Transparent, low gain distortion

[jacoby75]

Hey guys,

I've been searching for a little bit now for a certain sound I have in my head from overdrive pedals, but I think what I might be looking for is more of a distorted sound. Transparent, warm, but hard clipping. When you push most overdrives to get hard clipping, or more gain, the just get fizzy. I'm thinking of trying a distortion.

Would you recommend a distortion that would give me that hard clip on a low gain setting, and remain warm and transparent? Or I have also considered a fuzz like the Fulltone '69, which sounds good on low gain settings. It would only be low-mid gain for worship music at church. What I don't want is something that would give me a plexi tone or a marshall stack tone, coloring my tone a lot (like the Zvex Box of Rock which I bought but didn't keep, or the MI Audio Crunch Box, which didn't do low gain at all. It was essentially off to too much clipping). I'd like it to maintain the tone of my guitar and amp (fender hot rod deluxe) but give me some smooth hard clipping.

Thanks

 

[On a Budget]

what guitar and amp combo?

 

[guitargod2u]

wampler euphoria in open setting sounds right up your alley

 

[jacoby75]

Guild Blues 90 with p90's into the clean channel of a fender hot rod deluxe.

 

[jacoby75]

This would essentially be my 3rd stage drive. Rhythm guitar only. No lead.
Stage 1: TC Spark Boost with a little gain dialed in.
Stage 2: fulltone fulldrive 2, non-mosfet.
Stage 3: ?

 

[Jules-RM]

Your better off looking in a fuzz direction.. Something like a BA Futureman or BAT Black Forest.

 

[jacoby75]

I should also mention I'm on a budget because I only play in church and don't make any money doing it, so I can't justify spending a lot of money we don't have.

 

[On a Budget]

I really liked my Boss OD3 with a HRDlx, most distortions I've owned seem to be aimed at the marshall sound, thats good for me cause I like that. The Od3 had a good Eq and a grainy texture it. Also maybe a red Llama i really that though my HRDlx, again it kind of a grainy drive that IMO plays really well clean channel on that amp.

 

[hairshirt]

Way Huge Pork Loin. At least with my AC15. HRDx may be different.

 

[jacoby75]

Grainy would be a good way to describe what I'm looking for. All of these terms are subjective, but "grainy, crunchy, gritty". Just not "fizzy, or ts9-ish". I've got the fulldrive for ts9-ish sounds. The only other screamer that I've liked, which I've only heard demos of, and one of my favorite guitarists uses, is a cusack screamer.

 

[XKnight]

A good Rat like a Whiteface Reissue at a low distortion setting will get you where you want to be. A Klon Clone like the Soul Food will do the trick too, but the Rat will have more grit at lower drive/distortion settings.

 

[thedroid]

I also like a Colorsound Overdriver clone.

 

[OliveBridge]

I keep recommending these pedals these days: The MI Audio Super Crunch Box and Super Blues Pro. You mentioned the Crunch Box, they came up with a new one that's much more versatile, but I feel you on the old one -way too heavy. The Blues Pros might be right for you though, and even the Crunch Box now may be worth a look at with the changes they've made to it.

Edit: I just read you don't want a Marshall tone, so the Blues Pros would be better.

 

[GenoBluzGtr]

to me your description sound like a Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret Mk III if you want more gainy tones.... or a Zvex Box of Rock for more 'amp-like' organic drive sounds.

 

[eknapier]

Fetto custom

 

[jacoby75]

I like the Fetto custom, only because I love Boba Fett. (That's right. I'm a nerd). I never heard of that one before, but I'll look into all of them. Thanks for all of the suggestions, guys! Keep 'em coming!

 

[Noise Under The Floor]

Look into pedals from Barber or Rockett.

 

[snow and steel]

A used Bad Monkey will do exactly what you need, obtained on ebay for $30 +/-.

 

[jacoby75]

Anybody tried a Keeley modded Boss DS-1? Does it totally color the tone to make you sound like RATT? I kind of like what I'm hearing in the videos, but I want my guitar to still sound like my guitar. Not like an 80's ESP.

 

[Noise Under The Floor]

Anybody tried a Keeley modded Boss DS-1? Does it totally color the tone to make you sound like RATT? I kind of like what I'm hearing in the videos, but I want my guitar to still sound like my guitar. Not like an 80's ESP.

DS-1 and "transparent" are two terms that don't go together, not even Keeley modded.