Well it's true a good amp will blow away any pedal, For gig's I just use a Boss tuner and my Fender Princeton. But in the studio one MUST have the toys.... I'm basically not alowed to play with that much distortion at gigs cause the people are so frif=gging old....I keep it at a "Blues" tone.
I have a very cool old Roland rack delay unit but if you put it in line it sucks my tone so bad. I need to figure a way to side chain it but my live mixer doesn't have a spare aux channel I can use. I'm tempted to by a little mixer just to service my guitar rig. Speaking of Guitar Rig,, there's a lot of wierd stuff in there too as far as overdrive goes. But alas, one needs a good computer and interface with low RTL.

IK Obi


Yeah it seems after you get over the pedal FX craze people like a guitar and amp. Simple set up with infinite possibilities!

I'm not sure if The Edge would sound the same though
 
Although I understand your point - in fairness, pedals have proven they are far beyond a craze! They have contributed to many great sounds over the years.
 
 

Agreed. Sometimes its nice to use pedals. :) Personally the 808 into an 808 sounds great as well.    

Hahaaaa, I was searching Google for more info on the Jordan J700 pedal and found my own post here.. lol. I still LOVE it. I have LOTS of OD and Distortion pedals but it is still my favorite though I have been running the SD Pickup Booster into it lately. I was looking at my pedals today and saw some I've been neglecting lately. The DOD FX100 Even Harmonic Overdrive, Bad Monkey (might be good into a TS), and the Blues Screamer... and a Vox Distortion Booster. EHX Big Muff Pi and English Muff'n. I need to play with my toys.
For straight distortion I think it is hard to beat a Boss DS-1. I have not run one into a TS because I don't have a TS and I'd want a vintage 808. and can't justify it. I did see a cool (IMO) pedal today when digging around online, a JHS Twin Twelve pedal. My first real amp was an all tube Silvertone 1485, it was stolen but I still have the foot pedal. This pedal sound's pretty good and makes me think I might want a 1482 or 1484. These amps sound REALLY good. The pedal might work well for what you're looking for Dave.
Hey, I'm sorry to post in a thread so old but it popped up and I couldn't help it! I've spent half a day looking at OD and Dist pedals, looking at YT videos, reading up on mods. I agree with the first answer, you cannot have too many dist/OD pedals.
J
 

These guys have an episode where they put different distortions before and after a tube screamer. Not sure if this is the one but you can check out other episodes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40iM9vqAIOg
 

The Boss DS-1 and Tube Screamer are a classic combo.  The DS-1 is relatively edgier, harsher, and crunchier than the smoother, bluesier Tube Screamer so they compliment each other nicely and give you access to a variety of tones by engaging them separately or together.  I'll set my amp clean and then separately set the DS-1 for a nice crunchy rhythm and the Tube Screamer for a nice bluesy lead tone.  That gives me access to a clean rhythm tone, a crunchy rhythm, a gentle bluesy lead and a liquidy, high gain lead if I engage the two together.  Both of these pedals are so popular that these tones are all very classic and familiar.  
 

Currently my analog signal chain starts out Fulltone Full Drive 2 (sounds like a TS to me) -> FT '69 -> FT Ultimate Octave -> Way Huge Fat Sandwich. The Full Drive can drive any of the other pedals. I also have a Tube Screamer and Big Muff Pi. My favorite is an Ace Tone Fuzz Master 2, but it's getting pretty old and I only use it for recording.

I always used a Boss Blues Driver in front of my Ibanez Tube Screamer with a crybaby before or after. It gave a lot of variations in distortion tone. The blues driver and the flanger were really the only two boss pedals I ever owned.

That link to a video that Mosvalve put up is for the U tube series "That Pedal Show".  Excellent viewing if you are interested in pedals.  These shows are packed with good information, laughs, and some wonderful guitar playing.  Highly recommended and it's free!
  Myself-  I have treated myself in my old age to a Mesa-Boogie Mark V.  I play straight into it (using a Rockcrusher) and just smile (at the tone, my playing not so much) most of the time.  I have a multi-FX from Line 6 if I wish to goof up the sound.   I can definitely feel the urge for those sweet little pedal boxes and their boards and their special power supplies. Then I do a quick calculation of cost and return to what I have.  The pedal industry must be worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year.