# High gain distortion pedals



## mikerockstar (Jan 7, 2008)

Hey guys,

Perhaps some CANADIAN advice is what I need 
I'm looking for the best thing out there in distortion pedals for playing heavy music. Anything from punk, to rock, to hard rock, to metalcore, to death and deathcore. The more it is capable to be brutal, the better. I love a good scooped tone, but it obviously needs definition and punch. Adding some mids helps this, but sometimes there just isn't a good balance between woofiness and too many mids. 

I've tried out a few distortion pedals (most of them owned at one time or even still have), and some have been good, others not. 

Thumbs up: DigiTech Grunge, Line6 Uber Metal
Thumbs down: DigiTech Metal Master, Boss MT-2 Metalzone, DigiTech "The Weapon", Damage Control Demonizer (not high gain enough)

Keep in mind I'm looking for something that can be brutal when I need it to be. The Demonizer is an AWESOME pedal (expensive, too), but I'm looking for very heavy, chunky, thick distortion. At this point I can't afford a new amp (which is always the best solution), so I'm sticking with my Randall RH300 head (awesome cleans on it).

I'm looking at a Boss Metalcore, Electro Harmonix Metal Muff, and a Damage Control Solid Metal. Anyone have any other suggestions?

I'm also willing to expand on my opinions of other pedals, if they're curious. 
Thanks!


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Have you listened to the sounds clips for the GoudieFX OTP? Sounds pretty cool. I've never tried one out myself.


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

I picked up a jacques bat fuzz several yrs ago for such a tone as you describe, and what I like about this pedal, is the variability it gives, you can dial alot of different colours with it.

you should check that one out, not really expensive, especially used.

I also have a troubled variance evil od, but that's a pretty esoteric pedal....but its fierce !


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## Wheeman (Dec 4, 2007)

Colour me crazy, but an acoustic simulator right after a distortion gives a really cool heavy distortion. I had the behringer model lying around that I was going to scrap for parts (picked it up for $25) and threw it after my distortion for kicks. Sounded really cool with a LOT of variety with it.


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

I've got a modded MT-2 that is good (hate the stock ones), a modded MD-2 which is great, an Ibanez SM-9 which I really like and my modded RAT which is what I am using the most now. A friend of mine has a Metal Muff and it's a pretty good pedal. He's got the nano and the full size, but I prefer the full size one.


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## Vincent (Nov 24, 2007)

Not sure how good the MXR Dime distortion is however i use MXR pedals and this one might be worth trying out at least.

Click on rock this sound
http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=258&pmh=products/p_and_e_detail

Electro-Harmonix Nano Pocket Metal Muff Distortion Pedal...not sure how it sounds because i dont own one however ive heard some good things about it...worth checking out. 
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ElectroHarmonix-Nano-Pocket-Metal-Muff-Distortion-?sku=150099


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

www.bodenhamer-electronics.com

Bloody Murder. win. 

also, start savin for that next amp


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## NB-SK (Jul 28, 2007)

I have the Electro Harmonix Metal Muff, the six knobs model with the 'Top Boost' switch. I'm very happy with it.


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## danbo (Nov 27, 2006)

Zoom G2.1U :rockon2: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/g21u/


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...radial tonebone hot british or plexitube will get you there, big time:

http://www.tonebone.com/

-dh


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Another one to try is the MI Audio Crunch Box. Should be able to give you enough gain.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

The crunchbox is not scooped enough or tight enough in the bass department for brutal metal if you ask me. Mine sound more like a hot rodded Marshall.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Though I rarely want that much gain, running both amp and pedal at the same time works better for me as long as one or the other has good eq, especially mids control. If the distortion pedal lacks eq, I'll use a basic Boss eq pedal with it. 

For sheer versaltility, the Boss OD-20 Drive Zone matched with the Boss EQ-20 Advanced EQ gives you lots of options. (I don't own them, just tried them.)

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

When people ask this sort of question, they tend to think of tones as relying on only a single pedal. Gain is multiplicative. If you have a device with a gain of 10, followed by a second with a gain of 20, their combined gain gooses the signal 200x. Most distortion pedals will tend to boost by a factor of 200x or more, occasionally heading up into the thousands, and sometimes doing so in several stages. Precede a 200x gain stage with a simple plain vanilla gain of 10x, whether inside the same pedal, or via a separate pedal, and right away you're into the thousands. Stick a clean booster ahead of ANY distortion pedal and you will be able to derive the sickest high-gain sounds a person could want.


