The MXR Super Badass Distortion is a perfect choice for guitar players who want a reliable distortion pedal that's ready to go out of the box. It's also a great choice for those who want more sound-shaping capabilities in their distortion pedal. The M75 has EQ controls that most distortion stompboxes don't have, which is why it's the go-to of people who are after a specific tone. Ultimately, you’re getting a premium product for a very respectable price that just has an unbeatable sound to it. It comes beautifully finished with high-quality hardware and electronics too, which means that if you’re looking for superb quality boost and saturation, you just aren't going to be disappointed with the Soul Food. Premium Choice - EarthQuaker Acapulco Power Amp Pros: Powerful, flexible 3-band EQ. Touch-sensitive responsiveness. Can go from modern metal leads to simple lead boosts with aplomb. The output control provides significant amounts of boost, while the distortion control offers a range of textures, including clean boost, tubey blues-style overdrive and sizzling saturation. A really great sounding extended range fuzz with extra texture and character aboard that few fuzzes make use of. I mentioned in the intro that this was one of two MXR fuzzes I still had me eye on along with the La Machine octave fuzz. I just have so many priorities to juggle at one time that I've never hit those two at there right time.

On our list, we’d recommend the MXR Super Custom 78, MXR Super Badass, and MXR Distortion +, along with the Boss DS-1 and ProCo RAT 2 as being the pedals that offer the biggest chance for some really high gain sounds. That’s not to say this list is exhaustive of course - you’ll find plenty of other high gain pedals on the market. It is worth noting that distortion pedals are different from overdrive pedals, which are meant to push your amplifier past its headroom for a slight crunch or very subtle distortion. Distortion stompboxes offer extra grit or dirt to your signal without having to push your amplifier, giving you that signature distorted sound even at low volumes. The Boss DS-1 pedal should need no introduction really. This is one of the most famous, popular, and well-reviewed distortion pedals on the market, and has been for almost 40 years now. It’s an absolute classic, and is likely to continue as such for a very long time yet. Finally, distortion pedals are often combined with other effects like chorus and reverb, or with wah-wah pedals. This is how you build a really nice distorted sound, but remember that it’s always worth fine-tuning your tone, then level of distortion, and then finally effects on top of that. It’s the easiest way of finding the right tone and ensuring that you can replicate it in the future. What does a Distortion Pedal do?

As to which is better will depend entirely on your preferred kind of music. In general, overdrive will be used by more vintage and less aggressive styles, whereas distortion is the staple of metal and more modern music. This is by no means a rule, however - there are lots of exceptions.

It’s an undeniably vintage-looking thing, but if we’re honest it does look a little strange. The fonts are all over the place, and things feel a bit jumbled. Looks don’t matter to a lot of guitarists, but it’s certainly worth noting regardless. Despite this, and its compact size, it feels like a quality product. The heavy-duty construction should last and last. What can we say? The DS-1 has been designed from the outset as the everyman’s distortion pedal. It’s versatile enough to be used for a very wide range of music styles, it’s not hard to get it to elicit some great sounds, and it’s priced very attractively indeed. We can easily get everything from a bit of light distortion to some serious growls from the responsive dials, which is great if you’re new to this kind of effect. It does this by giving you controls for both level and gain, as well as treble and bass. There are also two fuzz options, for either a classic sound, or a grungier feel, and a boost one too. It’s really very good - the tone might not be the greatest that the market has to offer, but it’s ideal for someone who just wants to play with this kind of effect, or wants to sue it selectively. So what exactly does a distortion pedal do when you hit that footswitch? How do distortion pedals work?ProCo’s RAT 2 could in all honestly come very close to being our top choice, but it’s such an incredibly good distortion pedal for an incredibly good price, that it has to be our great value selection. It’s really not that often that you can say this about such a famous pedal either. There’s usually a premium to pay for a name, but there isn’t here. The EQ section is brilliantly voiced, providing an impressively vast range of tones with nary a bad sound to be found. Boosting the bass control makes the tone bigger but never flabby or farty, and when it’s turned down it never gets wimpy or too thin. The treble control covers a palette from dark (but not muddy) to razor sharp (but not piercing). This obviously gets its name from the Vintage 1978 Marshall JMP Super Lead 100w Amp - also known as the Marshall Plexi. It's one of the great takes on that genre - while it does seem to slip under the radar every now and again.