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a good dist. pedal for lead.

|-Release-||-Release-| Posts: 90
edited June 2004 in Musicians and Gearheads
hey, i have an avt50 and it gives me a lovely marshall crunch..however, when i need to solo, it doesn't pack enough punch and doesnt leave me with much sustain. my amp is capable of a good lead sound...but it would require me to change the EQ settings and i cant do that quick enough in a song obviously. so im looking for a good dist. pedal that would mainly be used for solos... think, metallica/alice in chains kind of thing. it'd be cool if i could use it for some heavier rhythm aswell but my main priority is that it delivers the goods with solos. think maybe a jcm800 lead tone? ie, billy corgan, pre-gish. i need suggestions. thanks in advance :).
seems that needlessly its getting harder
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Your saviourYour saviour Posts: 45
    i've got the same amp and i have the cheapest boss dist pedal, in my humble opinion it sounds great, i think you'll have to mess about with the eq whatever happens to get it just right, the marshall distortion pedals are excellent though if you want it right out of the box
    For every tool they lend us...
  • BinFrogBinFrog MA Posts: 7,309
    I use a few distortion pedals, but by favorite is the Akai Shred-O-Matic. Cheesy name, but full of features and great tones.
    Bright eyed kid: "Wow Typo Man, you're the best!"
    Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
  • solsurfrsolsurfr Posts: 207
    Originally posted by |-Release-|
    hey, i have an avt50 and it gives me a lovely marshall crunch..however, when i need to solo, it doesn't pack enough punch and doesnt leave me with much sustain. my amp is capable of a good lead sound...but it would require me to change the EQ settings and i cant do that quick enough in a song obviously. so im looking for a good dist. pedal that would mainly be used for solos... think, metallica/alice in chains kind of thing. it'd be cool if i could use it for some heavier rhythm aswell but my main priority is that it delivers the goods with solos. think maybe a jcm800 lead tone? ie, billy corgan, pre-gish. i need suggestions. thanks in advance :).

    Ibanez Tube Screamer or Boss DS-1
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    I use a barber direct drive in conjunction with a Keeley modded Rat2 in various positions depending on how much compression I want from it.

    We'll need to know what character you want to get really specific.

    I personally think the Boss Metal Zone is a good one simply for the tone shaping. you can get them around for fairly cheap used as well. If you are looking for a lead pedal tone shaping is fairly important, in an overdrive I'd rather do it from my amp. Toneshaping in the lead pedals let you customize what you get out of the pedal.

    One of the best around stone uses. The Fulltone distortion pro but be willing to shell out money + Mike Fuller can be an arrogant SOB as many pedal manufacturers are.

    check out http://www.fulltone.com

    http://www.zvex.com

    http://www.analogman.com

    http://www.robertkeeley.com

    and PM Telesonic before you buy a Tubescreamer. his version of the Ibanez TS-808 tubescreamer overdrive is one of the best I and several of the rest of us have played, combined with a fair price.

    also check http://www.musictoyz.com and http://www.pedalgeek.com for various other manufacturers models.


    It all depends on what you play.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • |-Release-||-Release-| Posts: 90
    i play a strat. and im looking to get both a quite dirty, big sustain, bitey lead tone (think maybe alice in chains solos particularly from facelift) and a classic 80's metal kind of thing. im looking into the marshall jackhammer, they market it as being a jcm800 in pedal-form or sommat like that and although they are exagerating, that is the general direction i am heading in...
    seems that needlessly its getting harder
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by |-Release-|
    i play a strat. and im looking to get both a quite dirty, big sustain, bitey lead tone (think maybe alice in chains solos particularly from facelift) and a classic 80's metal kind of thing. im looking into the marshall jackhammer, they market it as being a jcm800 in pedal-form or sommat like that and although they are exagerating, that is the general direction i am heading in...


    Yeah the Jackhammer and Guvnor are decent. Don't expect searing JCM 800 type crunch out of it though. no pedal is going to reproduce that sound exactly but if you are into the Jackhammer I think you should check out the boss metal zone and DS-1 (Distortion) as well especially the Keeley versions the one he did for Steve Vai is awesome and not to expensive.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • |-Release-||-Release-| Posts: 90
    out of ds-1 , jackhammer and the metal zone...which would you say is most tailored to my needs? i cant afford to spend much.
    also, i was told that the ds-1 is only decent for low gain and says too buzzy and thin at higher volumes?
    seems that needlessly its getting harder
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by |-Release-|
    out of ds-1 , jackhammer and the metal zone...which would you say is most tailored to my needs? i cant afford to spend much.
    also, i was told that the ds-1 is only decent for low gain and says too buzzy and thin at higher volumes?



    Most pedals are buzzy and thin at low volumes especially through practice amps.


    The metal zone with its parametric EQ is by far your best bet of the 3. It has the most compression (therefore sustain) and you can eq out the thinness not really possible on the DS-1 although if you don't have a whole lot of cash the DS-1 will suit you fine when used in conjunction with your amps own overdrive.

    Distortion pedals work best when they are combined. For instance my Rat is a nice crunchy pedal by itself. Combined with my Barber DD (Barber->RAT2) it really produces a nice high gain lead guitar tone.

    Before you buy any others you might try an Electro Harmonix Big Muff. It's not as focused as the metalzone but if you want sustain and lead tone thats it. They are used by generally everyone but if you want to hear the sound the Smashing Pumpkins used it alot on Siamese Dream.


    The general rule is try before you buy or at least make sure they have a return policy.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • djyman15djyman15 Posts: 181
    What Paco said. Billy Corgan used a JCM 800 with a Big Muff, if nothing else id love to hear what a big muff would sound like thru and AVT
    "Even if your heart would listen, I doubt I could explain"-Jimmy Eat World
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    How about a Graphic EQ pedal with boost? Boss GE-7?
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by mccreadyisgod
    How about a Graphic EQ pedal with boost? Boss GE-7?


    If you can find it, ex new of a guy who built a GE-7 "sniper" model. probably still out of the price range though.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
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