Ive been casually shopping for dirt boxes since i got my prri and ive been focused on a few differnt boxes for a few reasons. The boxes are the mxr distortion+ reissue,blues driver,ts9,proco rat and the whole line of dano coolcats. I know these selections don't have much in common and that may be because im looking for a few different things 1. id like a very mild just on the edge of breakup sound similar to some revererend HH or link wray, i think the blues driver and ts9 would excell at this. 2. id like a heavier gain sound that still remains articulate when playing open and bar chords i think the rat will do this. 3. There is one band i like that has the holy grail of distortion to my ears, the band is the wipers and the dirt box i believe is a 78mxr distortion+. The dano pedals just seem pretty cool true bypass,metal case and cheap. danelectro always make me think of southern culture on the skids and i just love that band even though im sure they don't use the dano pedals. What i like about the wipers thicker distortion sound is it's very sustained, fairly articulate yet has some low frequency fuzz. when i hear a power chord i envision a guitar string wrapped in wool and caked with sand,when a power chord is strummed grains of sand flake off. Any light any of you can shine upon these pedals would be greatly appreciated.
Dirtbox questions
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 12:53 p.m. TwangOmatic:
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- Rated: 48 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 1:45 p.m. dmanlow:
Digitech Bad Monkey
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- Rated: 19 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 3:42 p.m. TyPierce:
I recently went through the same search as you're currently undertaking.
Short Version: I settled on the Digitech Screamin' Blues and love it. I posted a review here: Dirt Box Recommendo: Digitech Screamin' Blues
Longer Version: The Bad Monkey is a great choice, too, and I ended up going back and forth between it and the SB for quite a while. The SB had more sparkle, to my ears, a bit more highs and also seemed to have more volume boost on tap.
The surf 3-piece I'm in actually covers "Rumble", and the SB gives a nice, chiming overdrive that sounds great even through some pretty significant reverb. The Bad Monkey gets great mentions all the time - deservedly so, it's a great pedal - but I was surprised that I'd never even heard of the Screamin' Blues pedal. I saw it sitting in the test rack beside the Monkey, plugged in and took it home.
Also, in searching I realized just how important it is to play through these boxes yourself - no amount of online scrutinizing can get you the answers you want. It'll get you in the ballpark, which you already seem to be, but when it comes time to buy you've gotta hear them through your own hands and style. Trek to your local store, spend an hour or so tap dancing between riffs and you'll find the ones for you. This is even more important with Gretsches, I feel, since the Gretsch character behaves much differently through dirt pedals than Fender and Gibson types.
Keep us posted, and congrats again on the PRRI purchase!!
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- Rated: 52 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 4:03 p.m. bigalthethird:
TS9. No contest, in my eyes.
Maybe a modded TS9 or TS 808 or something, but that family is by far my favorite (and Setzer's, and Vaughan's).
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- Rated: 31 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 4:12 p.m. Suprdave5150:
I'll have to check out the Digitech. I love their stuff. Recently I've been using a Voodoo labs Overdrive which I don't think is available any more. It's a friend of mines unit and it has two knobs and reads Overdrive on the face. I can't find them any where on the net just like his and it sounds great through my tube amp.
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- Rated: 6 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 5:17 p.m. tedzepplin:
I use a BJFE Honey Bee pedal into a Juke 1210 for a great old Link Wray type of sound.
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- Rated: 31 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 5:23 p.m. Danman:
I have two TS-9's and love them but I recently got a Zvex box of rock. And they really are great. Powerful yet articulate.
Then to make the line up complete I also got a Diamond fireburst for the fuzzy tones. It has a mid boost that makes it clearer. great pedal too.
But for you I would suggest a TS-9 set for just a bit of break up and then use a box of rock for the more distorted tones. good luck
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- Rated: 30 ↑
Jul 22, 2008 6:22 p.m. Wishinfora(nother)Falcon:
I really don't think you are going to find everything you want in one pedal. I mean you might be able to come to some compromises but....Those are all pretty different.
I haven't played one myself but to me it sounds like the Deucetone Rat would be your ticket if you want to get close to all that.
You might PM Wenzel and see if he still has his for sale. I actually really wanted it but I can't do it for a few weeks, so go for it if you want. At least PM him and ask him what he thinks, as far as it doing what you want. He's a good egg and will shoot you straight.
