January 21, 2020 by Klaus Crow
You got a guitar, an amp, a decent clean sound, but your amp is missing that great distortion sound that will blow you away. You might already have a great distortion, but you’re lacking a 70’s classic rock tone or you want to add that sweet tone from your favorite guitar player to your arsenal.
Well, today we got a list of 10 awesome distortion pedals that will suit every style of guitar playing from delicate blues to classic rock to ruthless heavy metal.
These sounds will satisfy all your funky riffs and soaring lead solos. A great selection of stompboxes ranging from 50 up to 250 dollars, depending on your budget and personal taste, there is something here for every musician who wants to rock the place.
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Enjoy!
1 – Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal
The Boss DS-1 has been on the market since 1978 and is one of the most famous and best selling distortion pedals of all time. It’s also a very affordable one. It’s used by guitar legends like Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Kurt Cobain, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. The distortion has a classic rock tone delivering hard-edged attack, smoother sustain and all the grind you could wish for. The characteristic tone has influenced many guitar players in the 70s, 80s and even 90s, but distortion pedals have come a long way. It’s the best pedal in it’s price range, and great for starters, but if you have a little more to spend, then read on.
Controls: Distortion, level and tone.
Connectors: Input Jack, Output Jack, AC Adapter Jack (9V DC)
Indicator: Check indicator (Used for indication of check battery)
Power supply: 9 V DC : Dry Battery 9 V type (6F22/9 V) AC Adaptor (PSA-120, Optional)
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal
2 – MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion
The Super Badass covers a wide range of distortion sounds, from early ’70s low gain overdrive to modern metal distortion and a very broad spectrum of dirt in between. It’s got a highly tweakable EQ. The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls do a great job in fine tuning your sound to your needs. The Super Badass Distortion features true bypass switching and comes with sturdy housing and durable components to make sure you are prepared for your gigs.
Controls Output (Volume), Distortion, Bass, Mid, Treble
Switches: Footswitch toggles effect on/ bypass (red LED indicates on)
Power supply: Powered by one 9 volt battery (remove bottom plate to install), a 9 volt AC Adapter such as the Dunlop ECB003/ECB003EU or a power supply such as the DC BrickTM.
Connectors: Input & Output Jacks
More info, Prices and Reviews for the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion
More info, Prices and Reviews for the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion
3 – Wampler Sovereign Distortion Pedal
The Sovereign distortion is a really versatile pedal. It has two gain stages, a mid contour, bright switch and tone control that allows you to dial in virtually any sound from modern distortion, dirty blues all the way back to classic OD tones. The Sovereign is made to go with any kind of amp and any kind of guitar. The “Boost switch” gives you some extra sustain and volume which is great for lead playing and the “Modern-Vintage switch” gives you the option for a different tone and style. With it’s highly tweakable EQ you can shape your own personal distortion sound. If you want a high class distortion pedal, then the Wampler Sovereign could be the one for you.
Controls: Volume, Mid Contour, Tone, Gain
Pedal:Relay true bypass with soft switch
Switches: Modern-Vintage, Boost-Gain toggle switches
Connectors: Top mounted input and output jacks
Power supply: Between 9mA (9v) and 17mA (18v),
Battery connection and 9v power jack
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Wampler Sovereign Distortion Pedal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4v2n-fQTM
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Wampler Sovereign Distortion Pedal
4 – Blackstar HT-DIST
The HT-DIST pedal’s includes Blackstar’s Patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) circuit which allows you to effectively design your own sound with the unique enhanced tone controls going from typical British to USA distortion. This is a great pedal for rock, hard-rock, alternative and heavy-metal. The dynamics of the high voltage valve design and a no compromise speaker emulated output and this pedal is a classic amongst modern distortions.
Controls: Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, ISF, Level
Switches: High integrity buffered bypass, Silent switching
Power supply: Power supply included
Output: Speaker emulated output
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Blackstar HT-DIST
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Blackstar HT-DIST
There’s also the HT-DISTX pedal, which is a no compromise, ultra high gain, filth machine designed for ulta-high gain metal.
