Best distortion pedal?

Question

what is your favourite?

Answer 1

My favorite is the Boss Metal Zone. I'm not a metal guitarist, this is just a very versatile pedal. It has a three band EQ, with a mid-sweep. You can adjust the Bass, Treble, and Mids, but with the sweep function, you can set what frequency the Mids control affects. Basically, the more control the EQ gives you, the more sounds you can get from the pedal.

What you want to avoid is pedals that have a "tone" knob. You can only turn them up for a twangy sound, or down for a bassy sound. Well, what if I want twangy AND bassy?

You want something with at least a three band EQ, a four band is even better.

Answer 2

It depends. If you're using an overdriven Marshall amp, which has great tone, and you just want to "boost" the overdrive (for lead) without altering the tone, use a Ibanez Tube Screamer or a Boss Turbo-Overdrive pedal. It will just add some gain of the amp without changing the way it sounds.

If you're playing through a "clean" channel of an amp and want to use the pedal as a primary overdrive, here are my experiences with a few of the older pedals that you can probably find for a good price at a pawn shop:

ProCo RAT pedal: Very generic-sounding distortion. Sounds ok, but lacks a unique sound.

BOSS Heavy Metal pedal (the orange & black one): Good EQ, you can cut the mids and boost the lows and highs for a "metal" tone - however, it really does not have enough gain.

Rockman (it's actually a 1/2-space rack unit): Tons of overdrive, but if you plan on using it as your primary distortion, it will give you a headache. It sounds exactly like Boston - and that in and of itself may give you a headache.

ADA MP-1 preamp: Good-sounding and versatile tube distortion, but not as much gain as people use today (nowhere near the level of gain as many amps now.

Answer 3

I don't know the specifics of it, all I know is that it's a Beringer with 125 options to program. All you do is press one button or a pedal once, step off, and you're on the next effect. Of course it just messes up the gain a bit and there's always some reverb on it.