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- Rated: 29 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 9:01 a.m. mark t:
Bad Monkey, man. Everyone who's tried mine, from the esteemed Dmanlow to my guitar teacher has loved that friggin' pedal. my jet sounds great through it, dmanlow's falcon sounds awesome, and the RHH model smokes through it as well. Gain and tube-sounding breakup without killing your tone.
I dig tubescreamers, but every guitar i've heard through them sounds like a guitar through a tubescreamer. I think that they colour the tone. Bad Monkey. and for 50 bucks, you can't go wrong.
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- Rated: 41 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 9:53 a.m. dubkitty:
I really ought to test the new Distortion + box(es)...i adore my 1970s D+, but everyone says the new ones aren't as good. then again, people say that about everything.
I just recently got a used Marshall Guv'nor II...it's got a bit more crackly breakup than i prefer, but it has four-band EQ which allows you to dial in the tone to minimize the ickier aspects. you can also use the tone controls to cut mids, which gives you a poor man's Fuzz Face effect. it does semi-clean boost well, excels at middle-of-the-dial distortion, and is totally psychocandy with the distortion cranked all the way up. acres of boost, too...i've only had the output over 50% when doing the total clean boost.
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- Rated: 29 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 9:55 a.m. mark t:
I'm thinking of scrapping my Big Muff since getting the Bad Monkey. The BM does some okay stuff, but as i said in another thread, it's not really my thing.
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 12:37 p.m. TwangOmatic:
Thanks guys some good info as usual i would have dismissed the digitech's if it weren't for this thread. Ive never heared of the honey bee but ill check it too. I think your right Wishin im gonna need at least 2 pedals for what i want. I think i have a rat2 on order,when i told my friend who has somewhat similar taste in music and works at the local guitar shop what i was looking he said flat out i need a rat and that he was gonna find one for me. 90% of the time i play clean or with mild overdrive but im an old punker so for that 10% i do want something a little more gainy. With Proteus doing another dirtbox shootout and other threads on this board i think ive got the mild overdrive info covered, as well i will do my own testing, but what can you tell me about the rat and the distortion+/distortionIII?
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 12:55 p.m. TwangOmatic:
Here are 2 loops from the wipers site of songs i believe use a 78 distortion+ let me know if you think it sounds like distortion+ or not. I really dig the fuzz but im not sure if i want an actual fuzz pedal. http://www.zenorecords.com/sitemap.htm http://www.zenorecords.com/enter.htm
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- Rated: 30 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 3:35 p.m. Wishinfora(nother)Falcon:
TwangOmatic said: 90% of the time i play clean or with mild overdrive but im an old punker so for that 10% i do want something a little more gainy
I think The Rat is THE Punk distortion tone. Although my Tone Bender Clone that I built does awesome Stooges type stuff. Plus if you get a fuzz that you can change the bias on (like with a trim pot) or have one installed, it will give you a lot mor versatility. You can bias it hot when you want screaming trebly Fuzz Face type stuff or bias it colder for more managable wooly type stuff.
I am also of the opinion that you have to learn how to use Fuzz and all pedals are different so you gotta give them some time to find what you want. Usually Fuzz is not just plug in and it's gonna sound good (musical), especially the hotter they are biased, like a Fuzz Face.
Did you PM Wenzel? That Deucetone is like 6 Rats in one. There's GOTTA be something in there you'll like. Check It Out...Seriously!
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- Rated: 30 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 3:37 p.m. Wishinfora(nother)Falcon:
BTW Twang, I dig that Wipers tone too. I'll have to check them out further.
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Jul 23, 2008 4:22 p.m. TwangOmatic:
Wow that deucetone looks pretty nice im gonna talk to the guy who may have ordered a rat2 for me and if he didn't ill pm wenzel for sure. If ya do check out the wipers search youtube the wiper's have 3 basic sounds the first album"is this real?" is sort of chimey and well hard to describe but quite different than the other stuff, the album "over the edge" is a little more 80's punk sounding but with the wipers dark uniqueness and there later stuff like "circle" and greg sages solo stuff is still dark and wiperish but a little more trippy?, stoner rock?, sappy? and there is some acoustic guitar. Samples of all the different sound will show up on you tube and i like it all to varying degree's. Whether you like sage's music or not there is no denying the fact that he has a golden ear. Anyway sorry to sway the topic but i get carried away. Can a rat do the mild overdrive thing like a ts9 or bd-1? and how big is the range of gain on the screaming blues?