5 – 5 – Bogner Uberschall Distortion Pedal
The Uberschall pedal derives its hi-gain distortion from the Bogner Uberschall amplifier. While the Uberschall pedal offers a wide range of classic lower and medium gains, it really shines when you’re going for it’s fierce, high-gain aggression. The pedal provides clarity, touch sensitivity and superb note separation. This is not a fat, intense, muddy distortion pedal (if that is what you’re looking for), but more a true, honest, right in your face, aggressive pedal that makes sure all your tones are musical and in the forefront. It’s a pedal with it’s own unique character that responds to every note you’re playing! High quality, but also expensive.
Controls: Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass and Gain
Switches: True bypass and Boost function with independently lit volume control.
Power supply: 9V battery or 9VDC power supply (not included).
Connectors: Input, Output jacks and a Remote jack allows control of the On/Off and boost functions via a remote switching unit.
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Bogner Uberschall
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Bogner Uberschall
6 – The Big Muff π – Electro-Harmonix
The Big Muff PI, ussualy known simply as the Big Muff, is a classic among stompboxes and has been used by contemporary guitarists and rock legends. Among the list of users is Jimi Hendrix, Santana, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), The Edge (U2), Jack White (White stripes), John Frusciante (RHCP) and Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) The box produces a rich, creamy and gritty “In your face” fuzz-like sustain, but you’ll also have no problem dialling in to some really nice mellow sounds. A perfect pedal for vintage fuzz, heavy stoner rock, grunge and alternative music.
Controls: Volume, Tone, & Sustain
Switches: True-Bypass Footswitch
Power supply: 9-Volt Adapter or battery operated
Connectors: Input & Output Jacks
More info, Prices and Reviews for the The Big Muff π
More info, Prices and Reviews for the The Big Muff π
7 – Tech 21 Hot-Rod Plexi Analog Distortion Pedal
The Hot-Rod Plexi pedal is inspired by the vintage Marshall amps. While those classic amps gained their best sound by turning the volume all the way up, the Hot-Rod Plexi will emulate that great tone at moderate levels. The controls Level, Tone, Thump and Drive are all complementing that sound. Then there is the “Stock” and “Hot” mode. Stock mode transforms your sound to a stock ’68 Plexi from input jack to speaker jack and the “Hot” mode is like adding an extra 12AX7 in your preamp, capable of adding another 28dB of pre-amp gain. If you’re searching for that classic Marshall like tone without having to crank up your amp that the Tech 21 Hot-Rod Plexi will deliver. A super class pedal!
Controls: Level, Tone, Thump, Drive, Stock-Hot
Switches: Silent-switching, custom footswitch actuator
Power supply: Operable with 9V battery (not included) or optional DC power supply (Tech 21 Model #DC2)
Connectors: Input & Output Jacks
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Tech 21 Hot-Rod Plexi Analog Distortion
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Tech 21 Hot-Rod Plexi Analog Distortion
8 – Pro Co RAT2 Distortion Pedal
The Pro Co Rat 2 has become very popular in the early 80s thanks to notable guitar players like Joe Perry, Jeff Beck, Joe Walsh and later Kurt Cobain, Thom Yorke, Dave Grohl, James Hetfield and Nuno Bettencourt. The RAT2 has become a new standard. It is a great distortion for rocking riffs and high gain soloing. With the legendary RAT filter control you can turn to the right to soften the high-end frequencies and turn it to the left to add some natural brightness to the mix. The “Distortion” lets you go all the way from mellow musical overdrives to turbulent furious fuzz. A must for the real rocker!
