Analogman DS-1 or MI Crunch Box

[chrisrbr]

Hey Everyone,
I currently have a FD-2 Mosfet, which I love for low to med gain stuff. (I play the typical cover band-party rock stuff, strat, homebrew single-ended EL34 based amp, FD-2 modded with third switch for variable volume boost-solo button).

Need a higher gain pedal for more modern distortion sounds. Analogman DS-1 or Crunch Box? Or do I go with something like a GuvNor---don't flame me for that.
Can use an EQ if needed--do a scooped mids thing for that muddy modern sound if needed

Not sure if I need to venture closer to the Fuzz side of life, maybe a Fuzz and a dist????

thanks for any and all ideas

[chrisrbr]

anyone?

[XKnight]

I just got rid of my Crunchbox in favor of a Cat's Eye Mutha Fuzz. It's a distortion pedal with a hint of Fuzz and stacks great with other pedals too. I liked the Crunchbox, but just got bored of it.

Another pedal I'd recommend if you want distortion and fuzz is the Freakshow Brown Rabbit, which is a Rat clone with true byass and a 3 way toggle for more diverse tones.

I actually have a Analogman DS-1 in the mail, so I can't compare it to the Crunchbox yet

[auratnik]

I have CB and Analogman DS1 and prefer Analogman in band situation because it's more articulate, remaining fat and clear, a true hard rock machine. CB is just the sweetest distortion that everyone should have.

[XKnight]

Well, my Analogman DS-1 arrived later this afternoon and I just had a chance to mess around with it. Here are my impressions versus the Crunchbox. I can get very similar saturated hard rock sounds from the DS-1 (think EVH Runnin' with the Devil). Overall, I like the DS-1 better because it is a much more versatile pedal than the Crunchbox. Also, the Analogman mod is a big improvement over the stock DS-1 I use to have.

[chrisrbr]

any feel for which of these pedals might be able to fake a dual rect sound, (yeah I know, get the amp to do that, but for a couple of songs just to get near that "feel" of that sound)

[homestar_kevin]

I went with CB in this situation and have never regretted it. It's an awesome, solid pedal that is very natural, almost amp like, more than any ds1

[Twin63]

any feel for which of these pedals might be able to fake a dual rect sound, (yeah I know, get the amp to do that, but for a couple of songs just to get near that "feel" of that sound)
Maybe someone that owns an MI Audio Tube Zone could chime in. It appears to be a very versatile low to high gain pedal. I've heard that the distortion is Mesa-like. There are sound clips on MI Audio's website.

[Axekisser]

Don't have the CB but I just got a DS-1 and modded it with the Monty Allums Triple rectified Mod and it sounds great! Stacks well with my Hotcake, BYOC Screamer, modded LavaBox, and my Butler Tube Driver. Very smooth sounding mod but can bite you if it's cranked. The DS is very similar to the Rat in that they both have the clipping section on the op-amp output going to ground. Might be an option for you.

[Deuterium]

Analog MAn DS-1/Pro with midrange mod for the win !

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/Deuterium/P1010037.jpg

[geetarboy]

Check out the Mad Professor Mighty Red Distortion. It rawks.

[Sasha P]

I have both. the analogman boss ds-1 has nice medium to somewhat high gain. Very open and crisps, good balance with tone pot. But just a little too bright, goes great with a darker bridge HB and a darker amp.
The MI Cruchbox has a more pleasing distortion, but it's more compressed and just a little bit darker and muted. More fun to play with, but you need a brighter rig w a little extra presence.
Both pedals sound much better with a boost pedal. The DS-1 with a full boost for more bottom end and a Crunchbox with sparkly type boost. (The on-line MI Crunch box sound clips are pretty dead on)
Good luck

[Hamer95USA]

Hey guys,

Being the proud owner of the Analogman DS-1 Super mod & an MI Audio Crunch Box, I found the Crunch Box to be a more tight sounding with more compression, gain and a better tone control. I found my Analogman DS-1 Super mod to have a better tone control & less noise than stock, but found the DS-1's tone control to be somewhat loose sounding in the bottom end. It does have a somewhat fatter tone at the expense of being tight. The Analogman DS-1 Super mod seems to work better with some amps than others. I still like them that much that I kept both in my distortion pedal collection.

