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Distortion pedals: A basic question

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(@dan_54321)
Eminent Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 10
Topic starter  

I've been playing guitar for a few years, and apart from upgrading my amp I've never really dabbled much with peripherals or effects. My knowledge of distortion pedals and such is pretty limited I've been considering buying a distortion pedal, but I've got a pretty basic question:

Do most guitarists use a distortion pedal coupled with their amp, if so whats the main reason for this? I know this is a really stupid question, but I've never fully understood why a distortion pedal would be necessary if the amplifier produces distortion anyway? I'm assuming this is to get a better tone, but if someones playing through an expensive tube amp which produces great sounds anyway whats the need for a distortion pedal, apart from changing between clean and overdriven tones in a song? Are there any professional musicians who don't use effects pedals?


   
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(@tinsmith)
Prominent Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 830
 

I don't use it, I use overdrive for an amp that sounds great overdriven. I'm not sure if there's a fine line or even if there's a difference or what the difference is between distortion & overdrive. I think distortion is a little fuzzier.

I would use pedals so I wouldn't have keep changing the settings on my amp to get the sound i was looking for at any given moment.

Even with Bad Monkey, an overdrive pedal, I would it to get more overdrive during a solo & then go back to regular.


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
 

You've partially answered your own question there, Dan - changing from clean to overdriven, or vice versa, it's a lot easier to put your foot down on a pedal than it is to fiddle with amp settings....and it leaves both hands still on the guitar!

I don't own any pedals whatsoever, though like you I'm thinking it might be an idea to have at least a distortion pedal - for the above reason.

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@scrybe)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2241
 

for a professional musician who doesn't/very rarely uses FX boxes, try Jeff Beck. tho he did dabble more with FX in his younger days, he's an inspiration to anyone who thinks they can hide behind a bunch of pedals.

as for specific distortion boxes - I'd recommend the ProCo Rat or the Marshall Bluesbreaker (tho' the bluesbreaker is more an overdrive than full on metal distortion). But I've also heard some might good things about the Blackstar range of pedals (HT-Drive and HT-Dist would be up your street) which use tubes to create a 'natural sounding' distortion or drive, and the ProCo Solo. You could always try a big muff tho. I might give in to GAS and get one of them Blackstar drive pedals soon, lol....

I generally just use pedals to save twiddling with amp setting mid-solo, but the bluesbreaker has a clean 'boost' setting on it, so when I'm using my marshall jtm 45 (or other tube amps) I usually set it to 'boost' the signal to push the amp into overdrive. I'm pretty sure many pro guitarists have several distortion/drive boxes in their pedal board, all with different settings on them, effectively creating a bunch of tone-patches or fx-patches, since they'll only be using one box at a time, but they'll all be set differently to create different sounds.

hth

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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(@cyranodb)
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Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 178
 

Well, for me it's because I play at home and having my boss blues driver plugged in to my fender blues jr. allows me to get a bit of distorted feel without cranking the amp too loud and disturbing everyone. If that makes any sense :oops:

"I use heavy strings, tune low, play hard and floor it. Floor it, that's a technical term." - SRV


   
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(@rparker)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5480
 

Well, for me it's because I play at home and having my boss blues driver plugged in to my fender blues jr. allows me to get a bit of distorted feel without cranking the amp too loud and disturbing everyone. If that makes any sense :oops:

Makes sense to me. That's one of the plusses to me too.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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(@rparker)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5480
 

Dan, for me it was more a tone thing. I've got a Fender Blues Deluxe amp. While the clean setting is really great, the distortions never did it for me. That's when I started exploring pedals. I got some sounds I was looking for using them, and at not too loud a volume either.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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(@tinsmith)
Prominent Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 830
 

Well, for me it's because I play at home and having my boss blues driver plugged in to my fender blues jr. allows me to get a bit of distorted feel without cranking the amp too loud and disturbing everyone. If that makes any sense :oops:
One of the things for me too.


   
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(@kent_eh)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1882
 

Are there any professional musicians who don't use effects pedals?
A quick browse on guitargeek, shows that Angus Young, Chuck Berry, Dave Davies, Eddie Vedder, Johnny Ramone among others have been known to play plugged straight into an amp, with no outboard effects.

I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep


   
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(@97reb)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1196
 

Some use them, some don't. I think some guitarists always have too similar of a sound, too. Adding a little diversity with a pedal can add spice to a routine sound or a sound that seems to be "stuck".

It is a small world for metal fanatics. I welcome you fellow musicians, especially the metalheads!


   
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(@trguitar)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3709
 

I use my Tube Screamer in conjunction with my tube amps dirty chanel. The Tube Screamer is subtle in its coloration of the tone, it mostly just drives the preamp tubes and I like that. I have an Ibanez Smash Box that has very heavy distortion, but I don't really use it. I'm more apt to use it with a solid state amp though.

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@scrybe)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2241
 

agreed with TR - I have very seldom been at all satisfied with the 'distortion' on solid state amps. they usually sound really thin.

as for disturbing the neighbours...well, since none of my neighbours play guitar, I consider them very disturbed already, so some amp-cranking shouldn't make them more so. :lol: :lol:

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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(@stratman_el84)
Estimable Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 141
 

Playing with no OD/distortion pedals as many famous artists do (Jeff Beck, Angus Young) is all well and good if you can crank an amp like they can in a stadium or auditorium, but that's not practical at home, or even small clubs. I've always found master-volume amps lacking, and although the better ones aren't bad, they are more expensive.

I've grown really fond of the $70-range Rocktron Austin Gold overdrive pedal. It sounds as good or better than OD pedals I've played through that cost hundreds of dollars. Another way to go is to use a cranked amp through a good attenuator to keep volume levels down. It still isn't the same as the amp cranked straight, but does beat most distortion/OD pedals *if* the attenuator is a good-quality unit like Webers' "MASS" series or a similar unit.

The other way to go is use a low-power or even micro-power (like 1 watt) amp. The 1 watt range of amps are good home/studio amps, but usually not practical to gig with. A low-power amp, like 5-20 watts, *can* be used on a gig mic'd, as long as the stage volume isn't excessive. Not really practical for metal, etc but a low-powered amp can work very well for blues and classic rock styles for small clubs. I gig in a blues band with a 20 watt tube amp I built.

Cheers!

Strat


   
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(@cyranodb)
Estimable Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 178
 

Please someone stop me before I buy more gear. I just got the Ibanez TS-9. I have to say I already like this pedal very much. I wanted to get a different over-drive sound than the blues-driver. It's really nice and works well with the amp, doesn't get too muddy. It was also comparitively more affordable that getting the more expensive Ibanez TS-808. I just have to stop going to guitar center. Every time I go, I buy something else :(

"I use heavy strings, tune low, play hard and floor it. Floor it, that's a technical term." - SRV


   
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(@97reb)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1196
 

You are hereby banned from the premises of all Guitar Center's, Sam Ash Store's, and any Mom and Pop local store. If you are caught trespassing, the police will be called take you into custody for violation of this proclamation. Beware of your GAS!

It is a small world for metal fanatics. I welcome you fellow musicians, especially the metalheads!


   
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