Controls: Distortion, Filter, Volume
Switches: Heavy-duty, industrial footswitch
Power supply: DC jack (RPS-1 power supply sold separately), “No tools required” battery compartment (9 volt, not included)
Connectors: Input & Output Jacks
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Pro Co RAT2 Distortion Pedal
More info, Prices and Reviews for the Pro Co RAT2 Distortion Pedal
9 – MXR M78 Custom Badass ’78 Distortion Pedal
The MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion is designed to emulate vintage rock sounds. It’s a straight-forward simple pedal with easy tweaking. The three control knobs lets you dial in a good tone fast and easy. You can go from smooth and bluesy to dirty, all the way up to a full overdriven amp. Great for classic, post and alternative rock, not so for extreme fat heavy metal. The crunch button gives it some extra dynamic and sustain to kick it up a notch. The overal sound is pretty aggressive but works great to cut through the mix when you’re playing in a band or for recording purposes. You’ve got yourself here a thick, mean, clear and defined distortion.
Controls: Output, Tone, Distortion
Switches: Footswitch toggles effect on/ bypass (red LED indicates on) and the CRUNCH button increases dynamic range of distortion.
Power supply: Powered by one 9-volt battery (remove bottom plate to install), a 9-volt AC adapter such as the Dunlop ECB003/ECB003E, or a DC BrickTM power supply.
Connectors: Input & Output Jacks
More info, Prices and Reviews for the MXR M78 Custom Badass ’78 Distortion Pedal
More info, Prices and Reviews for the MXR M78 Custom Badass ’78 Distortion Pedal
10 – TC Electronic Dark Matter Distortion Pedal
TC Electronic’s Dark Matter is an exceptional pedal. The name though is a bit confusing. You would expect more a total package of doom metal. But Dark Matter would be more suitable for early AC/DC, Guns ‘n Roses or Foo Fighters, Nirvana kind of style, all the way up to some angry trash metal. Nothing wrong with that! The dark Matter has a lot of mid range and delivers great saturation with a fat, expressive and responsive tone, perfect for rhythm and lead solos. The Gain, Level, Bass and Treble gives you total control of your distortion dialing in sounds precisely and fast. This is a vintage-voiced distortion with extreme dynamic range!
Controls: Gain, Level, Bass, Treble
Switches:True bypass and Voicing switch
Power supply: 1 9V batteries required or an AC Power Adapter (not included).
Connectors: Input & Output Jacks
More info, Prices and Reviews for the TC Electronic Dark Matter
More info, Prices and Reviews for the TC Electronic Dark Matter
Hi
I own one of them: MXR M78 Custom Badass ’78 Distortion Pedal, and I would like to have Wampler Sovereign Distortion Pedal but it is to expensive at this moment.
I also use BOSS Metal Zone, it is an awesome distortion pedal, but it is not on your list?
Hi Josip,
I also really love the Sovereign pedal. It’s really versatile and giving you a high class distortion. It all depends on your personal taste and the style of music you’re playing.
About the Boss Metal Zone, I can’t have them all in the Top 10. ;)
Best,
Klaus
ik mis de ibanez ts. deze lijst kan echt niet zonder. ?
Hi Rob,
The Tube Screamer is definitely a classic, but it’s more an overdrive pedal.
No Fulltone OCD?
Hi Jay,
The Fulltone OCD is an overdrive pedal, but a damn good one ;)
I don’t think I’ve ever met another guitar player (of reasonable vintage) that hasn’t had a DS-1 in their signal chain at one time or another. Considering it’s been around for nearly forty years, I’d say Boss/Roland got the recipe for a distortion pedal right the first time.
Absolutely DS-1 has got some great history. A great pedal for beginners and guitar players on a tight budget.
Great selections. I heard good things about “Empress Effects Compressor” & wish to buy one. How is “Empress Effects Heavy” a 2 channel , all analog, true bypass (unlike DS1) pedal? I want to buy a good compressor, an OD & a distortion pedal. What shall I get?
1) Compressor:- Wampler Ego ocompressor or Empress Effects compressor or anything else
2) OD:- Full tone OD or anything else
3) Distortion:- Wampler Sovereign or Empress Effects Heavy or anything else
Previous I thought of getting Blackstar pedals. They are absolutely the best. But they have a non-removable “Vacuum Tube”. Won’t the tube get damaged after a few years? Please help.