what distortion pedal do you use?

[kayagum]

You should listen to Rodgre

Here are my additional comments IMHO:

* If you don't crank your amp, consider having a compressor or preamp boost early in your signal chain. Nothing too massive, but just enough to smooth and sustain the distortion. Remember, cranking power tubes/rectifier adds a sag compression feel. Some pedals actually have a compressor setting in the pedal itself (e.g. Fulltone Distortion Pro- the "saturation" setting is a quick and dirty compression.

* Less is more. Most players assume that in order to get a massive distortion, you have to crank the distortion/overdrive setting. Paradoxically, it's the opposite. Scale back the pedal distortion, crank the volume. This is also true in recording.

My personal faves: SIB Varidrive (smokes any other tube overdrive IMHO), VooDoo SparkleDrive, ZVex Fuzz Factory, Fulltone BassDrive

* Pickups- pay attention to them. If you have crap stock pickups, consider upgrading. You'll be amazed how much difference they can make. Also, decide if you want single coil or humbucker. The signal chain can be completely different based on that.

* Cabinets- that can also have a huge impact on distortion tone, especially if it's closed back or not.

Fun!

[pedrohead]

I really like the Nobles OD-1...the green ones.

Strongly second this one (especially the part about the green ones, not the silver ones). They also make an OD-S that just has more of an eq section. I have them both, but end up using the OD-1 more.

Other than that, Danelectro Daddy-O can find a good place now and then, but I'm primarily a RAT guy, so the Deucetone covers most of my sound when I'm not using the amp distortion or the Nobels.

[E-Rock]

HAO Rust Driver
VooDoo Labs Sparkle Drive
or if you have a fat tube amp, put a Zvex SHO in front of it.... then stand back..

[theistheman]

Boss DS-1 beotch!

[awolski]

VooDoo Labs Sparkle Drive.

I've never thought it was too much distortion, and even if I did you can blend the clean tone with the distorted tone a la a Fulldrive.

[HuskerDude]

I use an MXR Dist+. It can get just about all the tones I want from a pedal, but I have to agree about just plugging in and playing way too loud.

[penguinlove777]

I use a DS-1, but since I run direct into the PA, I find that i have to do a bunch of EQ and some amp simulation to get any tone out of it.

[Auxillary]

I crank my amp. if I need it to be clean, I play softer. Distorted I play harder.

I have a ds-1 in case I need to get into total noise.

[linus]

Tube Screamer TS 808
EH Big Muff (1st issue/triangle knob configuration)

A lot of times having my amp on the edge of distortion without anything and then kicking in a compressor pedal with the make-up gain turned up is a great growling distortion sound. Clean enough that all the notes are there but with a nice gritty sound.

MXR Dyna-comp (script logo)

[syrupcore]

I like my danelectro daddy-o. they're cheap on ebay (<30).

[spankenstein]

I've got a Boss Blues Driver that I think is great. It's very expressive and reactive to the playing. I bought it because I was playing through a Roc-Pro 1000 and the distrotion channel is just too much on those and the Blue Driver was great there. I bought a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and now my other guitarist is using it through my Peavey Express 112 and he never even turns it off. He has the gain abotu halfway and he jsut lpays lighter and it's clean but when he hits hard it's got a great breakup.

I also really dig the Rat for those more over the top kind of sounds. Definitely heavier than the Blues Driver.

[ubertar]

I used to have a rat which I liked, but it died. I usually just turn up my tweed champ (it goes to 12-- one louder than Spinal Tap), but a guyatone sd-2 into a pignose is nice too. I just got a marshall lead 12 amp. It sounds a lot like a marshall jfet halfstack I used to have (forgot the model #) but better, not as harsh on the high end. It has a nice distortion with the gain cranked. Very different from the champ. I like the champ a lot better, but the Marshall is nice for a change of pace.

[Leopold]

Mainly amp distortion/overdrive (soldano) but for extra noise a voodoo labs proctavia, Boss hyperfuzz and a harmonic percolator clone.

[Reuben]

I've always preferred the sound of amps being overdriven, or even speakers being overdriven for that matter, BUT, sometimes you just need a good nasty fuzztone! There's a lot of good ones, and yeah the Kurt thing seems to have been a Boss, but I highly reccomend the pedals from Prescription Electronics in Portland, OR, especially the Yardbox, which sounds like a 60's Tonebender ala Beck/Page Yardbirds-era. But, you know, nothing sounds as good as a great musician plugged into just about ANYTHING. Hendrix could have played through a Roland Cube and made you want to buy one.

[lonesome_tone]

i might be echoing someone else, but-

you want a mesa amp. all three of the artists you mentioned used mesa at one point, and as far as i know, cut their crucial records with those amps. save you pennies and score a good deal and you'll never even think about getting a pedal with one of these:

nirvana: one of the later Mesa Mk. series, either the II or the IIIc used on Nevermind-In Utero. these are not that hard to find and can be found reasonably cheap.

weezer: marshalls lately, but on blue and pinkerton it was a Mesa Mk I with some add ons. this was mesa boogie's first design and was a pretty simple head. these are expensive when they are original but theres two reissues: a reasonably priced straight up reissue and one called the S.O.B.- son of original boogie. the latter is somewhat maligned among the bluesers and tone hounds so you can actually get them dirt cheap, i mean like peavey prices.

foo fighters: i haven't done any real research but from what i remember dave uses a dual/triple rectifier. these are the newer models from mesa and still command pretty high prices.

the last time i was amp shopping i was looking for something similar, but with the capability to clean it up if need be. i was really on the lookout for a Mk I reissue head and had trouble finding one. the problem is that everyone has the 1x12 combos but the heads can be tough. they also weigh a ton if that's an issue.

i settled on a fender prosonic which was their version of an early mesa design, with a decent clean channel as well. it's cheap because it's completely over the top, most people who would check out a fender would never guess how mean this thing sounds! it has two cascading gains- like a distortion channel running into another distortion channel and i beleive it was just too much money when they were new (it was a custom shop design). i paired it with an avatar cabinet (can't say enough good things about that guy) and for under a grand i have a setup i'm really happy with.