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DIY Stompboxes => Building your own stompbox => Topic started by: jrc4558 on July 28, 2004, 10:57:57 PM

Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: jrc4558 on July 28, 2004, 10:57:57 PM
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 ) :P

So, the question is : subj.
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: black mariah on July 28, 2004, 11:05:01 PM
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.
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: jrc4558 on July 28, 2004, 11:05:36 PM
Well, I'll start.

1) RAT
2) Red Fuzz (see ggg for schem. EXCELLENT pedal and site too!)
3) BSIABII
4) FF
5) TS
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: jrc4558 on July 28, 2004, 11:07:16 PM
oops!
Black MAriah took the spot  :lol:
must speed up my typing :oops:
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: travissk on July 28, 2004, 11:09:42 PM
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.
Title: fave
Post by: GreenEye on July 28, 2004, 11:31:08 PM
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.
Title: .
Post by: petemoore on July 29, 2004, 10:00:15 AM
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]
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: WGTP on July 29, 2004, 10:44:17 AM
It changes either weekly or whenever something new and different (Joe Davidson) comes out.  Today it is the mighty VULCAN.  8)

I have got to get the emulators flogged. :twisted:
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: tcobretti on July 29, 2004, 11:01:41 AM
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.
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: Jim Jones on July 29, 2004, 12:52:18 PM
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
Title: .
Post by: petemoore on July 29, 2004, 01:31:26 PM
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.
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: Elektrojänis on July 29, 2004, 01:56:17 PM
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. :)
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: phillip on July 29, 2004, 03:06:42 PM
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
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: Ge_Whiz on July 29, 2004, 07:16:17 PM
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).
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: Gilles C on July 29, 2004, 09:46:39 PM
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
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: theaxeman on July 30, 2004, 11:03:48 AM
1)Ge Fuzz Face
2)Big Muff
3)Boss DS-1
Title: ....
Post by: GreenEye on July 30, 2004, 01:02:36 PM
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.
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: Lonestarjohnny on July 30, 2004, 01:56:16 PM
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
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: MartyB on July 30, 2004, 02:03:28 PM
Tele into Rangemaster clone into Real McTube II into SF Vibrochamp.
Title: .
Post by: petemoore on July 30, 2004, 02:18:08 PM
Modded DS-1 for punchy crunchy rythms and lead use  8)
 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.
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: nightingale on July 30, 2004, 02:43:13 PM
tele->rangemaster[ge]->18watter clone.. not as bright sounding as you would think.. more of an Iommi type tone..
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: Elektrojänis on July 30, 2004, 03:26:14 PM
Quote from: phillip
Elektrojänis: How did you modify your Scrambler?

Hmmm... I should have actually said modified scrambler clone but I guess that it's easy to quess as the originals are quite rare.

My mods for it (or what I remember of them):

1. Germanium diodes for the rectifier stage. This smooths out the very end of the sustain. Not that it is really a problem. Even with silicon diodes sustain does not get choppy until the very end when it is almost impossible to hear it anyway. The downside (well... depends what you like) is that with ge diodes it looses a bit of the nice edge from the note attacks. Actually I'm not sure if the original diodes are ge or si but I think the tonfrenzy samples sound more like the si version. I'm planning to make the diodes switchable between ge and si.

2. Tone control. I added a rat style tone filtter on the end for taming it down a bit if needed. I also put in a switch for bypassing the filter. I find that I mostly have the filter off. Still it is not a bad option to have.

3. Simple fet booster and a volume control on the end. The volume control makes it easier to use with other stuff. The booster counteracts the volume loss of the tone control (not much actually if the tone isnät set to very dark setting) and makes it possible to drive the following effect/amp a little harder when the blend is set to a milder setting. The booster might also distort a bit on some settings.

As I said... Not a basic "just leave it on" type of tone. I just like the weird stuff. :)

Edit (forgot one):

4. I used 2n3904 for q1, q3 and g4 and 2n2222 for q2. I could not get the specified transistors from my local suplier. I tried some others too. I tried some darlingtons for 1, 3 and 4,  but I liked 2n3904 most. The differences where not too big though (to my ears anyway).
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: Hal on July 30, 2004, 04:16:11 PM
as of now, i have yet to find a distoirtion pedal that sounds at good as my all tube Peavey Ultra 112 :-D.

