First distortion pedal?

[Rory]

An early 90's Big Muff, the Big Green Russian ones.  I thought it was so cool!!!  In fact, the big muff is still my main distortion, though its now a 78 and not the green one, but I still have a special little place for it in my heart... aww...  
The second one I got was an expandora, the original kind, that had those little switches on the inside.  I was into sonic youth and the like and I wanted to make some really weird noises.  When you flipped both of the little switches to the "off" position, you would get some really cool gated sounds that interacted a lot with how you played your guitar.  I'll have to dig that thing up again.

[Brian Marshall]

some red peavey pile of dog meat

[GuitarLord5000]

A hand-me-down Rocktron in a cheap plastic case with the battery hanging out.  You had to stomp on it a MINIMUM of 3 times to get it working.  And you had to stomp frigging hard!  It had a decent enough distortion sound though.

[Hal]

DS-1 :-D

baught it in like '96.  Still the same price it was then, $40.  What a deal.

[Peter Snowberg]

A LM386 circuit VERY similar to a Little Gem.

First unit of somebody else's design was an Anderton tube sound fuzz or a Data-Kit fuzzface clone. (#2 and #3)

My first (and still only) purchased distortion was/is a Boss HM-2.

Take care,
-Peter

[Lonehdrider]

Hmmm, a very cheap japanese plywood guitar/amp combo.. The amp had just tone and volume, was solid state and for fuzz it had a loose fitting plastic handle on top that would buzz like nobody's business. The first pedal I bought was the roland beebaa which was cool at the time, but It was kinda buzzy, wish I had it now for the treble boost/enclosure (stainless!).

Regards,

Lone

[Steve C]

My First Pedal was a Boss HM-2 (Heavy Metal Pedal).  I got it about '85-'86 something like that.  Black pedal with orange lettering that I played through and old phonograph/8-track stereo that had a 1/4" jack in the back to plug in a guitar (a Japanese copy of a Gold Top Les Paul with a bolt-on neck).

[bwanasonic]

I actually bought my first distortion device before I even properly owned a guitar! I was playing a borrowed 59' Guild Starfire when I first started playing, and due to the influence of way too many Miles Davis Japanese imports circa 1975, I became obsessed with a Thomas Organ Stereo Fuzz Wah for sale at Pampalone Music in Boston. I bought it before I owned either the guitar or a proper amp. Guitar/ Dyna-Comp/ Fuzz-Wah/ Phase 90 was my signal chain for years until I got a TS9 in the early 80's. Then it became Dyna-Comp/ TS9 / Ibanez CS505 chorus.  And then came the EH Micro- Synth years...

http://home.earthlink.net/~bwanacentral/sonic/fingersym.mp3


Kerry M

[Dan N]

The 'limited edition' Olson Electronics "FRIZZY FUZZ".
 Long since dead and scavenged decades ago. Argueably one of the rarest [not sought after] Fuzz units of the 70's...anyone ever even "SEEN a Frizzy Fuzz?...abbreviated that's FF /// I wonder...like I say ...sounded pretty 'crude'

This just sold for $35 BIN. Wish I had got it. I'd have given it to you!

My first was a Jimi Hendrix JH-2 fuzzface. Now it's beat up, repainted, and houses an NPN (AC127) fuzz face circuit.

[Alex C]

My first overdrive was the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive.  My first distortion build was Steve Daniels' Tweak-o, which got me started in all of this.  I didn't purchase a true "distortion" until recently, the Boss DS-1 (which I promptly modded).  


Alex

[Nasse]

I must have been fourteen years old, and the first distortion was Mica Wau-Wau Fuzz. I had quite nice Hagstrom Viking semiacustic (just what Elvis used) which I unfortunately get rid of for financial reasons.

Later I did diy a Fuzzface copy from Finnish tech magazine. Thank you Aron, R.G and Jack at amz-fx and all others I now about 30 years later know that it was a Fuzzface. Of course it was misbiased, and I chose BC109´s, because they were low noise. The component shop had box full of original BC108´s

Later I had cheap small Shin-Ei stomper, and EH Little Muff or something named small case like LBP-1 but it had one opamp and diodes in a feedback, but a friend kind of borrowed it and maybe has it still

[Fret Wire]

RM Classic Fuzz when they first came out. Shortly after, a non-LED block logo Dist.+ through a  "Smith" Strat that I didn't like the first year because it wasn't Fiesta Red.
All three are still my favorites today.

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mw252001/album?.dir=/82%27+Smith+Strat

[Somicide]

haha, well, like one of the posts (sorry terrible memory) said, I too had my first distortion prior to having my own guitar.  I was playing a borrowed (oh yea, high quality) Austin Strat, I hated that guitar...,  through an equally borrowed kustom 16w SS amp.  I bought a DOD Death Metal, and actually liked the sucker, but then I used it as collateral to buy a new pickup, and started using a BMP sovtek black and liked it, then when i got it back, and still liked my DOD, i put it in my friends car at school and someone broke in and took it.  pissed me off...

[Johan]

..Ibaneze LA-metal....together with a Hondo strat and a Gorilla amp ( -86 )...it didnt sound very good,  even I could tell even though I was just starting out....

Johan

[JonC]

Heh, heh, My first distortion wasn't a pedal, but the recording preamp of a Teac reel-to-reel, which was also my first delay     My first pedal was a Maestro Super Fuzz.  Actually I think the Teac sounded better.

[Ed Rembold]

The year was 1976,
the pedal was- MXR Distortion+

Ed R.

[slajeune]

Hi All,

my first distortion was an MXR distortion+.  I had an awefull strat copy (plywood body and awefull neck).  I played this thru a Peavy SS amp.  Eventually, I got more money and moved to a Gibson tube amp (Explorer GA-15RVT).   I also bought a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face reissue.

Then, I stoped playing for quite some time.  Recently, I got back into playing music.  I bought a Fender American strat and a POD.   The POD is nice to 'emulate' amps that I will NEVER be able to purchase.  The big down side, it doesn't work well at all with pedals in fron of it.

I recently bought a Tube Works pedal (real 12AX7 tube inside).  And I recently built a bluesbreaker overdrive pedal.

That's about it distortion wise!

Cheers,
Stephane.

[Ed G.]

first for me was an Arion stereo overdrive. It was somewhat tube screamer-y.

[troubledtom]

a rockman W/ tc electronics booster for leads. i used them for the album
i did w/ bill ward.
         - tom

[Chris Goodson]

first for me was an Arion stereo overdrive. It was somewhat tube screamer-y.

Me too.  I think I got it it in 85.  I remember it as being very noisey, but at the time I loved it!