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- Rated: 10 ↑
Aug 1, 2008 6:07 a.m. jezzbro:
I recently bought a Barber LTD and a Barber Direct Drive. (and a tone press but that's a compressor)
The LTD is a low gain pedal and sounds VERY good. The DD has more gain and has different voicing. Compared to a modded TS9 (modded to TS808)the DD and LTD sound way beter. very low noise,gorgious tone. Not that big midhump, nice lows and way better detail.
The TS9 is for sale now. ;-)
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- Rated: 14 ↑
Aug 1, 2008 8:45 p.m. riz:
Hey Twang-O, the Wipers rule, but to my ears there's no way that's a dist+. Sounds like an overdriven tube amp to me. For a classic dist+ sound, think Randy Rhoads' sound on the Ozzy records. Very thick and buzzy but tough. They have a very distinctive eq to them, and gobs and gobs of sustain.
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- Rated: 74 ↑
Aug 2, 2008 12:32 a.m. bonedaddy:
Twang O, have you given any thought to an attenuator instead of a dirt pedal? You'll get much better breakup and tone that way. A weber mini-mass should be around 50 bucks or so. Then you can just dime the PRRI and roll the volume back on your guitar to clean it up.
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- Rated: 19 ↑
Aug 2, 2008 7:54 a.m. Vinkie:
For mild overdrive I like overdriving an amp with my ZVEX Superduper 2-1 double booster pedal but the result really depends on the amp. Recently I picked up an Emma Onomatopeia boost/overdrive pedal too add some flexibility to my rig and I really like it. Here's a video: http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=aUHUNkSeqXw
It's brighter and more transparant than the TS9/808's, a bit less woolly, although gainwise it's quite similar. Also I found it more touch-sensitive than many others around. If you come across one plug it in, you might like it!
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Aug 2, 2008 2:13 p.m. TwangOmatic:
Riz the "over the edge" stuff is done with a little ampeg gemini overdriven but i think "youth of america" and alot of other stuff is done with a 78 mxr distorion box of some kind and i'm guessing they only made the distortion plus at that time. Bonedaddy i had thought about a mini mass and im not sure why i didn't stick with that thought, maybe i wanted to go easy on the amp. Vinkie ive always thought the zvex stuff was pretty cool and that emma does sound pretty good i like the saturation control.
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- Rated: 6 ↑
Aug 3, 2008 10:07 p.m. PapaDave:
Guitar -> A/B/Y, A-side -> VooDoo Labs Sparkle Drive -> TS-9 -> Delay/Echo -> 59 Bassman R.I.; B-side -> A/B, A-side -> Korg/Vox AC30 Brilliant Channel, B-side -> AC30 Normal Channel. The Vox has a THD HotPlate attenuator.
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- Rated: 74 ↑
Aug 3, 2008 11:01 p.m. bonedaddy:
I still think the sweetspot of 'pre amp' (read: over driving with a boost pedal) of distortion/overdrive can only be achieved if you're completely soaking the output (power amp) section of the amp. All the stuff in the world thrown at the pre amp isn't going to sound as good as a fully soaked power tube/ output transformer. I still think you should look into an attenuator....
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- Rated: 6 ↑
Aug 4, 2008 12:38 a.m. PapaDave:
That's why when I use the AC30 only I run straight into it and use the HotPlate. The thing is ear shatteringly loud so I use the attenuator to keep from going anymore deaf than I already am.
The Fender sounds better to my ears (what's left of them) with the front-end overdriven, hence the pedals are on that amp.
Its a little tricky running both amps together but with a bit of tweaking they sound great together.
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Aug 4, 2008 1:48 a.m. TwangOmatic:
I think your right bonedaddy the other day was the first time i got to experience real power tube distortion when i dimed my prri and now im hooked. With a little pre amp boost i think i would have more gain that i ever needed, but i worry about the stress that might put on my amp.
