Recommend me a GOOD beginner distortion pedal.

[dmc777]

I've looked at many but I'm not sure which ones are the best. Anyone have any suggestions to a fairly simple distortion build for a beginner? Thanks in advance.

[jkokura]

Way Huge Red Llama? Beginner project found in the forum here?

If you've never built a pedal before, I think it'd be a really good idea to try building a kit first - I didn't, but I wish I had. When I did some kits I learned a lot I should have known before doing it the way I did do it.

I recommend BYOC kits based on my experience. There are quite a few there, I'm sure you'll find one that you'd like to build.

Jacob

[Schappy]

There is a beginner distortion project here at the forum. A kit is a great place to learn wiring and soldering. The thing with building from scratch is you usually have to debug more than you do with a kit.

If you want to jump right in.

Fuzz Face
Trotsky Drive

[jacobyjd]

trotsky drive

[phector2004]

-1 on fuzz face

unless you get the transistors matched with the proper resistors included. Pretty straightforward in that case

I'd recommend a PCB project to start.
generalguitargadgets.com has some good ones, but avoid anything with trimmers and such

[jmasciswannabe]

MXR Distortion +

Not much to it and you can play with opamps and diodes and even do a mod or two if you want. Easy enough to perf if you don't want to etch.

http://www.tonepad.com/getFile.asp?id=115

[brett]

Hi
good = bosstone
fuzzy = fuzzface
versatile = tube reamer
cheers

[jimmybjj]

howie's metal simplex?

[dedguy]

Smash Drive is pretty simple, and there's a vero layout in the Gallery...

[stringsthings]

i would also recommend starting out with a kit .... BYOC makes good stuff .... General Guitar Gadgets ... SmallBear ..... and there are others .... something with a fairly low parts count ..... ( check youtube for sound samples ) ....

in the beginning, building is the easy part .... trouble-shooting is not ....

and remember, even if your new pedal doesn't work, it does make for a nifty paperweight ! 

[blooze_man]

trotsky drive.

[Electron Tornado]

Try the electra distortion. This is what the Trotsky is based on. The Distortion + is also simple to build and lends itself to some simple mods as well.

If this is your first go at electronics, buy a kit.

[wyleegee]

I'd recomment the MXR Dist+ too.  I've just started and it was a breeze.  Now i'm hooked

[petemoore]

  "Good always ends up as 'better', than the last or the next one.
 Varies greatly per customer...could be the 3/2 Jfet driving a tube output amplifier/speaker to distort, or anything else in the realm of 'simple boost'.
 I like the way speakers distort, but that requires the 'good' speaker and tends to be a bit demanding of the amplifier, but for 'gooder', that's where I like to start.
 That said, great simple Fuzz Face, or Distortion + does the trick. Mine have simple treble cut control.
 More could be said of the BMP in terms of parts count, output level, tone control and 'double distorter' stages.
 I'd read the recent and past Fuzzface threads, visit GEO [technology of said Fuzzface] and AMZ [yaff Fuzz] and Fuzzcentral [Axis Face], then decide on a very modifiable Fuzzface perf-bread design, very satisfying in terms of:
1  Debugging: Bam: Instant karma-learner, you will take no for an asnwer until the right answer is found.
2  Learning Tool: Debugging is a big part of this, modifying a FF here and there creates your own ''personal tutor''. Provides immediately understandable, wordless, ultra-detailed answers to such questions as ''what does misbias sound like?", ''how about a smaller input capacitor value?".
3  Product: A Fuzz Circuit tunable to your present or future preference.
  I use both.
  The Dist+ is very 'good', they're all basically fine, boost>clip>adjust>output...''basic'' being the root word, a fine word, like ''simple''.
  Whether distorting a speaker, amp, distorter, or combination of the three +boost, a simple booster is super-handy to help find out where 'more' and 'overdone' are.
  Also makes excellent choice for remarks 1, 2 and 3.
  Most every dirtboxe's input boosts the paltry output of an  electric guitar, some barely add dirt but lots of boost...''good too'' imo, others don't even add dirt [distortion] or voltage gain [boost].
...buffer/follower, handy thing to take along with long cables !