Im still hunting :-D.  I love my mosface, though.
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: brian wenz on July 31, 2004, 01:51:41 PM
Hello Hello--
   Hhhmmmmm........it's a toss-up between a Vox Tonebender MK I  and a Tonebender MK II.
Brian.
Title: dist
Post by: nero1985 on July 31, 2004, 09:05:59 PM
SLASH's distortion is the coolest but the hardest to simulate!!!!
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: jasonober on July 31, 2004, 10:23:11 PM
today it's dod fx50 because it's the one i modded today  but i almost always like my modded ds-1
Title: What is your favourite distortion?
Post by: bwanasonic on August 01, 2004, 03:10:56 AM
Been rediscovering Ebow lately, and I find the distortion tone (into a clean tube amp) gorgeous. When combined with a volume pedal and a little echo, it provides a nice range of violin-like tones.

 Have also been enjoying the *synergy* of several DIY pedals with some old stand-by commercial pedals to form my own *boutique* distortion.  My trusty vintage TS9 (with 808 and *brown* mods) and MXR Dyna-Comp combine really well with an AMZ MosFet Boost and ROG Fetzer in various combinations, for a nice range of tones. My RM clone into my Rivera Quiana dirty channel is super sweet, but it doesn't work the same magic with my more small gig friendly Traynor YCV20.  A few pedals that I love, but rarely gig with these days::

Rat II
GT2
Ge FF

Kerry M
Title: Re: dist
Post by: Elektrojänis on August 01, 2004, 06:15:24 AM
Quote from: nero1985SLASH's distortion is the coolest but the hardest to simulate!!!!

Well... If you count in the part of the tone that comes from his fingers it might be... Otherwise it's probably just a bit expensive and loud as most of it comes from the guitar and amp only.

Check this site: http://cosmos.oninetspeed.pt/slashguitarpage/Slashsound.html

It might be possible to make a ROG/Doug Hammond -style fet simulation of that amp, but the schematic (http://www.drtube.com/schematics/marshall/2555amp.gif) looks quite complex... or at least big.  BTW. It seems to me it uses diodes/leds for clipping.
Title: .
Post by: petemoore on August 01, 2004, 10:53:23 AM
Bwanasonic Wrote:
 "Have also been enjoying the *synergy* of several DIY pedals with some old stand-by commercial pedals to form my own *boutique* distortion. My trusty vintage TS9 (with 808 and *brown* mods) and MXR Dyna-Comp combine really well with an AMZ MosFet Boost and ROG Fetzer in various combinations, for a nice range of tones."
 I really couldn't agree more exactly!!!, but would add, Orange Squeezer into Mos or other Face 8) . ...DS-1...Dist+...
 My Fetzer is on a bypass switch, in the same box as, and before the [also bypassed switched] DS-1...I really like that. The Fetzer sounds great, simple, and is a great Fuzz Driver.
 I tried lots of combo's, Rangemaster, Stratoblaster, Mosfet Boost stages, before Fuzz...Hot Fuzzes can be found this way too.
Title: Re: dist
Post by: PB Wilson on August 01, 2004, 11:18:39 AM
Quote from: nero1985SLASH's distortion is the coolest but the hardest to simulate!!!!

Try Doug Hammond's Highway 89. I'm almost finished with mine and judging from the sound clips, it seems like it is the perfect pedal for that late '80s sound.

On another note, what are your thoughts on Doug's Meteor pedal? It's on my short list of projects.
Title: .
Post by: petemoore on August 01, 2004, 01:15:56 PM
Haven't tried the Meteor or the Hwy 89. Both are high on the list of near future Jfet builds.
 I can say there sure are many options to consider these days for the large batch of Jfets soon to be arriving here 8) .
 I have a BSIAB to tweek on, and ROG Jfet tube amp type schematics to think about...