Proper RR distortion advice sought....

[rooster18]

Hi, there. I play through my own amps, my OD channel is kind of like a JCM800 single-channel (2203) on steroids, a bit more gain than the original Marshall sound. However, every now and then, I'd like to be able to get something along the lines of the old Randy Rhoads lead distortion. Any suggestions for a good pedal to run into the front of it to get a bit more bright "Rhoads-style" gain? I currently goose the front end during the Ozzy stuff with a Jack Orman minibooster, which does a great job for the Judas Priest/Iron Maiden/Nickelback/anything more middy stuff, but that Rhoads sound needs a bit more brightness and aggressiveness.

What would you build if you were looking for that? The raw sound from my amp can be heard here: http://www.2kdlive.com/, probably under the "Slide It In" clip. Don't hold the playing against me, I'm not what I'd consider a great lead player, but concentrate more on the amp sound, if you will.

rooster.

[jhamnett]

Roostah,

If I'm not mistaken, Randy used a MXR Distortion+.  Check out the link, they say he used a mildly overdriven amp to thicken the tone:

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-3976.html

Hope this helps!

[petemoore]

If I'm not mistaken, Randy used a MXR Distortion+.
  Maybe really hot pickups, I found a booster or comp.  helps to gain up a DIST+, I use an adjustable LP filter on the output in place of the cap, parallel to the diodes.

[rooster18]

I was afraid of that. I guess I'll give it a try, but the D+ was always so darn noisy. I've modded an old D+ once with a TL071, and though it quieted it down a LOT, it also smoothed out the distortion a bit, and lost some of that ridiculously sparkly sound the original had. I was hoping there was a transistor fuzz that, when plugged into a Marshally-type circuit, would give me a good chunk of that sound. I had even thought perhaps the tried-and-true Rangemaster; anyone have an opinion on that, or should I just go for the D+ and work around the noise?

rooster.

[MartyMart]

Rooster, Pete's advice is sound, LP filter on the Dist+ can help a lot with removing "hiss" ... BUT you
will only get this when cranking the gain quite hard, your sound may well come with the gain a bit
lower 
Another quiet and very nice version is Phillip's "Liquid drive"  .... search ..... well worth building and
it's kind of a "boutique" Dist+/250/Ross deal !

MM.

[petemoore]

  My DIST+ with LM741 was remarkably low noise..go figure, FF, even boosters could put more idle noise out than the DIST+ w/OS comp driving it, the 2circuit box was very quiet.

[blanik]

DiMarzio Super dist into an MXR Dist + into a 70's Super Lead 100w Marshall.... hours of daily practice... lol