The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    What's currently the best very cheap fuzz/distortion box out there please ?
    small would be good too ....

    I've got cover a Santana tune and maybe Hocus Pocus by focus
    Classic rock , that sort of thing ....

    Maybe a Joyo something or other .....
    would the American Sound do that sort of stuff OK ?

    thanks folks
    Pingu

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  3. #2

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    I'm expecting a pile on for this remark... But I have to tell you that as an electronics engineer I've looked at circuits, I've listened to boxes, and Behringer puts out a pretty darn good product that's very affordable.

    Spend your money on Boss or other higher-end stompboxes but for the money, Behringer stuff works and in blindfold tests the discerning cork sniffers of the music stomp box world were not able to identify Behringer apart from any number of stompbox comparisons.

    YouTube has scores of comparisons.

    Personally, I would go for amplifier gain over a stompbox.

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    What's currently the best very cheap fuzz/distortion box out there please ?
    small would be good too ....

    I've got cover a Santana tune and maybe Hocus Pocus by focus
    Classic rock , that sort of thing ....

    Maybe a Joyo something or other .....
    would the American Sound do that sort of stuff OK ?

    thanks folks
    Pingu
    I just picked up a Joyo American sound recently -- it'll work great for Santana stuff. For Hocus Pocus by Focus, the only thing that will work is not playing it

    John

  5. #4

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    When I was playing for money, back in the 70's, never used a fuzz box. Distortion was obtained by driving the amp. Why would you want to use a fuzz box on Hocus Pocus? I saw Jan Ackerman live in 73 and he did not use a distortion device.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by geogio
    I'm expecting a pile on for this remark... But I have to tell you that as an electronics engineer I've looked at circuits, I've listened to boxes, and Behringer puts out a pretty darn good product that's very affordable.

    Spend your money on Boss or other higher-end stompboxes but for the money, Behringer stuff works and in blindfold tests the discerning cork sniffers of the music stomp box world were not able to identify Behringer apart from any number of stompbox comparisons.

    YouTube has scores of comparisons.

    Personally, I would go for amplifier gain over a stompbox.
    Sorry amp gain not available to me ....
    ive just got a clean setup

    which behringer pedal would you recommend?

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Al Br.
    When I was playing for money, back in the 70's, never used a fuzz box. Distortion was obtained by driving the amp. Why would you want to use a fuzz box on Hocus Pocus? I saw Jan Ackerman live in 73 and he did not use a distortion device.
    im using a clean SS amp

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    I just picked up a Joyo American sound recently -- it'll work great for Santana stuff. For Hocus Pocus by Focus, the only thing that will work is not playing it

    John
    ha ! agreed , I certainly don't major in this kinda stuff ...
    It's just a couple of tunes with this band ,
    we otherwise play standards , Latin , hard bop tunes etc

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    I just picked up a Joyo American sound recently -- it'll work great for Santana stuff. For Hocus Pocus by Focus, the only thing that will work is not playing it

    John
    thanks john , I might end up with one of those
    i would like a smaller pedal tho if possible

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by geogio
    I'm expecting a pile on for this remark... But I have to tell you that as an electronics engineer I've looked at circuits, I've listened to boxes, and Behringer puts out a pretty darn good product that's very affordable.

    Spend your money on Boss or other higher-end stompboxes but for the money, Behringer stuff works and in blindfold tests the discerning cork sniffers of the music stomp box world were not able to identify Behringer apart from any number of stompbox comparisons.

    YouTube has scores of comparisons.

    Personally, I would go for amplifier gain over a stompbox.
    Behringers meant to be really good, at least according to jhs



    To OP, what amp do you use?

  11. #10

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    For me this is more about overdrive than distortion, aiming to get overdriven tube preamp sounds out of a solid state rig.
    You're looking for two very different sounds. Santana is heavy overdrive with massive sustain, and Jan Akkermann's sound is more into the "normal tube overdrive" that nonethless continues to reflect any dynamics in your pick attack (Jan also had a strong treble boost on his rig, giving the strident sound that is typical of his Focus period).
    If your budget can stretch to it then the MXR Double Double nails both these styles because you can swith from lo "to" "hi" modes of overdrive in one pedal. Very versatile. Also built like a brick sh*t-house and able to swallow all the abuse you can throw at it.
    A budget alternative (1/3 of the MXR) would be the Landlord FX Amber Nectar Overdrive Pedal if you can find one - also very small on your pedalboard.
    Last edited by Ray175; 07-11-2019 at 03:07 AM.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    im using a clean SS amp
    Got it

    Advice - get an amp simulator pedal. I’ll look up for the budget options.

