Pedal Recommendations for "this" sound . . .

[traynor_garnet]

I am looking for higher gain pedal for those rare situations when I play stuff a bit heavier. In terms of dirt, the pedal should cover EVH to 90s grunge (Foo Fighers, Weezer etc). Here are the criterion:

1.) Doesn't cost a fortune. I'm not demanding dirt cheap, but I don't want to spend hundreds.

2.) Isn't huge. This is a "rare use" pedal so I cannot dedicate a massive room of real estate.

3.) Ideally, it would have top loaded jacks because almost all my other dirt and fuzz have top jacks. This is hardly a deal breaker though.

So, any suggestions? Again, please keep the criterion in mind (I know a Bogner Red might work, but it doesn't fit with terms 1 and 2).

Thanks for any suggestions,
TG

 

[traynor_garnet]

Wow, I know I just posted this this morning, but nothing?!

 

[telecasting]

A Rat perhaps?

 

[NHBluesMan]

some form of Rat comes to mind, fits all your criteria, Foo Fighters use them, top mounted jacks, it's not exactly 'huge' by most standards, top mounted jacks... yup, sounds like it'd be right up your alley

 

[dirk_benedict]

What guitar/pickups are you using? IMHO it will greatly affect your choices.

 

[MogwaiBoy]

INB4 the Elements 2nd hand suggestion

 

[traynor_garnet]

Thanks guys.

For guitars, mostly a 2013 American Strat with Lollar Blondes.

As for the RAT, I had thought of that. I used to have one but I found my Fulltone Soulbender could cop some of my favourite RAT tones. Of course, the RAT does things the SB cannot . . .

Are the turbo rats etc pure garbage? I have owned an 80s rat and the early 90s RI Big Box.

 

[NewDr.P]

mi audio crunchbox. easy to dial in and hard to make sound bad. its a little more middle of the road in terms of a marshall emulation compared to catalinbread and xotic dirt pedals and more of a general good distortion pedal tone. and i mean that in the nicest possible way as i dont believe theres a dirt pedal that doesnt sound totally fake next to amp distortion.

 

[krz4fx]

Have you tried the Suhr Riot? J. Rockett Animal?

 

[guitarslinger21]

1st thought = rat

also, turbo rat is definitely NOT garbage. That said, I prefer the regular rat. It seems more musical and less noisy to my ears.

2nd thought = Barber DIrty Bomb. These are criminally underrated and SUPER SUPER CHEAP on the used market. I've seen them going for $60, and they sound incredible. Kind of like a more Marshally sound somewhere between the Bogner Red and a Rat. VERY versatile.

 

[dirk_benedict]

Sorry to be negative, but my honest opinion is that a classic strat single coil isn't going to get you that sound, and it's going to be noisy as all get out with a hi-gain pedal. You'll maybe get enough gain but it's not going to be what you after. My typical experience with the Rat, Rat derivatives, and typical Marshall-in-a-box pedals that I tried was that the gain dimed was just south of what I was after.

All those bands you mentioned are humbucker sounds and once you get a humbucker you can get in the ballpark with about 100 different OD/Dist pedals.

All that said, and having going down a similar road myself in the past couple years with an AVRI strat with stock pickups, I've settled on a JBjr bridge pickup (single coil sized humbucker) and a Barber Dirty Bomb as my high gain pedal. Very pleased with this set up.

The second option I'd check out would be an Amptweaker Fat Rock. The "tight" control on those pedals really works wonders, and the "Fat" version was designed for single coils. The regular Tight Rock is also great, but I found it too bright with my Fender/Fender setup. Either of these pedals have an FX loop onbaord, so you can throw an EQ pedal in there to really change the character of the sound. If you don't want to change out your bridge pickup (and I wouldn't blame you since this is an occassional thing and you have awesome pickups), this might another option to consider. Doesn't fit your #2 and #3 criteria I'm afraid.

YMMV of course...just sharing some of my tedious experience in this realm. I easily churned 25 during this process.

 

[KoskineN]

Wampler Super Plextortion. Sounds great for what you want IMO, not top loaded jacks though. You can find one used for $150 max.

 

[James M]

I'd second the Suhr Riot...great pedal.

 

[Kev O)))]

Rat would be a good choice but the tweak ability of a Way Huge Fat Sandwhich may be better.

 

[ToneGuy007]

JHS Charlie Brown or Angry Charlie (I have the Angry)

 

[wyldesigns]

RAT

 

[Filter428]

A reasonably priced miab is an HAO Rust box. And it sounds good. For higher gain an earlier post mentioned Barber pedals. They're very good and not too expensive. Have you tried any of the newer MXR's out? Tone Freak? MI Crunch box? Maybe even a Boss Dist? That may be your best best. The new DOD 250's are supposedly pretty good from what I've read.

 

[traynor_garnet]

Sorry to be negative, but my honest opinion is that a classic strat single coil isn't going to get you that sound, and it's going to be noisy as all get out with a hi-gain pedal.

All those bands you mentioned are humbucker sounds and once you get a humbucker you can get in the ballpark with about 100 different OD/Dist pedals.

No problem, I appreciate the comment. I do have an LP guitar around but my Strat is my main guitar.

I know it is hard to get a ton of dirt out of my Strat, but my Danelectro Fabtone offers up insane amounts of gain. It actually sounds pretty good but I am looking for something else.

For now, the RAT is sure looking tempting again, but I will check out the Barber too.

 

[Bossk]

Digitech grunge pedal. Lulz.