choose a dist. pedal

[bobafer]

hi there guys
im still sort of newbie and would like your opinion over these two pedals


its the Proco Rat 2 and the Visual Sound Son of Hyde, basically im looking for some diferent sounds, i mean metal, hard rock, blues, something versatile. ive seen these and people say they are good. so watcha think? if there is any other pedal you can recommend me, please comment thanks!!

[Hellbat]

The latest guitar player mag I've seen (Brad Paisley on the cover i think?) has reviews of 21 different distortion pedals. I left it at work, but i think they may have something on that Son of Hyde pedal.

[markD]

i like the rat. i used to get good sounds out of it when i was younger. at one point my favorite rig was a fender twin reverb, a rat, a vox wah, and a stratocaster. got KILLER tone from that rig.....

i have an original sansamp that works as a pretty versatile pedal. can be a bitch to dial in a cool sound, but it CAN be satisfying.

personally, i'd rather have another rat pedal......

[Larz]

I'd try and listren to some clips or something, it depends on what type of distortion you are after.

Or go to guitar center and try them out, they have tons of them ready to plug into usually.

The Rat is famous for what it does, but if you're running it through a clean channel you're not gonna get extreme metal from what I recall. Haven't heard the son of hyde but Visual Sounds does make some great pedals.

I like the Boss MT-2 as well.

[Super_shredder]

i like the rat , but also consider a tubescreamer infron of a distorted amp . it tightens things up while increasing sustain

[triplehold]

You can't beat a Rat pedal- They are sturdy, inexpensive, don't eat 9 volts and you can dial in a good sound with any guitar and amp. Hey markD- About 25 years ago my rig was a Fender strat, a Rat pedal, a Crybaby and 2 Fender Twins, one with stock speakers and the other with JBLs. I would also have the vibrato foot switch in use also. Man, I could make that baby sing, scream, moan, groan, cry and sound like the wind. I cut my teeth playing in a power trio back then and still whip out a lot of those tricks nowadays in the same lineup.

[Grandturk]

I just picked up a Boss Metal Zone for shits and giggles. Its got a bevvy of cool sounds. Depending on how you set it, you can go from a British Steel kind of sound to Sabbath to thrashy and modern metal sounds. I was trying to find a "boo-teek" pedal to do this, and ended up with the Metal Zone because it gets the job done for $100.

That said, I've already got a Keeley TS-9 and a Fulltone Octa-Fuzz to do those sounds - the Metal Zone will not do those sounds.

On the Rat side - to me, the Rat basically has one sound - the Rat sound - so decide if you like that sound. If you do, then get it.

[Newc]

basically im looking for some diferent sounds, i mean metal, hard rock, blues, something versatile.

Well, what amp are you using? You should be able to get the Hard Rock and Blues tones out of the amp, then use the pedal to send it into the Metal-sphere

Or you could find an ADA MP-1 and a tube poweramp - 128 different patches is more versatility than most people need, and it fits neatly in a rack just like it was a head.

[markD]

Hey markD- About 25 years ago my rig was a Fender strat, a Rat pedal, a Crybaby and 2 Fender Twins, one with stock speakers and the other with JBLs. I would also have the vibrato foot switch in use also. Man, I could make that baby sing, scream, moan, groan, cry and sound like the wind.

indeed!!!! my twin had the stock speakers, and you are right...man that rig was a KILLER!!!! i forgot about the vibrato pedal....man that vibrato REALY fattens up the sound and makes for some cool stuff. i have a mini version of that rig now...i use a blackface tremolux head with a 1x12" cab with a weber speaker...i just need to get the rat pedal again...the sansamp classic just isn't cutting it....

[blitz]

I have boss Metal Zone and Metal Core pedals and i wouldnt trade them for anything! I also put a Chorus Ensemble with those 2 and it sounds awsome.

[Cygnus X1]

Rat+Fender is a great combination.

Twins, Deluxe Reverbs, especially the blackface period amps "love" pedals in general. An old MXR Distortion+ is good also.
My favorite is a Boss OD-1 with a tone mod.

[bobafer]

Well, what amp are you using? You should be able to get the Hard Rock and Blues tones out of the amp, then use the pedal to send it into the Metal-sphere

Or you could find an ADA MP-1 and a tube poweramp - 128 different patches is more versatility than most people need, and it fits neatly in a rack just like it was a head.

Well, this will sound ridiculous, I'm using a Line 6 Spider 3, 15 watt, however I´m thinking of getting a nice Vox Valvetronix, maybe between 20 or 30 watts.

Thanks for your comments y'all!

[maluco]

hey,

a cool pedal for distortion to try is the tone bone! excellent distorttion sounds

[shredmonster]

Tone Bone is good besides the RAT. Stay away from the Boss Metalzone unless you get a modified one. They sound good alone when your at home but they suck in a live mix.

[jdr94]

if i had to pick one of those i'd go with the son of hyde cause the rat doesnt have enough gain for me, but its all on what youre goin for.