Recommendations Wanted: Best Hard Rock Distortion That Cleans Up at Lower Volume

[cps]

Hi Folks,

What would people recommend as a DIY pedal that produces a good hard rock distortion (I'm thinking classic 80s sounds) but that cleans up when the guitar volume is turned down?

I know that blues players often go for a touch-sensitive sound and tend to use "overdrive-type" pedals but I'm thinking of a more extreme rock distortion.

Cheers,

Chris

[SmoothAction]

Wampler plexidrive. Great circuit. Goose it with a treble booster (naga viper currently) for raunchiness, that combo just loves the volume knob. In fact I never turn those pedals off, both are responsive and just provide a darn good base tone with a clean amp. I need to rehouse them without bypass switches into one enclosure, my LPs volume tweaking is all that is required from glassy cleanish to rawk n growl.

Great circuits, I highly recommend that combo.

[PBE6]

I think the RAT is considered a classic 80's hard rock distortion pedal. Along the same lines as above, I would also recommend Runoffgroove's Thor pedal. It's a great take on Marshall-type sounds, and the bass boost really does a great job capturing the roar of a 4x12 cabinet. There isn't a huge amount of gain available, but you can goose the front end with a booster for gnarlier distortion.

(One recommendation - if you do build it, remove the bass boost switch, and replace the 100k resistor with a 100k pot to make the bass boost variable.)

EDIT: Recommendation #2! Add a bypass capacitor to the source on Q1 to increase the gain. Put it on a switch if you'd like the ability to revert back to the original.

[deadastronaut]

spitfire v3...\m/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ1y8gikPqQ&list=UUGP0eO8ADt0H9FY5UcHTf8A

[SmoothAction]

^ +1M. Although the plexidrive boosted by a treble booster cleans up in all ways awesome it is really more of a heavy overdrive, your spitty is my favorite full bore meltdown distortion. Nailed some Whitesnake tones spot on earlier today with it...      

[deadastronaut]

^ cool..definitely 80's...