Which guitar player does not like to have a nicely saturated distortion tone? Though you can achieve a heavily saturated tone by the use of an overdrive combined with cranking the gain and volume of a tube amp, you can perhaps achieve more with a distortion pedal. Distortion pedals can bring more flavor to your playing making them more versatile than amps alone. In this article, we will discuss the Best distortion pedals which money can buy.
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What is Distortion
Distortion is achieved when the gain is cranked up of an audio channel, pushing the signal beyond peak. This results in a landscape of harmonic overtones with an element of compression and sustain.
This is exactly the effect that guitarists want to achieve for their virtuoso playability with double handed tapping, pinched harmonics, super-fast shredding, blazing legato techniques, or getting those thick chugs. A distortion pedal can achieve all of these and more and thus are great friends of especially hard rock and metal guitarists.
These are one of the most versatile pedals and in the hands of experienced guitarists can do wonders. Steve Vai in one of his interviews shared how the Boss DS 1 has been a workhorse for him.
Distortion Pedals vs Overdrive
Distortion and Overdrive are frequently used interchangeably. But in reality, these are two different brilliant effects and have slightly different uses. As shared, the basic theory behind an overdrive or distortion is the same – clipping of the extreme frequencies and boosting the remaining to achieve a harmonic saturation. But there are some subtle differences.
Overdrive generally refers to the sound created through a maxed-out tube amp channel. Causing a lovely saturated tone by overdriving the channel. But this requires your gain and the volume to be at the peak which might not be a possibility in a smaller setup like practice or studio.
So, in order to drive the channel of the tube amp, a booster pedal is used to make the signal hotter resulting in a thicker and saturated tone without completely maxing the controls of the amp. One of the variations of these boost pedals are an overdrive. Some great overdrive pedals to name are the legendary Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, the new generation overdrive by Fulltone called OCD, or the iconic Boss Blues Driver.
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Distortion on the other hand is not dependant on the gain and volume of the amp. The circuit of the pedal has its own gain/ distortion, EQ, and level by which it can produce from mild crunch to monstrous chugs and screamingly saturated lead tones. A good distortion pedal is something every guitarist needs to have in the signal chain. We will cover some of the best in the market today.
Where in the signal chain does a distortion pedal go?
A signal chain in the simplest of terms means the signal from your guitar to the amp (via the guitar cable). You can have a direct signal chain from the guitar to the amp or you can have it routed via your pedals. When your guitar signal is routed via the stompboxes or pedals, these have to be placed in a certain order for the best sonic outcome. You can read more about Signal Chain here.
Distortion is part of the group of pedals called the “Gain Pedals”. Though there is no hard and fast rule on where they have to be placed but there are some conventional wisdom on their placement in the signal chain. The most common placement of distortion is after the Compression & Wah Pedals. A typical signal chain can look like this:
Guitar – Tuner – Compression- Wah – Distortion – Chorus/ Flanger – Volume – Reverb – Delay – Amp
The Controls of Distortion Pedals
A distortion pedal will have a few standard controls which are common to most of them, while some have additional controls to further shape the tone.
The Gain control in the distortion pedal increases the saturation and transforms the sound from a mild crunch all the way to modern heavy rock or metal (depending on the pedal). The Level or the output knob controls the output volume of the pedal and a tone knob does the job of highlighting the frequencies whether thick, mid or high.
Some modern generation distortion pedals have more controls on the EQ section. These pedals provide individual controls for Bass, Mid, and Treble for more specific sculpting of your tone. Some pedals also come with additional features like a boost switch or in some pedals mode control. These help in boosting the frequencies even further making them more aggressive sounding or can offer different tonality as per the modal functions. For example vintage or modern amp setting.
Generally, a high gain distortion need not be dialed in an already gain heavy dirty channel of an amp. The distortions by themselves are able to create the saturation as required and generally work better in cleaner channels. It is best to use overdrives on a dirty channel of an amp.
Let’s check out some of the best distortions which are available in the market now.
MXR M75 Super Badass
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This distortion lives up to his name and it is indeed Super Badass. If you are looking for a versatile distortion pedal that does not take a ton of space on the pedalboard but at the time provides you enough flexibility for tone sculpting and is huge sounding, look no further than the MXR M75 Super Badass distortion pedal.
