A good distortion pedal

Hello;

I am fairly new to guitars; and absolutely new to amplifiers, pedals and all electric guitar accessories.

I have a 10W Fender amp with a button on it that activates the overdrive... but thats kind of a nuisance to go down and press.


I was wondering a few things. First off; does a pedal just activate the overdrive on the amp... because I've seen TONS of distortion pedals... and its hard to believe they all do the same thing.
If a pedal does alter the amp's overdrive, please tell me this and please show me a good pedal for more rock type music.
Also, tell me if there are pedals that simply activate the amp's overdrive.

Thanks in advance,

~Max

Hi, I'm also a new Guitar Player and i'm also will play Metal and Rock. A very very good Distortion Pedal is the
BOSS - HM2 but this Pedal was build to 1991. I have seen at EBAY, that you can buy it new in Japan, USA and Great Britain. But it will cost lots of Money.
So i have build it by myself (The circuit Schematics can you find in the Internet). This Pedal is awesome. You can find some Demo Videos on Youtube.
Look at this Video below and look the whole Video. Than you will hear what i mean :-)

Many greetings from Germany

Max - yes, you can buy a pedal that simply activates the overdrive in your amp, but only if the amp has a footswitch input. Check the amp manual or the manufacturer's web site. If you are happy with the distortion sound of your amp, that is the cheapest way to go.

As far as actual distortion pedals out there, they do not control your amp switching, they modify your guitar signal to create various distortion and overdrive sounds. Depending on what musical styles you like, there are certain pedals that would be more suitable to your taste. Some good brands to check out are Boss, of course, MXR, Line 6, Zoom and Digitech. Behringer have a line of pedals that are very similar to Boss, but for much less money.

Since you are new to pedals/effects boxes, you might want to check out a multi-effects box or pedal, by the same manufacturers listed above. They offer a wide variety of sounds in one box. For example, you can pick up boxes like the the Line 6 Pocket Pod or Digitech RP-50 for less than $150, maybe even less on eBay.

Good luck!

Hey there

I am using the Boss DS-1 I am quite happy with it, its a cheap pedal but it does the job - a lot of beginners start with that.