Dissin' the guitar players fuzz

[bassbrad]

or is life too short for bad distortion. Am I a snob or just spoiled by all the other tone freaks I play with? So...One of the guys I play with uses a Boss DS1 which to my ear is perhaps the worst fuzz of all time, after gritting my teeth every time he stomps it i just hadda tell him. Nice PRS guitar, cool tunes, good technique and a sweet Marshall combo all ruined by the DS1, he hates the DS1 too but does not have a clue so next jam I am taking some of my own boxes for him to test. IMO he needs a nice overdrive not a distortion which is too harsh for what he's trying to do, but no use trying to explain that one.
My 2 favorites are a Dan Electro Daddy O and the Boss SD1 Super Overdrive both are warm, smooth and still articulate for chord work which he mainly does. Any other suggestions?

[Corey Y]

The Danelectro Daddy-O is a pretty good, versatile overdrive box for the price. I wouldn't presume to make too many suggestions without hearing the kind of music the band plays and knowing what the guitarist wants out of it, but there are a lot of options at a lot of different price points out there. You might have him take a look at proguitarshop and check out demo videos or something. If you have a lot of stompboxes and you're willing to bring some and let him play around with them, that's a pretty good way to criticize without being negative, get him enthusiastic about trying different pedals out. The DS1 definitely has a narrow spectrum of usefulness. There are situations it can sound perfect for, but not many.

I've done the same thing in previous bands. Brought a box full of pedals and let the guitarist demo a bunch to see what he liked in the context of the full band. It's pretty easy to get tunnel vision on pedals and not consider how it meshes with everyone else, especially if the guitarist practices at home by himself a lot.

Lots of tubescreamer variations out there for around $100, some with more gain on tap. The Nobels ODR-1 reissue is nice, I like DOD 250, particularly the older ones, and you can pick those up pretty cheap here and there, a lot of the low end Danelectro stuff is worth checking out. Personally I think a lot of it depends on the guitar, the amp and the settings.

[rratajski]

Fulltone OCD or clone.

[vegas532]

Originally Posted by rratajski

Fulltone OCD or clone.

seconded.

[audiomitch]

I hate a stock DS-1 too, but I did a Monte Allums mod that totally reinvented this pedal. From one of the worst to one of the best distortion pedals I've heard. Check it out, but it does require reading instructions and soldering.

[skulletwhip]

Originally Posted by vegas532

seconded.

thirdeded

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by bassbrad

Any other suggestions?

my old guitarist uses one of these and he always sounded better than I thought it should.

Bad Monkey | DigiTech Guitar Effects

[bassbrad]

Thanx guys,
Corey the style is a sort of retro rock acoustic electric it reminds me of the band Love 'Forever Changes', this guitar player does rhythm strictly half the songs on acoustic and the other half on the PRS. We have a tasty lead player which makes the DS1 poopoo tone even less acceptable. Hmm he has some other Nobels pedals so we'll have to check that one out.

Audiomitch I have a DS1 that has the Allums mod and it is certainly a much more useful beast, but he ain't gonna see it.

Thanx James, I'll put that on the short list to check out.

[j.henderson7772]

There are 3 guitarists in my band one uses a Jetter Helim and that is super awesome. One uses a Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret, that is a good one too, the other uses a Bulldog tube OD pedal.
JHS Pedals does some pretty good OD pedals too

[My name is Mudd]

Originally Posted by skulletwhip

thirdeded

FF-ff-ffourthed...ededed on the OCD.

[Laurent]

Barber LTD, Pork Loin, Green Rhino, many of the Fulltone overdrive/distortion pedals.
Zen Drive....

[JimmyM]

hey, where's all the outrage over a bass player telling a guitarist he didn't like his gear? had the situation been reversed, you guys would have been yelling and screaming and calling for the guy to quit his band or replace the guitarist for daring to have an opinion.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

hey, where's all the outrage over a bass player telling a guitarist he didn't like his gear? had the situation been reversed, you guys would have been yelling and screaming and calling for the guy to quit his band or replace the guitarist for daring to have an opinion.

As far as I understand it, the guitarist agreed with the bassists opininion.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by René_Julien

As far as I understand it, the guitarist agreed with the bassists opininion.

so? since when has that slowed anyone down?

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

so? since when has that slowed anyone down?

Then why aren't you yelling and screaming and making a fuzz about it. Scared of losing your "most respected member of TB" status?

[bassbrad]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

hey, where's all the outrage over a bass player telling a guitarist he didn't like his gear? had the situation been reversed, you guys would have been yelling and screaming and calling for the guy to quit his band or replace the guitarist for daring to have an opinion.

Dood, leave me alone you don't need the gig.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by bassbrad

Dood, leave me alone you don't need the gig.

[caeman]

I like my de Lisle Fuzz. With the fuzz rolled off and just using some edge, I get a nice bluesy distortion that works for my style of playing. It may not be appropriate for your guitar player, but having too many options is better than not enough.

Hand-Wired Effects Pedals