Recommend a sub-Ã‚Â£100 distortion pedal.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 10:29 am

I am drowning in muff.

I don't need any more fuzz pedals. Between my Carcosa, Muff Pi and Nine of Swords Tyrant, I don't need another fuzz pedal (NOTE: This doesn't mean I won't buy another. lol. I mean, srsly guyz). What I am lacking is a good, basic distortion/overdrive.

Currently on my list is an MXR Distortion Plus and the EHX Crayon. What else should I consider looking up? I'm looking to cover mainly classic 60s/70s style rock up to... well, anything, really. If you make a recommendation, point out what style of music it has most traditionally been used for. It doesn't really matter, but it'll help give me an idea. Equally, if you know of any good cheap clones of classic pedals, throw them in too.

Recommendations for the Boss DS1 will be seriously considered.
Recommendations for Tubescreamers will result in a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign for your total and complete ban by dots.

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 10:38 am

Mooer Rat copy would probably be a good fit. They pair up nicely with Muffs too.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 10:42 am

Noirie. wrote:Mooer Rat copy would probably be a good fit. They pair up nicely with Muffs too.

All of this. Rat with the distortion set to 8.30 is my sound. Another pearler is the Fredric Scrambled Brainz (Ampeg Scrambler clone) - being able to blend the distorted signal in (and being able to set it anywhere between 70s distortion and headache octave) is pure beauty.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 11:32 am

I'm tempted to get a Rat. I'd like a "proper" one but can't be arsed faffing about with the weird power supply.

Is the Mooer the best one with a standard 9v, do we reckon? I'm intrigued by the EHX Flatiron too...

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 11:40 am

Oh I have a Rat, got a Little Bear copy as well as genuine Rat. Still, the Mooer IS smaller so it's always tempting. Not so much an upgrade as a... side-'grade?

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 11:53 am

ekwatts wrote:Little Bear copy

Ã‚Â£39???

How does it compare to the real deal?

(Sorry for thread derail.)

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 12:13 pm

Freddy V-C wrote:
ekwatts wrote:Little Bear copy
Ã‚Â£39???

How does it compare to the real deal?

(Sorry for thread derail.)

It's a more open sound, less gated. Though I'll be honest, my actual Rat is buried under boxes back at my mums, so I actually haven't compared the two of them, and I know there are chip differences with some Rat's, but I actually have no idea what kind of Rat mine is. So, er, basically, all I can say is that it sounds like a Rat, and it sounds very good. Except my Little Bear version is super dodgy and occasionally just cuts out so I think I got a lemon. It might not have helped that the pedal came from China in a basic plastic envelope with no box or padding(!). So the Mooer might be a better shout just in terms of reliability. Another I had my eye on for a while was a Biyang Mouse pedal, although apparently there's a weird factory flaw that needs fixing on them due to somebody at Biyang having misread a resistor rating on the Rat schematic when they copied it. Similarly priced to the Little Bear though.

http://spartanmusic.co.uk/products/biyang-ds-8-mouse

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 12:18 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

kingkiller · Post by **kingkiller** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:01 pm

Metal Zone.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:03 pm

Freddy V-C wrote:
ekwatts wrote:Little Bear copy
Ã‚Â£39???

How does it compare to the real deal?

(Sorry for thread derail.)

Ã‚Â£39 I got mine for a fiver when he started selling on eBay years ago, t'is the only rat I own - I sold my mooer one when I got this.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:06 pm

For overdrive, I'll say this once again... Stop fucking about and get an SD-1.

Distortion get a Boss HM-2

[Edit] the Boss OS-2 fits your description of needs perfectly (DS-1 and SD-1 in one box) get one of those... they're great!

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 6:27 pm

dezb1 wrote:For overdrive, I'll say this once again... Stop fucking about and get an SD-1.

Distortion get a Boss HM-2

[Edit] the Boss OS-2 fits your description of needs perfectly (DS-1 and SD-1 in one box) get one of those... they're great!

I 2nd this, though you could go budget by getting the Behringer HM-300(HM-2 clone).

Noisy Cat · Post by **Noisy Cat** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 6:48 pm

You can get a used OCD for less than Ã‚Â£100. My favourite is version 1.4. Best overdrive/disortion pedal I've ever used. More interesting, versatile and responsive than a Rat.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:47 pm

ekwatts wrote:[youtube][/youtube]

lol 4:02 "fuck knows which is 'better'"

That's it all over, innit.

Interesting to hear the Turbo RAT against the RAT2 in this context; I had one when I was like 16 but I never liked it too much (not enough gain

).

Don't remember there being so big difference on the Mooer when I owned it.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 10:18 pm

Red Llama?

Most of my dirt pedals are either transparentish overdrives or fuzzes, but the Red Llama is probably the most satsifying thing I've had that's in that zone in between. Enough dirt, plenty of clarity.

Or Grumbly Wolf, if you can convince Tim to knock off a quid to make it sub Ã‚Â£100. Distortion+, but better, and with a ring modulator for scaring the wee'un.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 6:35 am

Also, you wouldn't be asking this question if you had a Harmonic Percolator. Becuase then you'd know, it's a Harmonic Percolator.

(I have three Harmonic Percolators).

George · Post by **George** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:34 am

The Little Bear has a "dirty" mode which uses germanium diodes and sounds great. What's not good is the filter pot doesn't have as much of the higher end available as proper rats and other clones (that's not just a taper issue either). Maybe the one I got was put together wrong.

Germanium Muffs are like Ã‚Â£40 on eBay at the moment, sound great and how I've set it up is definitely more distortion but it can still go like a fuzz using the battery starve and bias pots and can be very vintage sounding. It's a bit noisy and fussy about where it goes in signal chain but does the guitar volume cleanup thing excellently and it will do the 60s and 70s rock/pop stuff incredibly well too. Really fun and interactive pedal.

I'll give another recommendation for the OS-2, but while it's possible to get distortion out of it that's not really what I'd use it for.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:02 am

benecol wrote:Also, you wouldn't be asking this question if you had a Harmonic Percolator. Becuase then you'd know, it's a Harmonic Percolator.

This tbh.

I haven't used anything else for the past 5 years. The only reason I'm thinking about getting a Rat is because I'm worried I'm growing stale.

luciguci · Post by **luciguci** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:42 am

dezb1 wrote:Stop fucking about and get an SD-1.

it sounds good and 70's enough to me when i put my cyclone through it into my vox pathfinder, which i haven't done in a long ass time. it's just a really nice drive tone

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 5:05 pm

Try out a Ehx Hot tubes or the TC Electronics tube overdrive.