DISTORTION PEDALS

I have a ZOOM 505 effects pedal for my guitar. It has some decent effects, but I want some REAL distortion. Everyone always says "Get the BOSS Metal Zone" and I've played with one before. I think they aren't the best. I was thinking about getting a Marshall JackHammer. What are all your thoughts?

REAL distortion comes from the amp, not a stinkin' pedal...

I used to think tone would be in the effects I bought. Get a great guitar, a good amp, a cord, and turn it up to ten... (or to eleven if you have the chance to own a spinal tap signature model)

Ok, so what do u mean by the amp? Like, what kind of amp would you recommend? Sorry, I know I sound dumb.

well, it seems you want heavy metal distortion right? Try the Peavey 5150 combo, or the JCM 900 Marshall combo, they sound great...

K, thanks. So, I'm assuming these are built-in distortion effects on the amp.

I have a quick question u might be able to answer. What causes distortion? I know that it's basically just something that "distorts" the sound of the guitar. But how does it do it? I mean, could I possibly make my own type of distortion? Thanks again.

distortion is actually something that is NOT wanted in amplifiers. But guitar players found that this default sounded good.
When you make a guitar string move, and you amplify it, you should get the same sound, right? Well you can never amplify without coloring a little. If you amplify a lot (more than what the amplifier can) the sound will still go through the same devices, that will have to leave some clips of the sound out of the speaker. That's distortion. Usually, we say that tube amps have a smoother distortion because they tend to smooth out how they cut the clips of the sound they leave out.

(ps: I have used a very schematic way of explaining it without physics or whatever, but if you have what it takes, some people here can write you a book about distortion)

Not to sounds argumentative. As I love the sound of amp distortion, but i found that a pedal cleans the sound up a lot. Or it could be just me that sucks when it comes to amp settings. But with pedals you can change the sound with a quite flick of the foot as well. But what would I know, I just play the guitar.

Play a tube amp REAL loud, you'll see what I mean...
(by loud, I mean the store clerk loses his temper, or the neighbours move in another part of the city)

Amp distortion just tends to sound nicer. But pedals are a cheap fix(at least for me they were) till you get to buy a nice amp. However, there are people who swear by using nothing but pedal distortions, and that's cool. There are no rules when it comes to finding your sound. Whatever sounds best to you, is what you should play through.

As for advice on pedals, I can say that the Jackhammer does sound nicer than the MetalZone.(IMHO) But just go to a shop, and try everything, you'll probably find something you like.

Originally posted by TimE.
Ok, so what do u mean by the amp? Like, what kind of amp would you recommend? Sorry, I know I sound dumb.

It sounds like you are into some heavier rock or maybe metal tones. If you like that kind of sound,(IMHO), may I make a suggestion? I have as one of my amps, a "Crate GFX-212". It's has 120 watts, two 12" speakers, and has 3 channels. A clean channel and two overdrive channels. The no.2 O.D. channel is a "Killer"! If you like to shred, that's the ticket. Also, if your on a budget(and what guitar player isn't), you can get a new one for around $400. It's a real powerhouse too. The only thing I did to mine to modify it was add two Celestion G12T-75 speakers to it. This is just a suggestion. It all depends on what kind of music you are going to play with it.

Damn. Thanks guys, a lot. You all have helped me out a ton. Oh, lalicamefolle, I found out how to create distortion when I tried recording my guitar on the computer. I plugged the guitar straight into the sound card of my old computer and recorded it with the mic volume all the way up. The sound ended up being a vintage distortion that would cut out with too much bass. LOL.

But thank you all. I'll go music-store surfing and test out some of this stuff. I play a Vox tube-amp that doesn't have any overdrive on it so I play that ZOOM pedal through it. It does have a very smooth sound. I'm also gonna have to check out that Crate GFX. Thanks for the advice Aiwass. And you were all correct at assuming I want heavy metal sounds (I can create a lot of the other sounds with that ZOOM). Thanks.

My Peavy amp's distortion is all right but I love my Carvin distortion pedal and my Danelectro Whammy pedal with distortion in it.

I have a zoom 505. it's cool. The first one I got. Now I have a GNX 2 but I usually end up using my Zoom on gigs. It ain't great but I still think it's a solid pedal in the low range market. But my point is I think amps have better didtortions but I prefer pedals because you can turn them off and edit with your foot. So if you are going for an amp make sure it comes with a pedal. Otherwise live gigs will suck. But if you ask me the Metal Zone sounds real good and is verstital. I the jackhammer is sucky but I've only heard t from demos off the net. But I think the coolest solution is either get a dist pedal and use with Zoom 505 or get a Digitech GNX2 or RP2000.

I have BOSS DS1 and I´m pleased. A very good pedal (Vai & Satch are using same ones) and the price is outstanding. About 40-50$ Pretty cheap. It´s much 80-s sound over it and I like it. But if you play too heavy music, than it´s nothing for you. Dist is pretty clean so it´s very good for shredding as long as you have none tone our just a little bit. I like it much more than BOSS Metal Zone.

I think (on BOSS DS1) having tone on 1-2, dist at 7 and playn´ on rythm (Gibson/Epiphone Guitars) gives very good shred sound. Together with a little bit wah-wah (just a little bit) is amazing. Of course playn´ chors on rythm sucks. But than I swich to lead to get it brighter and heavyer.

My opinion.