I've got a Tube Screamer and think there might be another Distortion pedal out there with a different flavor that would be fun to have.  What do you think?

Dave,

Being a guitar player I don't think one can have too many distortion/overdrive pedals

I don't have a Tube Screamer anymore (had one 25 years ago but it was lost, stolen or sold - can't remember) but my primary overdrive is a Sin City Chilupa which reminds me of the old Tube Screamers. They are very hard to come by. Only 20 - 30 were every made by a guy in the Edmonton area. The only place I found these was in Yorkton Saskatchewan at a place called Freedom Sound.

Another favorite of mine is the Monte Allums OD-308. It is very transparent and versatile. I believe Monte modeled it after the original Proco Rat pedals, but it is much nicer in my opinion. You can get these as DYI kits or fully assembled when he has some in stock (www.monteallums.com).

Aside from that I have a Proco Rat (original), a Boss SD-1 (with a MonteAllums 808 and symmetrical mod) and a Boss Blues Driver (with the MonteAllums H2O mod). All of these pedals are great, even the Boss pedals come to life with the Mods installed.

What would I suggest to compliment a Tube Screamer? The Monte Allums OD-308 or maybe his newer Versa Drive, but I have not tried that one yet.

Good luck in your quest!

i love my barber direct drive super sport....

that said, what i'm finding i'm using more and more, and alone, is my fulltone fatboost III pedal.


it just gives you MORE of whatever you got going on.


any good clean boost will work.....
i happen to like the fulltone stuff.

barber has one too, but i've never used it.

unless you just WANT distortion......
on top of how ever hot you run your amp...

i've found that putting a good tube amp, into that 'crunch mode'... and then adding a big boost on top of that...
helps retain the original quality, but adds sustain, drive, and depending on the model you have, treble and /or bass cut or boost....

I've always been a fan of a tube screamer into a tube screamer.

+ 1 to " you can never have to many distortion pedals"
I have a collection of old Boss, can't remember the models but one is yellow, one is orange and one is red. Each is very different. I also have a
Jim Dunlop black  box ( JD11?) which is also very different. I have a cheapo Danelectro which is krap , And I have a very old broken Ratt I need to get fixed because of over usage.  I think the Ratt is/was my favorite.
Another very cool appliance I had once, and would like to replace, was a Marshall JM1? was a pre amp, rack mount, MIDI control and it did it all. It had the guts from a Valve State amp.

I've always been a fan of a tube screamer into a tube screamer.

Didn't SRV do that? I remember hearing about someone who did (or does).
 
The Boss DS-1 is an all around good distortion pedal, the OCD is another good one if you want to spend more money but I like the DS-1 a lot and tend to always go back to it. Most OD and Distortion pedals will complement each other because they are different. Another of my favorites (it is obviously a personal taste because it isn't as popular as I think it should be) is the Tech21 Comp-Tortion it is a quiet distortion and compression pedal, those two effects are usually noisy together. An old and slightly rare pedal I really like is the Jordan J-700, it will go from dist to fuzz. The J-700 will go from Spirit in the Sky to Rocky Mountain Way (or Funk 49) with ease. The Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster is a good pedal too. It has a three setting switch for a doble coil, P-90, and SC flavor... and I forgot to mention the Comp-Tortion has a 21db clean boost.
 
Back to the original question, my first choice would be the DS-1 without hesitation, for classic distortion. If you want more flavors and the choice to add some scooped mids etc the Jeckyll and Hyde is pretty good. I have a bunch-o-pedals. The DS-1 also sounds GREAT driving a tweed Champ, IMO.
I am a fan of that sort of cleanish distortion like the early Marshall plexi, Hiwatt, or Orange amps. I read an interview several years ago with Robin Trower. He was asked about his live rig and at the time was using Marshall JCM-800s and JCM-900s. He made the comment that with the 800s he used OD or distortion pedals but with the 900s he didn't need any.
I have a bunch-o-amps too but have never had a MESA Mark amp but I do admire the clean and overdrive, and distorted tnes of the Mark series and would probably jump on a Mark III if I got a good deal on one.
 
Julien

that said, what i'm finding i'm using more and more, and alone, is my fulltone fatboost III pedal.

 
batsbrew: I don't have the III, but I do have a FatBoost II. The moment I got the pedal it found a place on my board and has never been pulled. If I were only allowed to take one pedal to a gig, it would be the Fulltone FatBoost II  (unless of course I get a III and find I like it more). Good call on bringing mention to it!

RAT, if you can find an original all the better. It has the Marshall/Greenback edge sound, the Tubescreamer has the rounding amp break up tone. They work very well together if the rat drives the tubescreamer. I have them both on my pedalboard.

My Tube Screamer is the Vodka Mods modded version of the TS9DX.  It's a pretty awesome pedal.  That with a Barber Tone Press is a great combination.  If you reverse their order you can get totally different sounds which makes me wonder if there's a pedal that would do that.

Has anyone checked out the Ethos Overdrive?  I saw one on a friends pedal board in a Youtube video and he turned me on to what it is.  It sounds incredible but they're pretty proud of their product price wise.

the barber tone press (i have one) can be used as a class A clean boost.

it's not much boost, but it does it.


the fatboost III is like 5 times the boost!