what sort of pedal for punk?

[southtown]

like big graunchy rahh stuff, is this overdrive or fuzz or distortion, what sort of box should i use?

[PenPen]

I used an old Rat. Those, when cranked, are harsh and raunchy. Babes in Toyland, the Melvins, Krist Noveselic and Pat Smear when they were in Nirvana used them. Put the Distortion all the way up, the filter all the way down.

Also good: Big Muff Pi. Insane, dirty fuzz tone.

Harmonic Perkolator. Used (supposedly) by Steve Albini of Shellac. Produces great sounds like the Dead Kennedys

Just a few ideas. I heard one DIY distortion that I don't remember the name of, made fantastic Sex Pistols sound distortion.

[Hal]

the DS-1 isnt bad, through some setups.  But for punk, you really cant beat real tube overdrive...

[RDV]

Any good aggro distortion will do it. It's really about attitude. Also sort of a right hand thing. Very physical when done well. 

RDV

[bwanasonic]

It's really about attitude. Also sort of a right hand thing. Very physical when done well. 

Here here! Three cheers for the punk right hand!

Kerry M

[LP Hovercraft]

I've heard a lot of punk rock be ranging from totally clean to an obnoxious fuzzy hellride.  If you are just using 5th interval power chords and playing really fast using lots of palm muting, a high gain distortion or fuzz is prescribed.  If you are doing more complex chords, I'd recommend something more mellow.

What is a recorded example of a good punk rock guitar sound to you, Southtown?

I know Steve Jones just used overdriven Marshalls with the Sex Pistols.  Brown Sound in a Box 2 offers similar tones. 

If you want to sound like the Subhumans, refer to Jimi Hendrix's setup-saw them live and he was doing the Fuzzface-cranked Marshall thing. 

The Rat, Big Muff, DS-1 are great for punk.

I'd strongly encourage someone with a punk rock ethic and a knack for DIY to explore beyond the pedals that you can get at a Guitar Center.  There exists a great deal of cool rarities and new designs between these DIY sites.  My faves that I'd have no problem doing punk rock with:

Aron's Rocket and Hornet
May Queen
Jordan Bosstone
Blackfire
Tube Sound Fuzz
Thunderchief
Red Fuzz
Ampeg Scrambler


It really is down to how you play, sensitivity-wise, and what kind of amp you are using to figure out what's right for you

[Herr Masel]

I built the big daddy of ROG, I like to play black sabbath on it but really any distortion or fuzz could work for punk, which is what I will be using this for. I also built the vox tonebender but I think I'll gut it and use the parts for a silicon tonebender mkII or three knob. It is more about what kind of sound you are going for, rather than one pedal that can do it best.

[Hal]

Here here! Three cheers for the punk right hand!

Kerry M

was that supposed to be a reference to my chemical romance...?

[brad]

Why, the DOD Punkifier of course! 

Actually, it lets you mix a DOD250 overdrive with a fuzz before going through a tone section, so maybe with a little tweaking...who knows!

http://www.freewebs.com/fkstilt/DODpunk.htm

[col]

What do you class as PunK?? I've been playing it for around 26 years and in that time have used just about anything I could get my hands on with bass as well as guitar. If you want to go back to the Vibrators he uses what looks like an old tonebender as he always picks it up mid gig and shakes it. A lot of bands also just use the distortion channel on the amp. The most used pedal I've seen over the past few years has probably been the Boss Metal Zone but I've also seen lots of cheapo £15 Rocktron type stuff that sounds good at full whack. I used to use a Boss HM2 on my bass and Cress and Napalm Death aparrently used the same pedal.
Currently our band is using a Deluxe Bazz Fuss on bass, our other guitarist uses a Boss DS1 and I use a 3 knob foxey lady clone or a fetzer valve depending on the song.
I occasionally use other pedals including a Marshall Jackhammer, Snarling Dogs Black Dog, Supertonebender clone, Op amp big muff clone etc. The thing is with the kind of venues we play no-one can tell what you are playing through and the different backlines mean you can't have 'your' sound, there isn't usually time to change everything around between bands and you are stuck with whatever is  there! I played through a bass stack a couple of weeks ago as that was all that there was at the gig. We were told that we didn't need to take a guitar amp. I bet no-one noticed at the front!
Whatever you choose use the fuzz or distortion on Max with a humbucker equipped guitar! My son works in a guitar shop and someone came in for 'punk' guitar. He suggested an SG (excellent choice) but the customer said that he couldn't believe anyone would suggest one of those for a punk band!?!?

[d95err]

To me, the ultimate punk sound comes from a bunch of 14 year olds, beating the crap out of the cheapest instruments and amps you can get for their hard earned allowance... 

(On a more technical note, I'd say too much distortion is bad for punk. It turns everything into a thick mess, and the punk agression is lost in it. A mild overdrive or booster would be my choice.)

[PenPen]

To me, the ultimate punk sound comes from a bunch of 14 year olds, beating the crap out of the cheapest instruments and amps you can get for their hard earned allowance... 

(On a more technical note, I'd say too much distortion is bad for punk. It turns everything into a thick mess, and the punk agression is lost in it. A mild overdrive or booster would be my choice.)

HA! This brings back memories. When my band started, we were little 15 yr olds pounding away through whatever we could afford, which wasn't much. I played through a cheap $120 right-handed Peavey Predator strat-copy strung lefty, a little 10W Crate amp, and I finally saved up enough for the crappy $20 Ibanez Slam-Punk distortion pedal. (I know, cliche, but it sounded like the right kind of crappy and was cheap). Our bassist had a cheapo Harmony or something like that bass, and a kit 15W bass amp he was given, and our drummer was playing on an ancient 60s or 70s 4 peice drum set, where the kick pedal was just hooked to the mallet and it came off a lot. We had to duct tape the kick pedal together. Our PA was a 10W or 15W guitar amp. Slowly we saved enough for a decent 80W PA head and cabs, our drummer got a newer cheap drumset, I got a Rat for distortion, etc, etc. We slowly made enough money to get a little better equipment, before I quit. Now, they are in a new band with nice stuff, the bassist has a nice 100W rig and a Gibson Thunderbird bass, and the drummer has a nice 5-peice Tama set.

I'd still recommend the Rat turned all the way up or close to it. Its harsh enough to let the sound come through, just sounds like crap.

[Transmogrifox]

If you want a simple one to build, I think Aron's SMASHDRIVE is a good choice for punk.  It's a very easy build, and in my mind, sounds very good.  If you want to get a more raunchy fuzzy sound, just make the input capacitor larger.

[sovtek50]

Here's the logic :

A good punkrock sound is achieved by a good punk guitarist.
A good punk guitarist is a good guitarist.
A good guitarist is a good musician.
A good musician knows how to get his personal tone, because he has tried a lot of stuff, plus he has his own significant style of playing.

So try everything You can get Your hands and find out what works best for You.

Btw, I use a Jordan Bosstone for its fuzzy but still punchy, "physical" tone. And You can use absolutely cheap, anti-voodoo parts to build one. Now that's what I call "Punk"...