What's the best OD/Dist/Fuzz pedal?

jamison162 · Post by **jamison162** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 4:23 pm

Best TS style pedal you say?

Tone Freak Abunai II
Barber LTD Series
MJM Phantom Overdrive
When all else fails, TS808RI

zombie youth revolt · Post by **zombie youth revolt** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 4:53 pm

i have T-Rex Mudhoney right now - great pedal

in the overdrive mode its pretty standard ts style pedal but it doesnt rob your amp's bottom end - sounds fine with my les paul, i think it would sound awesome with strat/tele

in the boost mode its just awesome awesome fuzz - i you can get sounds from hendrix and early led zep to black sabbath and queens of the stone age

and for leads it just sings and sustains forever

highly reccomended

OrangeJuicer · Post by **OrangeJuicer** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:07 pm

blackcloud45 wrote:I'm looking at the Okko Diablo and the Mi Audio Crunch Box now...

Hey mate !

If you are looking for some youtube clips of the OKKO Diablo...there you go:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f

Good german blues guitarist. Sells the OKKO and also vintage guitars...

GuitarMD · Post by **GuitarMD** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:13 am

MJM Phantom OD only $165.
Astoundingly good classic hand built TS808 pedal on 1 setting.
The 2nd setting is an improved/modded TS setting, more gain and bass.

The extra setting available on the ToneFreak Abunai II that is unique to it over the MJM is an LED clip that sounds not so good to my ears.

So my vote is for the marvelous MJM Phantom OD as the greatest Tubescreamer style pedal.

Cheers,
~GuitarMD~

Thinline_slim · Post by **Thinline_slim** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:11 pm

I've had the HBE Power Screamer for a number of years and it sounded great when I was playing Fender amps.

Now I just use the 2nd channel on the AD30. Done and done.

jamison162 · Post by **jamison162** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:51 pm

GuitarMD wrote: The 3rd setting available on the ToneFreak Abunai II is that is unique to it over the MJM is an LED clip that sounds atrocious.

Where did you get your mis-information? Do you have the Abunai II? I do, and there are no led's other than on/off indicator on the outside. There are no led's in any clipping circuit in this pedal. There are also no bad settings. I've tried many 3 toggle style TS pedals. This is the best I've heard yet.

Toggle =
Middle - No Clipping
Left - Symmetrical Clipping
Right - Assymetical Clipping

This pedal is also more along the lines of a Marshally style crunch or hotrodded TS more than the striaght up TS variety.

GuitarMD · Post by **GuitarMD** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 9:01 pm

HAD an Abunai for a very short while; it went "bye bye" for my phantom.

My mis-information came from here...
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archiv ... 80862.html
Please read here and you will see that the ToneFreak Abunai II is a BYOC 808 with some mods. One of those mods is an LED mode or the so called "Marshall" tone.

And here...
http://buildyourownclone.com/board/view ... &sk=t&sd=a
Here is a forum for people building their own 808s. Here again people are discussing trying to get the "Marshall" mode of the Abunai by using LEDs.

My other mis-information came from the fact that an LED is a light emitting DIODE; it has been very very common in the pedal industry to use LEDs as the clipping diode in circuits. In fact I am pretty sure that one of the most common mods is a Landgraff mod that uses an LED for the clipping diode to give a more aggressive tone.

However, in your defense (and in a shocking contradiction to my recollection of the specs of the pedal) there is no mention of light emitting diodes being used in either of the clipping modes on the tonefreak website. And alas, I was not curious enough to open the pedal up and look for an LED when I had the abunai in my possession. So, while I am still highly suspicious that the more aggressive toggle setting on the abunai was using an led, ultimately I must apologize if I passed on mis-information.

Having said that, I agree that the Abunai sounded great on the other 2 settings were delightful; one was quite smooth and the other (middle setting) was an awesome clean boost. Regardless, I still stand by the Phantom OD as the best TS clone to date.

~GuitarMD~

jamison162 · Post by **jamison162** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 9:48 pm

GuitarMD,

I know what an LED is and have had several pedals that had an LED clipping section (modded Rat, etc.). However, I just wanted to clarify that this is not the case with the Abunai II I have.

Thanks

blackcloud45 · Post by **blackcloud45** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:53 pm

I'm leaning towards the Wampler Pinnacle II now... Anyone have experience w/ Wampler?

http://www.indy-guitarist.com/inc/sdetail/92

BLS · Post by **BLS** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:44 pm

I use a Maxon 808 GREAT OD!

jamison162 · Post by **jamison162** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:09 pm

I've tried most Wampler boxes....organized a TourBox for them too which is in motion.

Honestly, I'm not a fan, nothing really grabbed me. I did own an original Plexidrive for a while though. Most of them sound about the same and (to me) are somewhat fizzy, harsh, fake sounding. I just didn't like them. I've tried the PlexiDrive, Pinnacle II, Ecstasy Drive, Plextortion and Cranked AC. Sorry, but be warned.

blackcloud45 · Post by **blackcloud45** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:51 am

jamison162 wrote:I've tried most Wampler boxes....organized a TourBox for them too which is in motion.

Honestly, I'm not a fan, nothing really grabbed me. I did own an original Plexidrive for a while though. Most of them sound about the same and (to me) are somewhat fizzy, harsh, fake sounding. I just didn't like them. I've tried the PlexiDrive, Pinnacle II, Ecstasy Drive, Plextortion and Cranked AC. Sorry, but be warned.

Ouch, thanks for telling me before I laid down $180!

blackcloud45 · Post by **blackcloud45** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:52 pm

How about the MI Audio Crunch Box? Anybody?

niangelo · Post by **niangelo** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:26 pm

I like my non-mosfet FD2. I like the spongy, classic rock character. It pairs well with the '52 RI and AD30.

Foef · Post by **Foef** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:16 pm

blackcloud45 wrote:How about the MI Audio Crunch Box? Anybody?

Great pedal, but nothing like a Tube screamer.
More in the league of the OCD and the Xotic BB preamp.

Look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XYi4sEVrD4

Grtz, Bert.

What's the best OD/Dist/Fuzz pedal?

edited to sound a little less mean/biased.

Who is online