Best distortion pedal

Many newbies are asking if what is or are the best distortion pedal. Even I asked the same question a long time ago, simply because I have many reasons. I guess many newbies have similar reasons why they asked that certain question.

Reason #1. I don't have the budget to buy more than one distortion pedal.
Reason #2. I don't have a decent amp (tube amp), all I have is a hybrid.
Reason #3. I don't know which one simply because I want to copy the sound of my favorite guitarists.
Reason #4. I totally don't have any idea, because good sources of information like the Internet are not yet available.

These are some of the reasons, and I am definitely sure that there are tons more.

Anyway, choosing the best distortion pedal is not exactly based from your idea of copying others' tone. What I am trying to say here is, you must be creative. Create your own tones, and be unique. That is the first thing actually. After your struggle of creating your own sound you will then notice that you need a distortion pedal that you like. Well, at first I thought this was not possible, but you can actually try those ones in the music store. Alright, again I am saying this to you guys, "buy at least something half-decent guitar devices". The reason why is very simple, and it is they sound better "period".

Well, the store will let you test their pedal, of course, test them with a lot of care. If you break it then you will pay for it, so please be very careful. Now, if you don't find a pedal that will sound nice to your ear then go to the other store, then to another. Music is a continues search for almost anything with regards to it, so please be patient. This is true, and it happened to me back then.

If you find great one, then it is the best distortion pedal for you. Basically, every distortion pedal sound has distinctive tonality. Just make sure that the tone will match what you are up to. Guys, this is my opinion on how you will find the best distortion pedal, and I hope it helps.

Best boost pedal

This is really a question, and we (newbie) should know what to be picked precisely.

First of all, what is a boost pedal? A boost pedal is a pedal that pushes the guitar signal higher. At some point, guitar signal is boosted very hard, and it becomes distorted. These are the overdrive pedals, which do intend to do so. For rock and metal genres this is great, because they want that kind of thing. Some of the examples are like the Boss OD1 and MXR ZW-44.

On the other hand, there are also genres that want something else, which is the clean boost. For this, you can use a pedal that is made just for that. Actually, I know one, and it is made by Dunlop. It is the "Line Driver", and it is excellent for clean boosting. It gives a boost without coloring your tone. This is also great to place on your pedal board to minimize the signal lost along the path.

Now, how you will choose the best boost pedal? It is very simple actually, and it is up to you. If you are into a clean guitar type of genres, then you go for clean boost. Otherwise, you can go for the other pedals for distorted tones. There is no better way of doing your selection rather than testing them all yourself. Music stores do give chances to customers to feel their products. You can freely test all of them, and if you don't find one then say thank you and leave. This is the best way, and of course try getting at-least those half-decent pedals.

Metal guitar Tone | How it's done?

I know a little secret on how you can make your guitar sound metal. It is only a matter of being creative for what you have, like out from your stomp boxes. Well, you may say that you can easily buy a high gain pedal, and you can already have a metal tone. Yes, it is great. However, we need more than that. If you have a tube amp then it would be easy, all you need is an overdrive pedal, and you're done. You can do that, if you have the budget to buy a decent tube amp. This is a "newbie" site, remember? So I will show you how you can get a metal tone from half decent stomp boxes, and with a solid state amp.

First of all, you need a distortion pedal, and it would be best if you have a high-gain distortion pedal. Some of the examples are the distortion made by Boss, BlackStar and Electro Harmonix. Anyway, a high-gain pedal already has high-gain output. We all know that metal guitarists have this creamy and muddy sound, and we want to get that sound somehow. Of course, we cannot get that out from those pedals, but we can get close to that.

The next thing you will need is an overdrive pedal. An overdrive pedal is a boost pedal that will help push the signal. Good examples of overdrive pedals are the ones made by Boss, MXR BlackStar, Ibanez, etc. Put the overdrive pedal before the high-gain distortion pedal, then to the amplifier. This is similar to the image you are seeing below. If you have a Reverb and Delay pedal then it would be even nicer. All you have to do now is set the equalizer to the settings good to your ears.

From my point of view | The difference between Overdrive and Distortion pedal

A lot of beginners are asking what the difference between an overdrive and distortion pedal is. Basically, an overdrive pedal is adding little dirt to your guitar tone. On the other hand, a distortion pedal can give you a big amount of gain that will make your tone a lot dirtier.

An overdrive pedal is used to add a little dirt to the guitar tone or give a boost to an already dirty signal. For all we know, guitar amplifiers do have this crunch feature that will make your guitar sound dirty. You can use an overdrive pedal to boost the signal even more producing a creamy tone, and muddy tone for metal sounds. Of course, you need to first have an amp from those high-end ones. I am talking about those tube amps, and they actually produce great tones.

Anyway, the distortion pedal can give your guitar massive amounts of gain that will give your guitar a muddy tone as well. The tone will also be creamy but not that creamy as the combination of the tube amp and overdrive pedal. Most of the time distortion pedals are used on amps that are made with solid state components. I am talking about those solid state amps. They cost a lot cheaper compare to those tube ones. Well, it is your choice, and it is up to you to what you want actually. If you can produce great and distinctive sound out from a solid state amp then go on. By the way, experimenting is the best tool to lead you to your tone destination. 

Distortion pedal | Schematic

My early days of being so deeply interested in music, which until now I am, I was thinking of making some schematic diagrams of some of the popular guitar pedal effects. Well, until now I am still making that certain thing, and I was just searching for ways on how I can share them to guitar stomp boxes' die hard fans.

Now that I found a great way, I am sharing them to you. Of course, I will be giving them one by one because I am still checking each of them if they will pass the oscilloscope.

Anyway, many newbies are looking for quality distorted sound. They want their guitar to sound dirty even if they only have a cheap but nice guitar amp. Surely, you can do that by using a distortion pedal. A distortion pedal is a stomp box that will give your guitar a massive amount of gain. Distortion pedals actually act as saturated valves that gives those creamy and muddy tones. Different manufacturers do have different tonal qualities for distortion. The best way to find one is by going to the music store, and testing the pedals. (I can't give you reviews of them right now, because I am still lacking of resources.) Well, testing them pedal to pedal will give you ideas on what are their differences. Many guitar players do this actually, and it is the best known way of doing so. Okay, so I have given you details on how, and I hope this help you guys out there.

Right below is an image of a schematic diagram of a good distortion. I managed to get one, and I have drawn its schematic. I know that many of you like to have one, "the cheaper way", so here it is. All you have to do is go to the electronic shop and buy those components, enjoy!!!