Looking for boutiquey high-gain distortion pedal

Variable

Variable

Active member
I'd like a different flavor of distortion for the Guytron just to mix things up a bit. The pedal should be capable of chunky metal tones going through my clean channel. Quality is king here; I don't mind paying more if the sound is worth it. This is mainly to keep me from dropping massive coin on a new amp (or an Axe FX for that matter :LOL: :LOL: ).

I'm leaning more toward a modern, Mesa/Uberschall/Mako Dorado style distortion since my Guytron does the modded Marshall thing fairly well. I'm not looking to do the scooped brutalz or anything like that, so there should be good, natural midrange available in the pedal. Just something more toward a lower-midrange voice.

I've already tried the Blackstart HT-Dual and hated it, so that's one pedal you don't have to recommend :) It sounded like a blanket over the speakers when I tried it on a Budda SD30 last week, and killed a lot of the complexity inherent in the Budda. I guess the Blackstar flavor of distortion just isn't my thing.
 
hartman distortion, which is a proco rat clone. maybe a 30 year old pedal design but it can do everything from mildly broken up to thrash better than most modern pedals designed for high gain. very powerful tone control too, will go from scooped to batter your face in mids.
 
Variable":25i6ody6 said:
TeleBlaster":25i6ody6 said:
Krank Distortus Maximus
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Care to elaborate?
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I have one on my board and use it with a single channel amp.
I also have a Revolution Series One.
The DM pedal sounds better through the 2x12 cab I use for smaller stages than the Rev does through the same cab at mid level volumes.
I'm risking coming off as a fanboi here, but it is a really good pedal. I want to try it straight in to a power amp or powered monitor to see what
it will do, because it is almost like a preamp on it's own.
Has tons of headroom on the volume.
Balancing volume with it off on the single channel head, at mid level volumes, the Master is only about 2.5
EQ controls are responsive.
Decent crunch all the way up to squeally gain. I run it at about 7 on the gain, and that's pretty wet.
Modern aggressive sounding gain, but not too fizzy.
Responds well to the volume control on your guitar. You can back off and get it to clean up without losing too much volume.
Great feel, also acts like an amp when you throw a TS in front.

I was hoping to get a livable "second channel" out of my single amp for the jazz/pop orchestra thing that has some solos and rock guitar parts.
I was really blown away by how good it sounds and feels when playing.

I'm comfortable now just taking my board to the occasional "House Amp Only" type of venue.
Lots better than I thought it was going to be.
 
Suhr Riot will probably be a typical recommendation for what you want. However, I prefer the Digitech Hardwire Distortion (and Im a Suhr fanboy). When I A/Bd them I really though the Digitech sounded better. Im a tone snob so that was quite a shock to my ears. For less than $100, the Digitech is awesome.
 
EWSEthan":3vrk2ej8 said:
Suhr Riot will probably be a typical recommendation for what you want. However, I prefer the Digitech Hardwire Distortion (and Im a Suhr fanboy). When I A/Bd them I really though the Digitech sounded better. Im a tone snob so that was quite a shock to my ears. For less than $100, the Digitech is awesome.
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I'm not surprised.

the Digitech Chorus Factory is a giant-killer.


FWIW, I don't like the grainy, cold distortion of the CAA/CAE gear I've heard/owned. I don't miss my 3+SE at all. :aww: :aww: :aww:
 
guitarslinger":8n5fmky4 said:
EWSEthan":8n5fmky4 said:
Suhr Riot will probably be a typical recommendation for what you want. However, I prefer the Digitech Hardwire Distortion (and Im a Suhr fanboy). When I A/Bd them I really though the Digitech sounded better. Im a tone snob so that was quite a shock to my ears. For less than $100, the Digitech is awesome.
Click to expand...

I'm not surprised.

the Digitech Chorus Factory is a giant-killer.


FWIW, I don't like the grainy, cold distortion of the CAA/CAE gear I've heard/owned. I don't miss my 3+SE at all. :aww: :aww: :aww:
Click to expand...

+1 on the Hardwire pedals. The RV-7 is great!

I'll have to check out their metal pedal, especially since people really seem to be digging it.
 
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