Question:
OK guys....
My friend built his own amp, an 18 watt clone. Now, he want's me to help him pick out a distortion box tonight at GC. So, we're taking his guitar, amp and speaker box to GC to listen to some boxes....I asked him (too late) to find me some clips of a sound he likes so I would know where to start....here is his response...
"I can probably quickly describe it. I don't think I'll have time today to do much clip hunting. Where would I look? I think I've got the compressed just breaking up sound. Now I need a fully saturated but not spongy, smooth, not bottom heavy but not too sharp on top either, fill-it-out kind of sound. Probably something like the newer Hillsong stuff with a little more high end. Sometimes you just gotta hammer out some power chords in a chorus to bring 'er home!"[/font]
I haven't used individual pedals in years....can you help me help him??
Thanks!
~Shawn
Answer:
i really like the tubescreamers. i own a TS-808, though that is a little pricey for some people. it's great for just about everthing short of heavy metal. you can get a nice raunchy sound out of it if you max it out, or you can go a bit lower to a nice growl. i love it.
Answer:
ts808 isnt a distortion its an overdrive and you can get a ts9 and cahnge 2 diodes and its a ts808.
I bought the mxr distortion plus and i love it i would try that one out.
Rembeer most pedals wont sound exactly perfect stock but they can always be modded.
Answer:
"I can probably quickly describe it. I don't think I'll have time today to do much clip hunting. Where would I look? I think I've got the compressed just breaking up sound. Now I need a fully saturated but not spongy, smooth, not bottom heavy but not too sharp on top either, fill-it-out kind of sound. Probably something like the newer Hillsong stuff with a little more high end. Sometimes you just gotta hammer out some power chords in a chorus to bring 'er home!"
With a lower wattage amp (what is it a clone of?), I've found that a tube screamer works well. you can set it to push the amp a little, add some gain, and since it has a mid range hump, it will also make the guitar stand out a little more. It also cuts a little bass...so that's covered also. He'll need to try it though. Might also try a flatter sounding OD or boost. A friend of mine has been raving over his BBE Boosta Grande, and I've always been very happy with my Blues Driver run as a boost.
If he is looking for more of a heavy distortion, might try a Rat or Distortion+, again, trying it with the amp.
Answer:
Coolio....it's a clone of the 18 watt marshall....I dunno that much about them...but there is a whole community out there forums and the whole nine yards for people who build the amps. There are also guys who like building them so much that they make a business out of it and sell them for ridiculous prices...
Answer:
with it being a marshall clone, don't know if I would still go with a Tube Screamer, that might be too much in the midrange. Would still tray a boost or flatter overdrive, and Rats and other "distortion" pedals would also probably work well.
What sort of amp kit is it? Sounds interesting.
Answer:
I would recommend a rat pedal. They sound really good for "hammering out power chords" and if he wanted another medium gain type thing, i would suggest the sd-1 super overdrive to push his "marshall".
Answer:
The Digitech Bad Monkey is also pretty good from what I hear, like a TS, just without the midrange hump.
Also check out the Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, for a good versatile pedal.
Answer:
Fulltone Distortion pro.
Answer:
Well...we spent a very long time trying stuff....and only made it through 3 pedals....a ts808 re-issue, a digitech distortion factory, and a radial tonebone 2 channel super duper thing-a-ma-bob with a *gasp* real tube! The Tubescreamer sounded best, then then the Digitech (still sounded "digital") and then the $350.00 tonebone. I think we are gonna get a kit and build a Tube Screamer, and save $90.00. The amp kit he built is a "Brown Note" http://www.brownnote.net/kits.html http://www.brownnote.net/Super_deluxe.html
It sounds really good, and is a lot of fun if you are into that sort of thing.
Thanks for your input guys!!!
~Shawn
Answer:
Originally Posted by guitarjockey111 ts808 isnt a distortion its an overdrive
distortion and overdrive are the same thing. overdrive just isn't as heavy. it's like ice and water, same thing, but slightly different.
and i'm glad you liked the tubescreemer, it's a quality pedal that you will like for years to come.
Answer:
It's more like hot water and cold water. Some peoples' distortions are other peoples' overdrive, and vice versa. To a point, there's just no difference between the two terms period.
Answer:
thats more of the analogy i was lookin for. ice and water just didn't seem right.