts; undoubtedly used for clipping purposes) along an edge of the board way over at the left.
> 
> 
> ...


Those are actually pictures of other products (DriveSE or J-Drive I believe) and not the Fireburst. The Fireburst is easily recognizable as it's a red PCB...

gtrguy


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## soldierscry (Jan 20, 2008)

gtrguy, you are correct. I used to work for Diamond they make some great pedals. If you can find a j-drive TR grab it up it is one of the best overdrives I've ever played


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

gtrguy said:


> Those are actually pictures of other products (DriveSE or J-Drive I believe) and not the Fireburst. The Fireburst is easily recognizable as it's a red PCB...
> 
> gtrguy


My error. I was looking at the web-page for the Fireburst, and followed the link for "construction details", assuming it was for that pedal, rather than generic. Should have recognized that the chassis colour in the picture and the chassis colour for the Fireburst were not the same colour.kqoct


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## notme (Mar 23, 2006)

Thanks everyone...now to let the hunt begin!


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## notme (Mar 23, 2006)

Well I picked up a Diamond J-Drive (MK3 not TR...TR must be an older one), and I think it's going to be a good fit. Haven't had much of a chance to play around with it yet, but it does seem to be good quality and very flexible in tones.

Thanks for all the help!


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

Good stuff! Enjoy!

gtrguy


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

Another vote for the old Rat.
It was the only dirt pedal I had for over 20 years (I just picked up a Zakk overdrive to use with it).


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## JMann (Feb 18, 2007)

I am liking very much my MI Audio Crunchbox. Les Paul>CB>18 Watt Plexi = a close tonal bliss for me. The CB is considered a one trick pony by some, but it does it very well.

The Fulltone OCD I will never part with (yeah, right). Low to high gain, it's all there. This pedal seems to be loved by many. A winner, imo.

The Fulltone GT500. I have one for sale. I have a schitzo relationship with this thing. Maybe it's too tweakable. OCD it's not. But hey, it got a GP Editors award. For me, the distortion was a little too buzzy. Though it did do a pretty good faux fuzz. 

Thanx,
Jim


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