choose a dist. pedal

[Grandturk]

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.

And what specific modification would address this "lost in the mix" problem?

[shredmonster]

I don't know the specific mod they do on the MT-2s cause I got rid of mine after it got lost in the mix. I have read about them on line. You can probably google it.

My reason for owning a distortion pedal is for unfamiliar backlines.

The one I have now is absolutely awesome. It is made by effectspedalboutique.com

Guy named Dave Wireman if I recall correctly. He custom makes pedals for some professional players. He also has permission to do the John Landgraff mod.

So I have the Landgraff mod on one side of my pedal and the Swanlund mod on the other - Swanlund is the guy in Marshall Tucker. So it is 2 distortion pedals in one box.
I can use them separately or together. Everybody compiments my tone when I use that distortion.

Dave builds them by hand at his home. Very nice guy and honest. Builds killer pedals - very organic and touch responsive. And a shitload of tone shaping options. He even includes extra chips witht the pedals.

I won't ever look at or need another distortion pedal again. I am done.
If Dave was not around I would probably have a Blackstone.

[surfreak]

In your case, I'd say you should invest in a serious, good tube amp.

Any distortion pedal won't sound good in front of a digital modeling amp like your Line 6 or the Valvetronix you plan to buy.

Get the best-sounding Marshall or Mesa you can afford, learn how to get the best tones out of them and re-assess your needs, as to whether you really need a pedal.
If you do, then at that point the choice is almost endless.

My recommendation is also to go with a brand that is widely available and well supported: I've learned the hard way that so-called "boutique" gear, whether it is amps or pedals, in many cases does not meet the need of a gigging musician.

I've had "boutique" OD pedals die on me, only to discover that there was a 6 months waiting list to have the pedal replaced.

Many "boutique" builders are hobbyists at best, and while their prices are worthy of a true professional, gig-ready product, their distribution, product support and reliability is not.

[emperor_black]

Get the line6 UberMetal. With an onboard noise-gate, which works even at the ear-shattering levels we play, that's the best buck for the money. It has great tone shaping options. Set it on the pulverize mode and you're done.

I traded in an Ibanez TS9DX for a Metal zone just for kicks. the metal zone has a good tone when dialed in properly, but when I put it on the pedalboard, its way too noisy at high gain settings. The ubermetal fixes that problem.

[leftybob]

Vox

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!

The problem with the Valvetronix 30w or less is it has no send/return lines, mixed reviews, no extension cab capabilities, and last you can't get a clean tone out of it. It is always effected by the amp selection in the modeling.