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Cheap and nasty metal distortion ideas

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tfarny

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Hey guys: I'm playing a couple of songs at my next gig where I need a nasty chainsaw distortion. I have never owned an actual distortion pedal, only overdrives. Has anyone used the Danelectro metal pedals?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA04A0007UX3&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle3&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle3-_-Musical+Instruments+++Accessories-_-Danelectro-_-9SIA04A0007UX3
It's like $15.
Or this one for twice the price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA08L02P2836&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle3&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle3-_-Musical+Instruments+++Accessories-_-Danelectro-_-9SIA08L02P2836

If it sucks, maybe someone can suggest a very cheap one that will do the job?
 
I'm assuming that you want something noisy and microphonic? If this is the case, I find that fuzz pedals like the big muff pi (i like the one w/ tone wicker, it just has more options) have plenty of gain even for heavy metal, and then you use other overdrives, so you can just use it as a classic fuzz, and then when it's time for some nasty, push it with your other pedals. In my signal chain I go tube screamer (set with lowest gain/smooth and furry), pro co rat (gain set at point of breakup, ), big muff pi (generous amounts of gain), and then my nano signal booster (solo/volume/clean boost).
 
Have you done a search on Craigs list ? I find that there is always a plethora of used pedals for cheap on there.
 
a DOD / Digitech Death Metal is apt.  They're chunky on the bottom and very smooth on the top.
I'm partial to a boss metal zone with an equalizer after it in the chain..
 
Volitions Advocate said:
a DOD / Digitech Death Metal is apt.  They're chunky on the bottom and very smooth on the top.
I'm partial to a boss metal zone with an equalizer after it in the chain..
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2 votes Boss metal zone and 7 band eq, but if you've got a hot tube amp, a nice tube screamer with an overdrive will do nicely. Depending on how much metal you want.. :dontknow:
 
The other pedal that really does a huge sound is the Shred Master from Marshall.  I don't know if they are easy to get, I am planning on building a clone.  For a real world example of the sound, Radiohead's early chunk-uh-chunk-uh stuff was done though this pedal.  It is quite fun.  If you have the tube amp, and Boost or a Tube Screamer is a good way to get the thing to do a good metal sound.  If you want the old Death Metal buzzsaw sound, ala Entombed, a Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal with all the knobs cranked will do it.  I have one of those, and yup, it does it.  If you want the mythical Valnøtt tone, the HM-2 followed by the Ibanez Lo-Fi is a great way to bring the frigid sounds of icedemons to your Crate practice amp.
Patrick

 
Don't forget the Noise Gate in the chain, you start adding all that gain, especially with a tube amp you're gonna get alot of squeal, squeal like a pig.... :party07:
 
Aside from DBU's VooDoo pedal, this has got to be one of the coolest pedals I've seen..
front2.jpg
 
DangerousR6 said:
Aside from DBU's VooDoo pedal, this has got to be one of the coolest pedals I've seen..
front2.jpg
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is that a pedal? it does't look like there's a place to step on it anywhere
 
for 49 dollars you want a switch?


but you should hear the tone, that things screams blues all over it. now considering you are getting a real tube, that thing is a steal, just they are shipped from Hong Kong and have a 15 day shipping on them
 
You can't go wrong with any of the Danelectro because of their price, they would be my first choice even though I haven't heard them...
As far as used pedals I would go with DOD Grunge & Marshall ShredMaster (the original in the black box). Don't expect dynamics but they have lots of gain and they can be nasty!
 
Jusatele said:
for 49 dollars you want a switch?


but you should hear the tone, that things screams blues all over it. now considering you are getting a real tube, that thing is a steal, just they are shipped from Hong Kong and have a 15 day shipping on them
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I will bet all my monies that that's a starved-plate design and doesn't sound very special at all.
 
I bought a Boss DS-1 bog standard pedal, it seems to get the sound I need and it was pretty cheap. Boss does have some good pedals.
 
tfarny said:
I bought a Boss DS-1 bog standard pedal, it seems to get the sound I need and it was pretty cheap. Boss does have some good pedals.
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the DS-1 has character, and because it's a VERY common pedal, mods for it abound. If you get bored with it you can just Google "DS-1 mod"
 
I recommend the Wampler Vintage mod if you want it to be a marshal in a box. But if you want nasty metal, leave it the way it is.
 
I have a DeltaLab MD1, and it's okay for a cheap pedal.  I paid $29.99 for it at "Music & Arts" when it was on sale.  Normally, I think they go for about $49.99.  I wouldn't pay any more than $49.99 for it. 

It's pretty noisy.  You can somewhat dial your sound in, but it can get really "crashy," and IMO, it somewhat clips your overall sound.

It was worth the $29.99, as I've gotten it dialed to a point where it's an improvement over the sound of my crappy Crate G.212's distortion, but it's nowhere near the top of the line.

Over the course of the next few days, I will probably record something using it.  If it comes out sounding halfway decent, I'll post it.
 
Thanks but as I noted above I bought the Boss DS-1 which was cheap and is doing the trick very nicely.
 
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