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## Wheeman (Dec 4, 2007)

mhammer said:


> When people ask this sort of question, they tend to think of tones as relying on only a single pedal. Gain is multiplicative. If you have a device with a gain of 10, followed by a second with a gain of 20, their combined gain gooses the signal 200x. Most distortion pedals will tend to boost by a factor of 200x or more, occasionally heading up into the thousands, and sometimes doing so in several stages. Precede a 200x gain stage with a simple plain vanilla gain of 10x, whether inside the same pedal, or via a separate pedal, and right away you're into the thousands. Stick a clean booster ahead of ANY distortion pedal and you will be able to derive the sickest high-gain sounds a person could want.


Note to self: build a clean booster next. Any recommended schematics/pedals?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Jack Orman has a nice little circuit called the MosFET Booster on his AMZ website ( http://www.muzique.com ). It is similar, though not identical, to the Z-Vex Super Hard On pedal. Jack has some other nice boosters on the site as well. The MosFET booster is kind of a nice one in that you can use a simple on/off switch to select boost or simple buffer. You can also find some decent booster projects at the Tonepad ( www.tonepad.com ) and General guitargadgets ( www.generalguitargadgets.com ) websites. Parts for all are readily available in the GTA. None should set you back more than a $20 bill, including box, jacks, controls, switches.

I will also note that ANY compressor, if set to low compression, and high output level, turns into a clean booster.


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2008)

Wheeman said:


> Note to self: build a clean booster next. Any recommended schematics/pedals?


Whatever Fulltone is doing their FatBoost II and GT-500 boost circuit is _brilliant_. It know it's MOSFET based with the bass cut circuit done pre-boost. Amazing sounding boost. Into an amp on 10 it sends it into the out reaches of the stratosphere. Deadly amounts of gain on tap.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Actually, the Fatboost was a circuit thet Jack Orman originally adapted from another circuit appearing in the old orange National Semiconductor Linear Circuits book that Radio Shack used to sell 25 years ago. Jack called it the Mini-Booster and you can still find it on-line. There were some hard feelings between Jack and Mike Fuller on that one. Since then, Mike has either learned some new tricks, or else contracted with consulting engineers. Either way, he has moved from what he originally did, which was sell clones of existing circuits with a little twist or feature here or there, to producing some circuits that are worthy of being called original designs.

I don't know if the current Fatboost II is MosFET based or simply FET-based. Doesn't really matter, though.


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## Guest (Jan 8, 2008)

mhammer said:


> Since then, Mike has either learned some new tricks, or else contracted with consulting engineers. Either way, he has moved from what he originally did, which was sell clones of existing circuits with a little twist or feature here or there, to producing some circuits that are worthy of being called original designs.


I didn't open the GT-500 up before I shipped it out. Should have and snapped some pics. Mike claims the FBII is new, all his.



> I don't know if the current Fatboost II is MosFET based or simply FET-based. Doesn't really matter, though.


It's actually JFET-based (my bad), the point being it's not an opamp circuit. What ever the design, it's magic. Subtle compression, lots of sparkle on tap. I was totally smitten by it. Been a while since I plugged in a pedal and was totally wowed by the result. The distortion side...meh...I found it really thin and raspy even with the gain dialed down.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Pedals, like amps, need lots of signal to work with. I generally have the guitar volume maxed out so that pedals and amp get lots of signal. Both perform better with a boost, whether from a compressor, eq, another gain stage or distortion, or clean boost. My preference is a clean boost or compressor for the job, but it depends on my ear from day to day.

Peace, Mooh.


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## High Skool Artist (Dec 1, 2007)

3 words my friend, digitech metal master


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## Marcel Furlanetto (Sep 14, 2007)

I have a MI audio Crunchbox v2 (with internal presence trimpot) that handles mid to fairly heavy distortion. I'm asking $100 + shipping. Its MI Audio's "Marshall in a box". An EQ pedal would open up another world of options.

My email: [email protected]


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