MXR dirt pedals...

[rustywire]

Distortion II is underrated

[Jwar]

The Fabtone is the SHIT! LOL! Love that fucking thing.

That being said, most MXR pedals I've tried haven't been super high gain. Now the MXR Bass Distortion M85 (which is a colab between MXR and Fuzzrocious) is pretty fucking awesome. It's high gain and has LED and Silicon clipping. I played the shit out of that sucker at NAMM when it was being launched. Absolutely loved it.

Other than that, I'm not really into their dirt selection.

I've personally found if I'm going the MXR route, I'd rather get a Boss pedal. IMO they sound better and you have a lot more options. Like the Metal Core, that sucker sounds amazing to my ears! Or the Metal Zone. I know people talk shit, but it sounds amazing to me as well. Fuck I even like the DS1.

My favorite high gain distortion though is The Elements. I know it's probably not what you're looking for, but it's great and versatile and gnarly as fuck.

[popvulture]

Yeah, I know the mini is a popular dirt choice around these parts...

And I'm sure it's a rad od, but the whole reason I asked about MXR's, is that I've always overlooked them and they're easily available and pretty cheap

Also, I can't find a single demo that backs up all the raving reviews Not that the ilf consensus isn't worth anything, but I know I'm kinda picky, and for all I know the mini doesn't have that partical flavor I'm after

Yeah I'd say it's not the most desirable move in either case to buy before you try, if you can avoid that! Especially if you're picky

The good thing is that MXRs are going to be pretty easy to test drive... probably available at just about every Guitar Center, I'd imagine. I'll also add of course that the old script models sound much better (to my ears at least) than the new ones. The new ones will sound generally harsher, but often that's what people are going for, so it just depends

[Christophe]

Looking more for a alternative to a rat, hotcake or ocd, preferably even a bit nastier. The more gain the better, as long as a cranked gain control doesn't get me a mid scooped fizz party and doesn't compromise the medium gain toanz too much.

I have a rat and a Hotcake, I've played the OCD.
You should really give the Wylde OD a try... It sounds close. It wont go into fuzz territory, but if you want nasty and low compression...

[Tristan]

I just landed an EQD Crimson Drive for 90 EUR, could pass on the deal to you should it not be for me.

[fcknoise]

I had a dist III a long time ago. It doesn't really have all that much gain, it's more a overdrive. I think if you boosted the crap out of it it might sound good. As alternatives to the Rat I'd say HM-2 is a great suggestion, but it never goes overdrive. The Marshall shredmaster is also good and cheap and might work for your needs too. I've been curious about the D+ and II

[jrfox92]

I have an early 2000's Dist. + that I got for $40 from a pawn shop, it does okay but you have to crank the volume to even get unity. I replaced that with an Acapulco Gold and it sounded pretty much the exact same but louder.

[fcknoise]

Well, I want to try an Acapulco gold too. Even more now

[frigid midget]

Looking more for a alternative to a rat, hotcake or ocd, preferably even a bit nastier. The more gain the better, as long as a cranked gain control doesn't get me a mid scooped fizz party and doesn't compromise the medium gain toanz too much.

I have a rat and a Hotcake, I've played the OCD.
You should really give the Wylde OD a try... It sounds close. It wont go into fuzz territory, but if you want nasty and low compression...

Will do. It's uncool enough to be found for a ridiculous price

[frigid midget]

The Fabtone is the SHIT! LOL! Love that fucking thing.

That being said, most MXR pedals I've tried haven't been super high gain. Now the MXR Bass Distortion M85 (which is a colab between MXR and Fuzzrocious) is pretty fucking awesome. It's high gain and has LED and Silicon clipping. I played the shit out of that sucker at NAMM when it was being launched. Absolutely loved it.

Other than that, I'm not really into their dirt selection.

I've personally found if I'm going the MXR route, I'd rather get a Boss pedal. IMO they sound better and you have a lot more options. Like the Metal Core, that sucker sounds amazing to my ears! Or the Metal Zone. I know people talk shit, but it sounds amazing to me as well. Fuck I even like the DS1.

My favorite high gain distortion though is The Elements. I know it's probably not what you're looking for, but it's great and versatile and gnarly as fuck.

Never really looked into the M85, probably always overlooked it cause it's marketed as a 'bass' distortion. I wouldn't say it's expensive, but 170Euro new isn't the sort of steal I'm after either I'll keep my eyes open though, new mxr stuff usually doesn't go for premium prices I guess.

All I really know about the metal zone, is that in the clips I checked, I liked the HM2 a little more, and there's indeed a helluva lot of reviews out there that slay the metal zone It's been ages since I heard a DS1 in action, but it was my first 'decent' pedal when I first started playing guitar. Hated it with a passion, sucked the life out anything it was hooked up to. So yeah, ymmv I guess

Totally agree on The Elements though. But I was messing with the controls more than I was playing my guitar, all those awesome different shades of dirt, with just switch and not even one extra preset...For me, it was just a waste of the overwhelming amount of switches, pots, options and sound, and it cost me about the same as two or three mxr/boss/ehx/etc dirt pedals

I know I'm hard to please though...The Acapulco Gold sounds great in the yt clips, but the lack of seperate gain/vol controls on the W&C Mercy Phuk I had annoyed the shit out of me. I wanna be able to go full blast at bedroom levels, or maybe even get a volume bootst with lower gain levels...

[Christophe]

Will do. It's uncool enough to be found for a ridiculous price

Ah ah, true. It's a bit like buying a Berhinger pedal; You have to look around you to make sure noone is watching before entering the music store!
It took me five years to take it to a repairshop (the friend who gave me that pedal had told me it needed repair), because I kept thinking "No way I'm gonna use a ZW overdrive, man"... I had it fixed, and while on tour, paired it with the Boss and OCD and I was in for a surprise. Sounds great.
About the sd1, mentionned in this thread, I still have one on my small board, eventhough I'm in love with my Barbershop. Tube screamers are most praised, but actually the sd1 is in the same department, and it's a beautiful sound.

[frigid midget]

^ Yeah, but in this case, contrary to Behringer, the MXR isn't a plastic piece of crap
I couldn't care less about the indie cred of my pedals. Indie cred isn't even the right term I guess, cause most bands I ike tour with medium/small pedalboards with mostly ehx/boss/line6

The ZW reference is misleading enough for me to overlook the pedal. I'll try to get my hands on one, thanks for the tip.

[frigid midget]

I had a dist III a long time ago. It doesn't really have all that much gain, it's more a overdrive. I think if you boosted the crap out of it it might sound good. As alternatives to the Rat I'd say HM-2 is a great suggestion, but it never goes overdrive. The Marshall shredmaster is also good and cheap and might work for your needs too. I've been curious about the D+ and II

Are you refering to a shredmaster clone or kit here? The old Marshall ones I find online are FAR from cheap

[frigid midget]

I just landed an EQD Crimson Drive for 90 EUR, could pass on the deal to you should it not be for me.

Cheers

What sort of gain level should one expect from the Crimson Drive though? First impression after checking a couple yt clips: Not a whole lot of saturation, even with the gain dimed. It's a real overdrive it seems, not a hint of hair/fuzz/grit. More in the same league as a Boss Blues Driver as far as gain levels go, a little less maybe even...right?

[Tristan]

Dunno, I expect it to be fuzzy as fuck.