Good high gain dist pedal to use with a vox ac30

[Blakemore Effects]

Rat. I put off trying one through my AC15 forever, and I was always really upset about it, but I tried one in the Mystery Box, and it was perfect. Do it.

[The Gainster]

the little voice in my head is telling me to suggest Skreddy Zero. I also dig my fulltone Gt5oo. cornish G2

 

Which little voice?

[cratz2]

I've tried an OCD v4, Barber Direct Drive, Barber LTD SR, Guv'Nor 2, a couple tube screamer types and a couple fuzzes.

 

To be honest, none of them really blew my socks off. Most of them were OK, but I've come to the conclusion that the Celestion Blue just isn't really fit for higher gain, Higher gain meaning 'Metallica circa 1990' or higher.

 

Sometimes I run that amp into a 2x12 with one ceramic Blue Dog and a G12H30 and it does a lot better in my opinion... probably because of the greater bottom end.

 

When I do the higher gain thing, I'm more of a chugger than a 'weedley wee'er'.

 

I've seen a couple folks get decent result with a Jeckyl & Hyde.

 

The Direct Drive does great up to cranked 18W type tones... the OCD isn't bad either. I loved it until I got the Direct Drive.

[Blakemore Effects]

Also, if I may play Devil's advocate, I bought a Way Huge Green Rhino reissue the other day, and it sounds really good through my AC4. I know it's supposed to be an overdrive, but there is a lot of gain on tap in this thing. When I cranked the gain I was able to play "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" with no problem, and it sounded really good. Granted, if you really do want something with more gain on tap, a Rat of Crunch Box would be a better idea, but I'm super pleased with this Green Rhino so far. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

[thom]

The bands you mensioned all sound pretty different. But impo a real fuzz pedal is no good for any of that stuff. As much as I love my Swollen Pickle (please don't quote that out of context), it's a versitle muf-like fuzz box, and not the best dirt pedal for tight overdrive/distortion tones impo.

 

My rat sounds okay with the ruetz mod, but something like a crunch box or ocd would probably be a step up.

[misterstomach]

will i get in trouble for making a reference to the spam thread and the two pedals mentioned most in this thread? i guess i'll see 'cause i just did.

[hilikus8]

 

I love my so much devastation. I tried it with my Nomad which has a four EL84 power section. Did the trick. Hey, here is a formula for AWESOME NOFX type tone, and it works with nearly any setup. When you borrow that Crunch Box, do this: Run your guitar into the crunch box. Set the gain low and the tone and volume kinda high, so it's a lighter OD and sounds bluesy with your neck/middle pickups, and almost too harsh with the bridge. Run that into the muff with the gain set low, the tone set low and the volume set high... basically, the muff on its own should sound slightly more defined than pure mud. WHen you have both pedals on at the same time, it will be like a NOFX record... a few tweaks aside... it will work. Running a low-gain, really bright sounding OD into a muddy, somewhat muffled distortion... it's just awesome. I've tried it with a BBE Green Screamer into a Boss Bass Overdrive, and I've tried it with my fancy-pants OD into the So Much Devastation, and several other configurations. It always works. Please try this. Ideally, an OD would be better than a full on distortion to run first, but the CB is a versatile little thinkg form the clips I've heard. It should do the trick. I run this at practice and gigs too, it sounds good loud and quiet. For the record, NOFX is my favorite band, I strived for their lovely, tight, modern, high (but not metal) gain tones. Now they're a cinch. Unless you wanna buy a Mark V and a Recto 412, try this trick man.

 

 

OD into Muff is an awesome combo, it even works with humbuckers! currently I do it a bit different, I take my bad monkey or KOT, depending on the amp, and crank the gain and set level slightly above unity, into my RAT set for low gain, almost clean but boosting a bit, that my friend is pure sex, and it works absolutely great with the AC30.

BTW, here's a quick recording I did with a stock tele, RAT into my brother's AC30, pardon the {censored}ty playing, but it'll kinda give you an idea of what the RAT/AC30 combo can do.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=971356&songID=8002667

[notjonahbutnoah]

 

OD into Muff is an awesome combo, it even works with humbuckers! currently I do it a bit different, I take my bad monkey or KOT, depending on the amp, and crank the gain and set level slightly above unity, into my RAT set for low gain, almost clean but boosting a bit, that my friend is pure sex, and it works absolutely great with the AC30. BTW, here's a quick recording I did with a stock tele, RAT into my brother's AC30, pardon the {censored}ty playing, but it'll kinda give you an idea of what the RAT/AC30 combo can do. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=971356&songID=8002667

 

 

We're all talkin about the same thing here...

 

STACKING!!!! It's just the best.

 

 

One way or the other, the basic rule is:

 

Guitar, into brighter sounding drive/boost, into [thicker sounding pedal (rat) OR amp distortion]

 

I mean, there's an amp with your dream distortion out there somewhere, and everyone will recommend a different one, but this trick is just so versatile and sweet sounding... try it. It instantly puts you in that tight, rhythm (or lead) high gain territory. The tweaks you make are usually very minor.

I mean, it's like women. You can try and find one that just feels perfect for you, but two at a time gets you there so much quicker and easier.

[ChrisTUFFer]

I run a Vox AC30 head with an OCD v4. If you dont care about switching to cleans (loss of unity volume) max out the input volume on the ocd and set the overdrive to around 5, Hi peak, into the clean channel of the vox , vol maxed and the master set to taste. I do this for "chugging" around on it since im without my old 5150. Amazing sound. Though I'd love to get a new distortion pedal that can get me high gain without having to set the volume up so it can match the cleans when I turn it off. I really like the wampler triple rec sounds and am also considering a Railhead Effects TUA.