Can someone tell me, in detail the difference between the three? And also, what is boosting in detail? Thanks.

By the 50s, rock 'n' roll guitarists discovered that, by pushing the amp to its max (Read : Turn the volume knob to 11), the amplified sound would sort of clip. However this clipping was much favoured by guitarists as the valve/tube tends to produce a sweet sound even after clipping. As amplifier technology continues to improve, guitarists started getting amp distortion that has more gain.

The problem is, to get that natural distortion, you have turn your amp up to 11, which is extremely loud if you have a 100-watt plexi into 2 4x12 cabs! So stompbox manufacturer starts inventing pedals that emulates this natural distortion/overdrive sound at a much human level. However when the first pedals were made in the 60s, it didn't nail the sound of an overdriven amp completely. It wasn't a failure though, as it became what is known as fuzz pedals today. Fuzz pedals does what the name says... fuzz! The sound's very fuzzy, highly distorted and sometimes muddy. Hendrix was one of the famous fuzz users, check out his live gigs or Purple Haze for that famous fuzz face sound. Today, there're various fuzz pedals around, from the classic germanium fuzz to the modern fuzz that are used by various metal bands.

Now for overdrive. eventually the manufacturers nailed (Or almost) the overdriven amp sounds. This is where overdrive/OD pedals come in. Generally when plugged into a clean amp, OD pedals don't bring much gain/clipping to the sound. So, guitarists prefer to use them with an already overdriven amp, either to provide more gain or as a solo booster, or both.

Distortion pedals are only a bit different from OD pedals as they provide more gain and less transparent. They're sound best when plugged into a clean amp. You can hear the classic Boss DS-1 on nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Hope that detailed enough for you.

u can check out some website ... such as the behringer, boss ... got to their effects pedal / stompbox...listen to them

Led_Zep pretty much nailed it....... we should have this as a sticky or something...... too many people asking the same questions.... maybe we should elaborate in what brand offers what..... I'll make a short list of MXR/Jim Dunlop products...... feel free to add

MXR/Jim Dunlop
(http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products)

Fuzz:
JD-42 Original Fuzz face

Overdrive:
ZW-44 (Zakk Wylde Signature Overdrive)
MXR GT-OD (Custom Shop)
MC-402 Boost/Overdrive

Distortion:
DD-11 (Dime Distortion)
M-104 Distortion+

i have a little doubt here...can i pair an OD pedal with a standard distortion pedal to act as a booster? or will it destroy the sound completely?

Wouldn't destroy....... but you might get a gain that's too heavy for anyones taste.......But again, the first rule in pedal planning, is there ARE NO RULES. If it works for you.. great.

so are there any other pedals that can act as a booster for my solo? i wanna have different sound when playing riffs and solos...so that my riffs and solo won't sound the same..

you're asking the wrong person.
for sure hes gonna recommend the ZW-44 or Boss SD-2 for booster
its all in what you want.
some ppl just use a simple volume pedal or set a pedal on bypass with higher vol for a booster.
some have a pre-amp switch on their guitar for a mid range-boost.

This post has been edited by Everdying: Sep 11 2006, 12:36 AM

ok, i guess it's time for me to go pedal hunting...thanks for the help guys..

No..... An SD-1....
That's what Zakk uses......

guess a sticky on effects would cover most areas, not just distortion.

Well, many Noobs are always asking about Distortion in particular (Anyone want to relive the whole JesusFreak incident????)....

I say we dedicate this thread to JUST distortion, overdrive and fuzz.... There's ALOT to cover..... And don't forget..... we haven't even mention about "natural gain" from Amplifiers......

i notice that u cannot ask any question regarding gears from blacktrix.he will just tell u to get zakk wylde's stuff.everytime its like that!

Well..... you can also grab Dimebag's Krankenstein amplifier.... Dime's Distortion..... Dime's Crybaby from hell.....
and of course..... Dime's Razorback guitar.... if you don't have the cash for the USA ones.... the China made ones are ABSOLUTELY spectacular as well....

Upgrading pickups? Try out the dimebuckers!!!!
DIME! DIME! DIME!!!!!!!