The built of the MXR M75 is sturdy but at the same time is not very heavy. It comes in a sparkling silver finish which looks very impressive when slotted on the pedalboard. The front of the distortion has more controls than what is normally seen in others around. It sports a 3 band EQ with Bass, Mid and treble, a Gain, and Level control. It is an analog pedal with true bypass.
The active EQ section of this distortion helps in dialing a precise tone as per the music genre you are in. The distortion knob can give you a clean boost to highly saturated heavy tones. This pedal stands out from the rest in the wide spectrum of sounds this pedal can produce. Irrespective of you being a blues, or classic rock to heavy rock, metal player – this distortion got you covered.
You can get a clean beefy boost at the distortion being all the way down to a mild crunch at 10 o clock to monstrously rich super-saturated tones all the way up. The EQs are great. Increasing the bass provides a nice low body to the tone. Rolling up the mids can get you the cutting through sound like Brian May’s and rolling down can give heavy metal chugs. The treble is well controlled does not make the sound too dark or bright.
Suhr Riot Reloaded
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After the huge popularity of the Riot, the team at Suhr made one of the already best high gain distortion pedal even better. The Riot Reloaded was born. This distortion stands out from the crowd as it has amp like natural sounding distortion. Very close to what we as guitarists want to achieve from a pedal.
Just like the Riot, the Reloaded version is also beautifully housed in a purple case. As you can expect from Suhr, the built quality is great and should last a lifetime even if the pedal is taken through major insults on the stage.
At the face of the pedal, it offers 3 simple controls – Distortion, Tone, and Level. There is also a 3-way switch for additional voicing options – The left position being Dynamic and Natural, the Middle position provides you solid midrange with fuller bottom end high gain sound and lastly, the Right gives you scooped mids.
In the Reloaded version, Suhr added an additional 30 percent gain making this a beast of a high gain pedal. The distortion is full and never too fizzy or dull. The Riot Reloaded can drive a clean channel as well as can drive a dirty channel of an amp.
When the distortion is turned all the way down, it provides a tone similar to overdrive and is amazingly responsive to your playing dynamics. At noon you get a big and fat classic rock tone and all the way up can provide you with super high gain modern distortion tones.
A perfect pedal for a guitarist with dynamic playing touch looking for a natural sounding distortion and huge tones.
Boss DS – 1
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The Boss DS 1 is an iconic distortion pedal that was originally launched 43 years back in 1978. It is still one of the best-selling Boss pedals ever.
To start with, the build of the product (like any Boss product) is like a tank. Immensely durable pedal which can outlast limitless tours and gigs and still function as it is supposed to. Like a true Boss pedal, this comes with a 5-year warranty.
The pedal is perhaps one of the simplest of all distortions. It has only 3 controls – Distortion, Tone, and Level. Do not get fooled with the simple controls as these 3 can produce a huge sound. The distortion control can range from a mild boost to used drive an amp to insane fully saturated rock riffs at full throttle. The tone control offers a wide range. Turning it clockwise increases the highs and decreases the lows while counterclockwise enhances the lows producing nice fat and smooth tones.
The price at which the DS-1 comes is mindblowing. At this super affordable price point, you have the reliability of a Boss product and if you are able to put the right mix, you can get a solid tone. Most of the guitar virtuosos have used this pedal at some time in their career and honestly you cannot go wrong with this one.
TC Electronic Dark Matter
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The price at which TC Electronic offers their pedals is unbeatable. The Dark Matter is no exception and comes around the same price you will pay for a DS-1. Another great distortion but different from DS-1 and provides tube-like effects. This is an analog pedal and a true bypass.
The build of the pedal is not cheap. It comes in a sturdy metal casing with 4 controls and an additional voicing switch. Do not go by the name which inclines us to think of this as more of a metal pedal, but in reality, you can get a wealth of tones from this small stompbox. It delivers excellent low gain as well as high gain sounds equally well.
The Dark Matter brings a natural amp-like overdrive or distortion sound which is very pleasing. The high gain sounds are super saturated and have a throaty roar. The gain at low settings delivers a nice bluesy and crunchy sound and the same pedal can produce heavy rock sound when fully cranked up. The voicing switch brings a very subtle change in the lows and mids. Just like an amp would, the pedal is responsive to your dynamic playing style.
This pedal has a distinct British Amp sounding overdrive/ distortion. It is perhaps best suited for classic hard rock overdriven tube tones. Though it sounds great at super high gains but this might not be the best pedal to deliver a true modern generation metal tone.
