there are even more ways to get crazy, beautiful, off-the-wall tones than there
are distortion, overdrive, and fuzz pedals on the market. after all, every knob
tweak and playing technique alters the sound of these pedals immensely—to say
nothing of the rest of the rig they’re plugged into. that said, these 10 approaches
never fail to yield great results.
1 Increase your impedance. Using
a speaker cabinet with
a greater impedance
than that of your amp
(for example, a 4 Ω head
with an 8 Ω cabinet) can
yield the same effects
as an attenuator.
2 Don’t forget that less can be more.
Distortion acts as compression, so the more
gain you use the more
it will flatten the dynamics of your playing. It
will also wash out your
sound and sink you into
the mix. You might think
you sound awesome, but
all the audience will hear
is a muffled roar.
4 Pair a germanium fuzz with an overdrive. If you want the
sound of a germanium
boost at unity gain, try
running it in front of an
overdrive pedal with the
overdrive’s Drive control
set low and its output
set below your clean
amp volume.
7 imple is best for the blues. For
an authentic old-blues
sound, a small combo
and—at most—a clean
boost are sufficient. If
you want a more modern
blues tone, overdrive or
certain fuzz boxes will
keep essential blues
dynamics more intact
than a distortion pedal.
3 Don’t obsess too much over
germanium. While
germanium fuzzes have
come a long way in
terms of consistently
sounding good, they
don’t all sound exactly
the same—even the
same models from the
same company. If you
have a chance to try a
couple, do so. If you
don’t hold an audition,
but simply buy one and
it sounds good, be glad.
Don’t obsess that there
might be a better one
out there.
5 Cascading over- drives adds up to
distortion. You might
find that cascading
overdrives—running
more than one in a
row—provides a more
desirable sound than
a distortion pedal. By
sending the slightly
overdriven signal of one
pedal into a second
pedal set for a moderate
amount of grit, you can
achieve more distortion
while maintaining an
openness that is sometimes lost with a single
highly distorted pedal.
8 Order matters. Some fuzz units
need to be first in your
pedalboard’s chain in
order to work properly
with guitar volumes and
wah-wahs. Further, every
distortion effect will have
a different character if
it’s placed, say, before
a wah than it will if it
comes somewhere else
in the chain.
6 Make sure your distortion pedal
has level-boost capabilities. You won’t want
to use too much, but a
little is essential to keep
a high-gain sound from
disappearing in the mix.
9Don’t forget your Tone knob. Rolling
it off is often the most
effective way to tame
fuzz fizz and make it
more adaptable to different songs and feels.
10Summon a sitar. Selecting
your bridge pickup and
rolling down your Volume
while using an octave
fuzz pedal can create a
cool sitar sound—who
would’ve thought?
116 PREMIER GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2011
Although stompbox names
sometimes hint at the sorts of
tones they’re capable of producing, your
best bet is to try as many as possible to see
what works for you. For instance, though the
Rocktron Zombie Rectified Distortion’s name
hints at super-saturated Mesa/Boogie Dual
Rectifier-style distortion, the (now discontinued) Coffin Case Blood Drive’s name makes it
sound like a macabre metal machine despite
the fact that it can go from bluesy drive to
hard-rock dirt.
to near-fuzz rasp, but a distortion pedal
generally squashes the wave flatter than an
overdrive. As mentioned previously, this
distortion of the sound wave is called clipping. An overdrive pedal engages in “soft”
clipping, while a distortion effect is said to
produce “hard” clipping.
The oft-asked question, “What is the
best distortion pedal?” is impossible to
answer (as it is for any pedal). The aforementioned 50 distortion pedals available
on a single website represent a range of
“flavors” equivalent to a Penzey’s spice
catalog. It’s like asking, “Which is better—
cumin, tarragon, cinnamon, or cardamom?”
Distortion pedals impart distinct character
to your tone. Some impart a British-style
attitude, while other add a heavier, more
saturated flavor reminiscent of Mesa/
Boogie’s famous Dual Rectifier amps.
Because of that, you’re going to have
to try a bunch to get a feel for what suits
you, because the names can be pretty
confusing. While it is a good bet that the
Rocktron Zombie Rectified Distortion
(street $79, rocktron.com) is suitable for
modern metal, you might never guess
that the Coffin Case BDFX- 1 Blood
Drive Distortion (discontinued) is a very
warm- and classic-sounding distortion
that will work well for everything from
blues to hard rock.
Distortion pedals are best used with a
minimum of amp gain, otherwise it’s easy to
end up with a muddy and indistinct tone.
Distortion boxes do not respond as well
as overdrives to attack and guitar-volume
