Shootout: Distortion Pedals

CRUNCH, FILTH, MAYHEM! READ OUR EXPERT ROUND-UP OF THE BEST HIGH-GAIN DISTORTION PEDALS AROUND. WORDS BY JONATHAN HORSLEY.

Distortion? We all want it, and many players just can’t live without it. In this golden age of stompboxes – with all kinds of small-scale boutique FX manufacturers trading blows with industry titans such as MXR, TC Electronic and Boss – there’s never been a better time to find the best distortion pedal to turn your pristine cleans into dirt. Here we have some hardy perennials and some ubiquitous picks from the big players, but then we’ve also got an oddball gain machine from EarthQuaker Devices with one knob and that’s that.

Any one of these pedals will turn a clean guitar amp into a fire-breathing monster, so if that tweed combo isn’t cutting it for your doom-metal band, boy, have you come to the right place. Each of these distortion pedals is designed to weaponise your guitar tone, so whether you’re looking for the best distortion pedal for metal, rock or beyond, we’ve hunted down the best options for you.

WHAT IS DISTORTION?

So, let’s talk about what we mean by distortion, and how this might affect your hunt for the best distortion pedal. As with anything with an aesthetic purpose, gear – and how it sounds – is subjective. There are no rules so long as the tone speaks to you – and ultimately, that’s the most important thing.

This list focuses on distortion pedals, but naturally there’s some overlap between distortion, overdrive and fuzz. All dirty up your tone. But where overdrive doesn’t change the fundamental character of your guitar’s signal, distortion is more aggressive. It clips your signal harder. Fuzz clips it harder still, so you really lose definition.

Distortion pedals are best applied to clean tones. Just stomp on the switch, and your metal/ punk/hard rock dreams await.

WHICH DISTORTION PEDAL IS RIGHT FOR ME?

In the world of heavy metal, distortion is the mostprized raw material, and the evolution of metal and its subgenres through the ages has seen the black t-shirt dollar buttressing the economy for high-gain pedals. For some metal players, a pedal that can deliver thick, saturated distortion, often with a tight compression to it, and definitely some rich harmonics, is essential.

If you are playing towards metal’s extremes, you’ll want a whole heap of distortion. Some scenes, such as early ‘90s Stockholm death-metal, coalesced around a single distortion pedal, the Boss HM-2; they dimed everything and it sounded horrible but brilliant. As a rule of thumb, however, it’s always good to use just enough gain to get the job done, and not to use it as a crutch.

Features that can enhance a distortion pedal include its EQ, which lets you shape your tone (with three- and even four-band EQs being the gold standard), and imaginative switching options such as selectable clipping modes, which let you choose between different voices of distortion. A little versatility goes a long way, even when melting faces.