This is a must-have for any rock guitarist. It delivers that wonderful amp-like overdriven saturated tone, with a nice body and clarity of notes which perhaps all guitarists try to achieve with a distortion pedal.
Wampler Sovereign V2 Distortion
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Among so many distortion pedals around in the market, it becomes quite a challenging task to differentiate one from the other. But in the case of Wampler Sovereign, it stands out from the crowd very easily. The differences are as clear as day.
This is an analog pedal with a true bypass circuit. The built of the pedal is sturdy, in a metal casing, and comes with 4 knobs and 2 switches. Like all distortions, the Sovereign comes with a volume, tone, and gain but Wampler has thrown a unique dimension called the “Mid Contour” in the mix.
The Mid Contour as the name suggests can help you to dial in a mid-range tone – be it scooped or mid-hump. This helps to make your tone from thick and fluid to cutting and aggressive. Even in doing all these, the pedal maintains a high level of clarity of the notes.
The Gain control can deliver from a vintage crunchy to a supersaturated high gain metal tone. The switch vintage/ modern brings a shift to the guitar tone. As the name suggests and depending on you what you want to achieve – a vintage-style or modern amp sound. The Gain boost provides additional headroom for gain.
The versatility of the pedal comes from the perspective that it can deliver a wide range of tones. From a clean boost to drive your tube amps to lucidly clear and warm overdrives. From the classic vintage crunch to monstrous metal sounds.
Being such an incredibly versatile pedal, this goes into the list of the best distortion pedals in the market now. A great pedal to own and highly recommended.
Earth Quaker Devices Acapulco Gold V2
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The Earth Quaker Acapulco Gold V2 is a unique pedal among loads of distortion pedals around. The company is a boutique pedal manufacturing company in Ohio. All the pedals of Earth Quaker are handbuilt with premium components. It’s something which you will want to own.
Now coming to the pedal, it is unique. The pedal Is designed to behave like a power amp of a cranked Sunn Model T amplifier. The pedal has only 2 controls – the on-off switch and a giant control for output volume. It behaves just like an amp. If you want your gain to be rolled back, roll back your guitar volume control. Similarly, you can roll back your guitar tone knob for a darker rhythm tone. So all nuances of the tone and gain are in your hands.
The volume knob sets the output volume and saturation. when your guitar volume is cranked all the way up, it can mean an extremely aggressive T model amp that is fully cranked and saturated with high gain. So, with one knob you can go from quiet to loud.
It is almost like having the volume control of a tube amp being placed on your pedalboard. Just to remember one point, the pedal needs power for the signal to pass through. A very unique boutique pedal to have.
JHS Modded ProCo RAT ‘Pack Rat’
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This is the classic RAT in a new shell. JHS does great mods and they have done on this one as well. While retaining the basic DNA of the iconic RAT, they have made the pedal noiseless along with a well-rounded tonal response.
The RAT ProCo comes in a vintage-looking black box with three controls – Distortion, Filter and Volume, and an on-off switch. The pedal is built like a tank with a heavy-duty metal casing to last a lifetime.
The distortion is pretty intense in the RAT and even at 12 noon, it can give a good saturated tone. With the distortion at full throttle, it produces an extremely super saturated tone. The filter knob get brighter when turned anti-clockwise and provides a darker tone when turned in the opposite direction. It does not behave like a traditional tone knob but more like a high end cut and boost.
JHS has thrown in a clipping gain option with a mini-toggle switch. Setting it in Down position is Vintage, Middle is an open boost, and UP is LED turbo RAT. With this combination along with the gain and the filter, you can literally have any tone you want.
Overall, nothing much is required to be told about this pedal. It is the iconic RAT that is used by many legendary rock and metal guitarists. A brilliant mod by the JHS pedals and again a pedal you do not want to miss.
Summing Up
I hope you have found this list of distortions helpful in choosing the right one for you. The guitar pedal industry is literally flooded with thousands of models. All the distortion pedals listed here are unique by themselves and bring an element of newness.
If one has a slightly deep pocket then it will be an absolute pleasure to own all of them. Guitarists acquire their gears over the years and you can start at any one of them. My personal favorite is the MXR M75 Super Badass followed by the Riot Reloaded. I hope this article helps you in finding your tone. Happy Playing!
Last update on 2024-06-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
