Zvex Distortron

[Unadan]

Having had a Zvex mastotron for several months, which by the way is a great sounding silicon fuzz, has got me interested in the Distotron. What's the feeling here on the Distortron? Is it pretty flexible like the masto or is it basically a box of rock in a different enclosure?

The PGS demo of the distotron has me thinking this box sounds a bit like a fuzz somewhat similar to the mastotron.

 

[Bucksears]

I've heard that it's the Distortron is just the non-boost side of the BOR, with an added HI/LOW gain switch (low being the BOR gain) and a 3-way 'subs' switch to change the low end.
I built a BOR clone, modded it to Distortron specs and it's still too fuzzy for me; YMMV, though.

 

[archtop]

had one for a while. It was an excellent classic rock kinda sound. Yes, it's a box of rock without the boost. I felt the hi gain range was useless for me, but the subs switch was very useful... and it's a feature the box of rock doesn't have.

 

[CWFurst]

I kind of wish Zvex would have just put that feature on the Box of Rock. Maybe one day...

 

[Unadan]

had one for a while. It was an excellent classic rock kinda sound. Yes, it's a box of rock without the boost. I felt the hi gain range was useless for me, but the subs switch was very useful... and it's a feature the box of rock doesn't have.

What led you to unload it? The high gain issue?

 

[sleepyone]

had one for a while. It was an excellent classic rock kinda sound. Yes, it's a box of rock without the boost. I felt the hi gain range was useless for me, but the subs switch was very useful... and it's a feature the box of rock doesn't have.

this description pretty much summarizes it all; I have one and I love how natural it sounds, very amp like

 

[Godspeed64]

Excellent pedal, not pricey and 'more' usable than the distortion side of the BoR. If the BoR had the distortron as it's distortion side, it would sell like hotcakes.
The Subs and Gain toggles are a big bonus.

 

[archtop]

What led you to unload it? The high gain issue?

I compared the Tim to the Distortron with my JTM50, and felt that while both sounded excellent, the Distortron sounded a bit more generic while the Tim was more ambiguous... less like a parody of AC/DC. I would buy a Distortron again, it's just not the sound I'm after right now.

 

[Unadan]

So is the Distortron a bit too cliched sounding? Too AC/DC? It seems like you would be able to tweak this thing to sound different from that.

 

[Overdriver18]

I've used it and thought that it was 'meh'. It wasn't terrible, actually, it was well designed and was a pretty good sounding pedal, it was just kinda boring and uninspiring. Certainly had a good amount of gain though.

 

[KBN]

So is the Distortron a bit too cliched sounding? Too AC/DC? It seems like you would be able to tweak this thing to sound different from that.

I am running a Distortron with a Hiwatt and while I can get some AC/DC tones if I want them it is more flexible than that. I find it to be most flexible in the lower gain setting and running into an amp that is on the edge of break-up. I like it quite a bit.