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Are Distortion Pedals Necessary?

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jetlennit
jetlennit|297

Hey there! I was just wondering, is it necessary to get a distortion pedal if your amp has a built in dirty tone switch (The Orange Crush 35rt, for example)? I like the dirty tone, I was just wondering if there was any real reason for me to get a distortion pedal or if I should just use that money on some other pedal type.

Thanks! JetLennit

tel_nobody
tel_nobody|3007
GEAR:
  • Fender MIJ Jazzmaster JM62
  • Epiphone Dot
  • Electro-Harmonix Sovtek "Green Russian" Big Muff Pi V7C
In reply to jetlennit:

Pretty much a personal preference. My playing travels across a few genres so I find different effects come into play. If you are happy with your dirty sound that is a great thing. being happy with your sound puts you in a better frame of mind to play and opens doors for creativity. Depending on your genre, you might want to look at a chorus pedal, to add a bit of colour and richness to your sound, or a delay pedal for a bit of depth at low settings. From this point, by experimenting with different mixes and tweaking those dials, you might find new sounds and styles which may lead to the urge for other sounds. There are a lot of new cheap 'clone' pedals available now that will help you experiment with your tone a bit and open those new avenues without busting the bank on something you aren't a fan of in two months.
One thing I will add, if your amp does not come with a footswitch for that dirty sound, invest in one. The ability to toggle that sound on or off handsfree is a must to smooth uninterrupted playing.

GEAR:
  • Fender MIJ Jazzmaster JM62
  • Epiphone Dot
  • Electro-Harmonix Sovtek "Green Russian" Big Muff Pi V7C
jimmarchi1
jimmarchi1|41029 MODERATOR
GEAR:
  • Roland Juno-6
  • Gibson SG Standard
  • Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp

short answer? of course not

GEAR:
  • Roland Juno-6
  • Gibson SG Standard
  • Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp
rodri_muro
rodri_muro|9812

If your amp give you a dirty tone, is not necessary, unless you want a very heavy distortion. To play in amps whitout dirty tone, the pedals are great

jimmarchi1
jimmarchi1|41029 MODERATOR
GEAR:
  • Roland Juno-6
  • Gibson SG Standard
  • Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp
In reply to rodri_muro:

If your amp give you a dirty tone, is not necessary, unless you want a very heavy distortion. To play in amps whitout dirty tone, the pedals are great

all amps will give you a dirty tone if you push them beyond their operational limits, hence the term overdrive :-) but not all amps will produce a pleasing overdrive when gunned...

GEAR:
  • Roland Juno-6
  • Gibson SG Standard
  • Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp
jetlennit
jetlennit|297

If I have another question about pedals, should I put it here or make a new discussion?

justice_welsh
justice_welsh|47

Often the best way is get a high gain tube amp and add an overdrive pedal if you need more boost/saturation etc. A distortion pedal doesn't work with already high gain you get way too much gain

dukeuke
dukeuke|3378

In my opinion it depends how quickly you want to turn on or off your distortion. If you wanted distortion for a whole song by all means, but for just a few bars or one section at a time bending over could be quite annoying. Also it depends on your amp. If you want t o play cannibal corpse with the overdrive on a fender you might as well spend your time playing bass. However if you have a mesa boogie or an engl or some other evil, satanic metal head go forth into the world of amp distortion.

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