You're slow... we ALL knew that ages ago.

oya and i saw a video tat steve bailey actuali cum to tink of tat y guitarist use distortion...u can easily hide tiny mistakes wit distiortion

LOL
his second trademark: "I will be getting the (fill in this space with whatever gears) by end of next year... If all goes well"

cabut....

Correction.

he tries to change his remarks already lol
lol i forgot about that one !

Ha Ha..... it is to laugh.....

Fine.... WHEN I bring back my Dime guitar...... NO ONE GETS TO TOUCH IT!

yes u can. but do note 2 things

1. diff brand pedals sound diff, and some pedals wont go well with each other. something to do with the impendence or smth(too bad im not an electrical engineer). eg: using a tubescreamer(ibanez) with a ds1(boss) wont sound that good.

2. most pedals including OD pedals in this case, have a frequency filter, so u'll be losing some range of the spectrum especially the low ends.

alright its my fault.but didin't know blacktrix was that kecil hati xD

Who said anything about touching it? We're gonna STEAL it.

now he's really not gonna bring it.

whats his dime u guitar anyway? theres one forumer selling a steve vai signature for 2.3 k,but i've not viewed the guitar.any feedbacks from you guys?

no offense to the seller.
my only gripe is the inferior trem. that is the main archilles heel of that guitar. because of that, i wouldn't pay 2.3k for something that would need serious modding to replace. i'd rather have something with high end hardware + build quality despite how crappy the pickups are coz they are easily replaceable. i do not wish to further comment on the price.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Sep 11 2006, 08:48 PM

the JEM JR or the JEM7V?

its a JEM555

beware of fake ibanez.
lots of them around now.

how to differentiate those fake one from the real one? i saw the news on the official site, but they don't give out much info...

This is the Dimebag guitar I'll be getting:



Figured to go with the Razorback since it comes with a carrying case and the Dime-O-Flame doesn't. Also.... the razorback just looks wicked cool.

too bad I can't have THIS guitar..... One of a kind!!!!


This post has been edited by blacktrix: Sep 11 2006, 10:04 PM

That guitar could kill somebody...just poke...

looks like me and led zep arent the only one with funny faces when we solo. *referring to zakk*

lol

Wait till you see Nigel Tufnel..... the KING of solo faces!!!!

Any Spinal Tap reference is invalid in a proper discussion lol!

The guitar looks damn good though!

i make funny faces too

i cant make an expression on my solo, im not good at solo...

Better move back to the topic..... otherwise the "other" mod will scold us!!!!

today just went to bentley and tested a few distortion pedals...so far find digitech's grunge and hot head can produce those low and crunchy tones...

btw, i also tried combining OD pedals (ts9 and bad monkey) with a distortion (hot head) and the result ain't that obvious to me...i can't really hear any boost from it...(i tried OD -> Dist. and Dist. -> OD)..not much difference...

one thing for sure, is that the ibanez's ts-9 is one good OD pedal, when use alone...

but when i tried the boss ge-7 (equalizer), can really hear the boost and change of tone...it's like getting 2 different tone with the equalizer plugged in....

the thing is, are eq pedals suspose to be use like that? i mean, other than adjusting the sound parameter, cutting down the noise...what u guys normally do with an eq pedal?

just wanna gather more info before i lay down my cold hard cash to buy these two pedals...

Yes...... that's what an EQ pedal does...... changes the EQ..... duh.
Kerry King even has his signature EQ pedal from MXR.... that's the only way he can get those amazing tones from his hot-rodded JCM800

so basically it can be used as a booster for distortion pedals? btw, anyone here knows what the readings on the eq mean? the 10, 6.4k thingy...

kerry king uses his EQ partly as a boost.
previously kerry king used a very old rackmount boss EQ.

the readings are frequencies, go google

Any suggestions on pedals to act as a booster with ds-1 as distortion.

ok, thanks...i dunno what are those numbers called...btw, does the number of frequencies affect the sound and tone dynamically? i mean comparing the mxr kerry king's eq (10 bands, whatever u called it) to boss ge-7 (7 bands)

well, compare a cheap hifi set with only 3 bands.
and a professional rackmount with like 20 bands.
easier to finetune to the sound you want.

This post has been edited by Everdying: Sep 17 2006, 01:20 AM