Joined a new band so I'm back to building! Help me choose a distortion circuit.

[Feral Feline]

Congrats on getting to play live; jellyyes-I-is.

For the Distortion part, bright...
Katzenkönig !

Get a PCB from THCustom, FuzzDog?, Aion

Review:

Catalinbread Katzenkönig Review

Tone Bender + Rat = One Bad Kitty.

www.premierguitar.com

 

[MBFX]

Thanks for all the replies, everybody!

 

[jimilee]

I just built a mostortion, it’s pretty badass.

 

[chris.knudson]

I'm a huge fan of the ADHD, which is Robert's take on the OCD. My lead guitarist used to play a hollow body Gretsch, and it gives you just the right amount of distortion without being too dark. I absolutely love that pedal.

 

[giovanni]

For a dark pickup you could try a buffer after a very short cable. Or even built into the guitar if possible. That may help with the high end.

I third the Rat: the filter control may be pretty useful here. The Timmy may work too, I recently built a Powder Blue (which I think is a modded Timmy) and it sounds fantastic.

 

[joelorigo]

BE-OD might be a good pick considering the presence and tight controls would be useful with those filtertrons

Or maybe the Aion Tempest which mashes together the BE OD and Twin Sister pedals

 

[Feral Feline]

What about a Muff into a Screaming Bird?
If it's bright you want, I've heard the Screaming Bird is insanely bright.

 

[HamishR]

As a Gretsch player myself I would suggest an overdrive rather than full-blown distortion for a hollowbody. From the PPCB range I might recommend the Splendiferous OD, the Lollar Drive or Fordoble Drive. None of the Friedman dirt pedals sound very good with my Gretsches.

Tubescreamers can be a bit muddy with a Gretsch.

 

[HamishR]

Oh, I just built a Kadundra distortion. I might try to reduce gain slightly as it might take off with a hollowbody Gretsch but it's tight and bright. I like it!

The Pandora on forbidden mode is fantastic with a hollowbody because of the gating. Plus it sounds great. Really good with a hollowbody.

 

[jcpst]

Or maybe the Aion Tempest which mashes together the BE OD and Twin Sister pedals

Oh sweet, that’s what I wanted! Both the Mid and Tight knobs, all in a 125B.

 

[joelorigo]

Oh sweet, that’s what I wanted! Both the Mid and Tight knobs, all in a 125B.

Great! And if you use Tayda, I created a drill template that is here in the Tayda Drill Templates.

 

[Einzeln]

@The Gator You made the gatordrive for filtertrons, didnt you?

 

[HamishR]

Just remembered another PPCB contender: The Animals Pedals I Was A Wolf In The Forest distortion. I modded mine slightly - left the presence control off (it's just a trimpot, one cap and one resistor), put the bass control on top and fattened up the mids a little by using different values for a cap and resistor and man it sound great with my Duojet with TV Jones Filter'tron Classics. The Bass control is very low so as you turn it up it adds thump so you can let the sound chug if you want. Killer distortion which can do distortion or OD. If you're interested I can detail the mods but even stock it's a killer pedal. I much prefer it over a Rat TBH.

 

[swelchy]

find the most beat up DS-1 you can get on ebay... throw a battery in it and throw it on the floor and rawk! lol