Good standalone distortion/OD pedal for clean tube amp?

[bluesrockplayer77]

My Twin Reverb reissue is really clean so I can't simply turn it up to get the drive I need for some of the places I play at. My band covers some 80's/90's hard rock so I need a pedal that can give me about the amount of distortion that you would typically hear from that music. I've heard that modded Boss DS-1's or BD-2's sound pretty good, but I haven't heard or played through one myself so I'm not so sure about buying a pedal like that or similar just yet. Any suggestions or experiences with standalone dist./OD pedals? Thanks!

[Brad1]

Yeah, Twins aren't easy to get good ol' saturated distortion/drive out of it. They are way clean...and LOUD! I used to have one. She was beautiful, I loved her...but we just couldn't get along. She was just too loud, and wouldn't cooperate with any of my wishes. I had to boot'er out for a more cooperative mate who didn't mind whispering in my ear, as opposed to yelling into it!!

I've never had a modded DS1, but I have an original Japan one, and it is extremely smooth distortion. Like Satriani-ish. (I believe he used to use one?)

It seems a bit TOO 'tweezy' for most of the stuff I do these days, though. Plus, it doesn't seem all that 'dynamic' with how hard I play. I guess that's part of what something like a "Keely" mod addresses, though?

I've got about a dozen different distortion/OD/fuzz pedals (pawn shops and small music stores USED to be good places to get really good deals...until Ebay and Craigslist ruined that.) But the two I use most are the Ibanez TS9 and an old Marshall DriveMaster ($50, used, music store "Bargain Bin"). Depending on where I'm at, I'll use either my Marshall JCM800 (2203 with 6550 tubes) or my Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. (The Deluxe does break up a bit when up...without blowing everyone's eardrums.)

I've found those two pedals cover a lot of ground, at least with those two amps. Actually, with the tonal control the DriveMaster has, it's fairly easy to get a good "hard rock distortion" out of any of my amps. Unfortunately, the Marshall DriveMaster is no longer made. It has Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble and Volume controls, and you can squeeze a lot of good nasty tones out of it. I've never had the need to run it into the TS9 like this guy though: MARSHALL DRIVEMASTER - YouTube

Another: marshall drivemaster - YouTube

Anyway, with a Twin, unless you crank it to earbleed (and then it's not really THAT distorted), the "overdrive/distortion" pretty much has to come from a pedal. There are TONS of different distortion pedals, and very few sound (or feel) the same.

Could you run down to local music store with your guitar and Twin, have them put you in room, and let you try a bunch of different pedals? A lot of it will also depend on your guitar. if your playing humbuckers, you'll likely get breakup a bit earlier than single-coils? What guitar you play? Maybe they'll let you try them out at home, and return them to try others (if you keep them in brand-new condition? A guy in Denver let me do that, and I was careful, repacked it nicely, and even wiped it off before boxing it back up?)

Your tone-objective, with your amp, guitar and playing style, is extremely subjective and personal. You may get a lot of brands and models tossed at you, but it may be that only one or two will fit what you want. If you know any other players with pedals, maybe they'll let you plug theirs into your setup to give it a whirl?

If over-the-top is your goal, an original old brown large metal Danelectro Fab-Tone fits that bill. The squirrely thing about that pedal is that even on minimum drive, the thing is over-the-top...and goes from there! (Warning: To be used only if feeling extra aggressive!)

Anyway, with a Twin, I'd guess you may want to stay more withing the "distortion" branch or the family, and less in the "overdrive"...although pedal names can be deceiving...mainly because (especially) those 'boutique' pedal guys always have a twisted/mischievous sense of humor, always trying to futz with your mind, or get a chuckle with the name of their pedal! I believe "overdrive" is traditionally thought of as "a boost and a little extra dirt to put an already driven amp into overdrive", and a distortion is meant more "to give distortion to an amp that is relatively clean and can't do much more on it's own". A distortion 'generally' should make more 'distortion' then an overdrive...but it's not always the case, and there's nothing wrong with using a distortion on an already overdriven amp...if that's what you want. In other words, it's hard to get a stock Ibanez TS9 or DOD 250 to sound quite as smoothly distorted as a Boss DS1, or SD1...or whatever.

And keep in mind that the fewer tone knobs it has, the fewer tonal options you may have. So, it may sound good with only one or two combinations of settings, and be a dud on any other. (That's why I like that DriveMaster so much! Scooped mids? No problem...etc. The amp knobs normally stay put.)

With all that being said (and some likely to stir up some rebuttal), if you only need a limited palette on your paint board, then a single pedal may serve just fine. If you want a lot of different options, some of those multi-effects units are getting better at not sounding so cheezy. For the cost of two or three new Boss pedals, may be able to have a dozen, or more. But, that's just a thought. Personally, I don't really need one. The last "multi-effects" I bought was the old Yamaha DG Stomp...and I like it for recording some stuff...but never did take to it live. For the stuff I normally do now, the Hendrix wah, TS9, DriveMaster, old Maestro "Barbie Treadmill" phaser (slow-Speed, 1/4-1/3 Balls for chorus; 3/4 Balls, foot-controllable speed variation 'rotary' fakeout..I love it!) and Boss DM2 are all I need. (For the Deluxe Reverb. When using the Marshall amp, I'll also use the old Fender Reverb tank set to barely-noticeable for a bit of 'air'.)

ANYWAY...just some thoughts. Maybe a short list of some of the tunes you wish to use this on will get the gears turning in the minds of some of the mad geniuses in here? (And, what guitar you use? That can make a bit of a difference, if it's something like a Tele vs. a Les Paul.) What other pedals will definitely live with your new one? A lot of these guys are surely familiar with trying to "distort" a relatively undistortable (at a non-head-exploding volume) Twin, and may have some suggestions that will greatly narrow down the list of suggestions?

Good luck,

Brad1

[tedmich]

people love their TS9s, but I prefer my Siberian AMT Fataltube,
probably best to take the amp to a big store and try them out; its a complex system!
there are like a million OD Dist pedals out there many that cost more than a good combo amp!

I scan the owners reviews at HC for leads on mods and equipment

"Diamond Fireburst and Big Muff"
"Effects I use are (in this order) Zoom(cheapo) Volume, Korg tuner, Boss Ge-7 eq (used for clean boost), Crybaby Wah, Ibanez ts-9, Marshall Jackhammer (jh-1), Boss DD-6, and finally into the Holy Grail Reverb"
"Boss Metal Zone"
"Rat and Dime Distortion pedals"
"tube screamer in front of it"
"To get thick distortion I use a RAT pedal"
"I use various Fulltone units (not all at the same time!), specifically an OCD, GT500 and an FD2 "

So its the perfect amp BUT apparently requires a huge pedal train to get workable distortion and sustain; to each their own!