Guitar George

[aarondavis]

Check out the Mad Professor Mighty Red Distortion. It rawks.

I too have a more vintage, open sounding rig (TopHat used with a Lovepedal Eternity 80% of the time). But need a heavier sound for some gigs that run from James Brown to Breaking Benjamin.

You know what... I bought a MRD for the exact requirement as the OP. IMO it is clearly the same circuit foundation as the BJF Dyna Red (which I also have, and is the best distortion pedal I've ever encountered). The MRD defintly has a slightly heavier sound than the DRD. If you want an extremly realistic, high gain tube sound the MRD is hard to beat. But it's not as "heavy" sounding as the Keeley DS-1 I borrowed to see if it met my requirements better than the MRD (funny how we're thinking the same here).

If you have a darker amp (cause the DS-1 has a crisp high end) and want a bit more scoop in the mids a quality modded DS-1 would be hard to beat. If you want to use an EQ to shape the pedal for a heavier sound (what I will do too!) the MRD would be my top choice, but it aint cheap ($289 new).

[Alex Law]

I find that I like to have box a Crunch Box and an 80s DS-1 on my board at the same time. They're very different sounding pedals; both similarly high gain, but the CB is very amp-like, whereas the DS-1 sounds like a DS-1. :)

For what it's worth, I prefer the made-in-Japan DS-1 to the modded Taiwan versions.

[chrisrbr]

wow, that's gotta be some pedal for $289. specially since it's just a single channel, 3-knob guy,
could do a CB and a modded DS-1 for that and more.
(it's always too much to ask for an amp/effect board to do James Brown to Breaking Benjamin--I have the same issue--my role is to try to emulate the general feel of the song rythmically.---fun trying though!)
then the gig comes and all those nuaunces I strived for are lost in the mix--and all I want is dist, more, and solo.
I think an EQ will give me some more flexibility, almost like doubling the number of all my existing sounds.

[Deuterium]

Hey guys,

Being the proud owner of the Analogman DS-1 Super mod & an MI Audio Crunch Box, I found the Crunch Box to be a more tight sounding with more compression, gain and a better tone control. I found my Analogman DS-1 Super mod to have a better tone control & less noise than stock, but found the DS-1's tone control to be somewhat loose sounding in the bottom end. It does have a somewhat fatter tone at the expense of being tight. The Analogman DS-1 Super mod seems to work better with some amps than others. I still like them that much that I kept both in my distortion pedal collection.

Guitar George

That's why I ordered my Analog Man DS-1/Pro with the external midrange adjustment modification.

[fusionid]

funny,
Im looking to replace my Analogman DS-1. I think it sounds good and actually like it for the high gain. Problem is my flexi doesnt
I was hoping the CB can do the DS-1 thing better and make my flexi happy :BOUNCE
this is because the DS-1 has a high gain a la fuzz that is pronounced with the flexi. Nope Im not selling the DS-1, just not gonna be on the board, thats all

[89strat]

I had a chance to play through a crunchbox with my deluxe reverb and a les paul with the band last week at gigging volume. I've never owned the ds-1, but the crunchbox is really a one trick pony, as been said before. But man does it Rock! Rythm, leads, etc... I play in a studio sometimes were they have a nice old jcm 800, and this box just nails it.

[Waxhead]

I have a Crunchbox, an FD2 & an MXR EQ running thru a Mesa amp. They're a great combo for a wide variety of different overdrive & distortion flavours.

The Crunchbox nails the cranked Marshall JCM800, JCM900 and Plexi tones. If you like that flavour of distortion get it. Nothin beats it. If you don't like that Marshall tone move on. Simple. THe Crunchbox does not do American style Mesa distortion. My amp does that so that's why I got a Crunchbox. The Crunchbox can also be easily turned into a great hardcore metal pedal by mid scooping it with a good EQ pedal.

[Hamer95USA]

That's why I ordered my Analog Man DS-1/Pro with the external midrange adjustment modification.

Hey Deuterium,

I'm glad to hear ou got the DS-1 Pro/midrange mod. Analogman didn't offer it when I had my DS-1 Super mod done a couple of years ago. I might buy a used MIT DS-1 pedal and have the DS-1 Pro/midrange mod installed on it to see what it sounds like.

Guitar George