What is your favourite distortion?

[jrc4558]

Yeah, I know, this has been asked million times before. However, we have a lot of new faces here, and I would like to sample the fresh  :twisted:  blood so to say. (it's HTML version )

So, the question is : subj.

[black mariah]

New Clipper into Beta Lead. Something like old school thrash, but with more distortion and a much tighter bottom end. Slayer would kill for my tone. :twisted:

Also, the sound of an Orange driven to extinction.

[jrc4558]

Well, I'll start.

1) RAT
2) Red Fuzz (see ggg for schem. EXCELLENT pedal and site too!)
3) BSIABII
4) FF
5) TS

[jrc4558]

oops!
Black MAriah took the spot  :lol:
must speed up my typing :oops:

[travissk]

For a pedal that's labeled as a distortion box, definitely the Rat. Sure, I haven't tried out some of the super high-end distortions, but the Rat is a great pedal.

[GreenEye]

Out of the few I've had and tried, the only one that has stood the test of time is [drum roll please]...the almighty IBANEZ TUBE KING.  It has the ability to turn any of my tube amps into all-out tone monsters.  I've sold my DS-1, Super OD, Tube Screamer, Super Fuzz, etc., and have never even considered letting go of that lil' 12AX7 powered gem.

[petemoore]

Depends very much on the Amp, guitar too, which Dist will be seen as Good or great...as well as the listener...Distortion/Dorito's...you can't have just one...but
 Dist+ [mods]
 DS-1 [er something to that effect]
 FF [pick yer poison]
 TS [actually "Alexis"]
 TB [Ge]

[WGTP]

It changes either weekly or whenever something new and different (Joe Davidson) comes out.  Today it is the mighty VULCAN.  

I have got to get the emulators flogged. :twisted:

[tcobretti]

I guess distortions always sound like a pedal to me, but what I want from a distortion is to sound like an amp cranked to ten.  So...

ROG English Channel.  Very tubey and rich and works great with most amps (out of a handful of amps I've tried it with, the only one that it didn't sound great with is a JCM900).  

That said, the Fetzer is pretty wicked, too.

If you haven't built some of the ROG stuff you need to.

[Jim Jones]

So far, a modified Distortion +/DOD 250 is my favourite.  With Ge clipping diodes it's like a fuzz for people who don't like fuzzes.  

Jim

[petemoore]

I like the way old style Jensens and Celestions distort, W/ Tube Amp.
 Amp distortion varies widely, but without the Sp and amp, there would be none.
 I use Dist Circuits mostly for certain applications, like Mild OD for rythm sometimes, and 3 Transistor Fuzz [or Comp>Fuzz] for nasty singeing attacks /  singing sustained note leads.
 If I we're on stage, I'd need to do tweeking, including switching distortions because I like to fairly accurately replicate certain tones, which can't be done as well with just one Dist.
 People like to hear the tones they associate as being part of certain recordings [it would seem] as they've learned to appreciate them on the record.

[Elektrojänis]

Usually the last finished build.

Hmmm... I like my modified ampeg scrambler a lot though. It's just mad.  In front of another distortion its even crazier.  Not a default tone for standard rock songs though.

[phillip]

It's really hard to beat a good tweaked Germanium Fuzz Face...fiddle with the input and output capacitors a little to get the frequency response right, add a 100uF PS filtering cap, add a Germanium diode to Q1 to keep the thing from "turning off" from thermal runaway when/if the box gets hot, replace the 470-ohm resistor with a 1K for more output, replace the Fuzz pot with a 2KB to keep Q2 from getting saturated, replace the Volume pot with a 100KA for more highs...just about the perfect little fuzz box.

My other favorite has always been the ToneBender MKII Professional, with a couple of little tweaks here and there.  Can't beat the MKII for pure saturated fuzz, long sustain, and feedback when you want it!

Elektrojänis: How did you modify your Scrambler?

Phillip

[Ge_Whiz]

I like it subtle. So first prize to the Peppermill (ROG), second to the Blue Magic, and third to my silicon 'Miss Piggy' FF (although the Sili-face II may displace that any day now).

[Gilles C]

My taste for a favorite one is always changing.

These days, I like the Boss OD-3.

But I kind of return to the TS-9 from time to time.

So I may mod the OD-3 as per Brian's http://www.indyguitarist.com/pedalmods1.htm

[theaxeman]

1)Ge Fuzz Face
2)Big Muff
3)Boss DS-1

[GreenEye]

I wanted to add that the Super Fuzz was a sweet one, and I do miss my Super OD.  I look forward to building what I hope will become my favorites, which is why I come to this site.

[Lonestarjohnny]

I Luv the ROG Emulater's, and right now i;m havin a bunch a fun checkin out Ricky Don's new pedal. which will become my lead pedal when i get it in a case and finished with paint and graffic's, has great Dynamic's and I love the overtone's i'm getting.      
Jonny

[MartyB]

Tele into Rangemaster clone into Real McTube II into SF Vibrochamp.

[petemoore]

Modded DS-1 for punchy crunchy rythms and lead use  
 FF of some type [Mos/Multi] for harmonic content and the 'cleaner decay'....for Lead use it is easy to get super sounds, harmonic 'jump out', Vol rolloff is a big +...when setup like this tho, for chords it can easily become mushy.