    I picked up Magic FM on the Joyo American Sound. Otherwise, better than the SansAmp IMO - less compression. I use SansAmp now, but the compression on the SansAmps can be very pronounced.

    For Santana you want a Boogie type sound.

  13. #12

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    Tone City...


  14. #13

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    Yeah drive pedals will sound shit through a jazz amp. Most tubescreamer and Klon type pedals need to be used with an already pushed tube amp for best results, doesn’t matter if the pedal is super cheap or boutique.

    Bad Horsie and J Rad Archer are both Klon Centaur clones.

    You can get interesting sounds, but you won’t get a classic rock tone.

    That’s my thinking behind recommending an amp sim pedal.

  15. #14

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    What kind of guitar and pickups are you using, what is your amp, and what else is in your signal chain. All of this effects how your dirt pedal will sound. It is honestly kind of hard to give advice without knowing these basics.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    thanks john , I might end up with one of those
    i would like a smaller pedal tho if possible
    You can have mine if you are in London

  17. #16

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    This looks good and is smaller. They do different model so if you want Mesa boogie they got that



    Could pair this with a cheapo ts or Klon or clean boost even.

  18. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    You can have mine if you are in London
    That would be great Christian
    yes I'm in west london ...

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    That would be great Christian
    yes I'm in west london ...
    Oh ok. When do you need it by?

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    thanks john , I might end up with one of those
    i would like a smaller pedal tho if possible
    Then either the Fulltone OCD or the Joyo clone of it (I think it's called Ultimate Drive). Fantastic pedal (I have an OCD), in a smaller footprint. The Joyo American sound is more colored (and has more options for coloration). The OCD preserves the amp and guitar's basic sound more, but also can be dialed up to have more gain/distortion. Another good cheap one is the Danelectro Daddy-O (got one of those, too), but it's a little bigger than the standard pedal size, and a funny shape.

    John

  21. #20
    Thanks everyone for theI think I'm gonna get a
    Harley benton American TrueTone ....
    a clone of the Joyo , oh the irony

  22. #21

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    if you're not picky, Behringer or Joyo types will do fine. But beware Behringer's buffer: I'm not a fan. I like true bypass, I like GOOD buffers (like Boss pedals), but the Behringer buffer stinks.

    Ditto Danelectro, BUT... they have a new fuzz, I LOVE it, it's true bypass, and I've been thru a number of "boutique" as well as popular/famous fuzzes, but I LOVE the new Eisenhower fuzz...

    ALSO- I found that not all fuzzes sound good into a clean amp. The Eisenhower is one of them that DOES.

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    Then either the Fulltone OCD or the Joyo clone of it (I think it's called Ultimate Drive). Fantastic pedal (I have an OCD), in a smaller footprint. The Joyo American sound is more colored (and has more options for coloration). The OCD preserves the amp and guitar's basic sound more, but also can be dialed up to have more gain/distortion. Another good cheap one is the Danelectro Daddy-O (got one of those, too), but it's a little bigger than the standard pedal size, and a funny shape.

    John
    Plus one for the Danelectro Daddy-O. I've been using mine for years to get tones range from a slight roughening to full-on raunch to radical rage at a thoroughly domesticated level. The three-band eq is priceless.

  24. #23

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    I used to have a very clean amp and I needed a little bit of punch, and at that time I bought a boss OD-1, which is an overdrive. Not a fuzz or Distortion and perform more of a gain function than a waveform manipulation

    FUZZ BOXES really changes the waveform when a boost in Signal such as the OD-1 accomplishes a bump in signal and is not as dated sounding nor 60s Psychedelic sounding ... which was I always considered as overkill.

    Ackerman used his amps, as did Santana, but since you have a clean SS that's not an option.

    Maybe you can pick up a used and very reasonably priced Boss OD-1.

  25. #24

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    Hard to beat a good old tubescreamer for Santana stuff.... the Joyo or Harley Benton Vintage Overdrive sounds great and feels sturdy enough (it survived two years on my small board already). Behringer is probably fine too, but I have no experience with their OD-pedals. The Joyo Ultimate Drive was a bit too much for - it boosted the basses too much on my Twin Reverb.

    Any OD-pedal over $50 is waste of money imho, the cheap clones sound just as good.

    To really go Santana-boogie style: put a compressor in front of a tubescreamer. I have the Joyo/Harley Benton Dynamic Compressor (30 bucks) and love it!

    I can imagine the Joyo American Sound will do the job as well, very nice pedal. I have one but I only use that as a preamp-pedal for back up or to tube-a-fie my SS-amps (tube-a-fie a SS-amp with a SS-pedal, haha!)

    The Keeley Aria seems interesting since it's a separate OD and COMP in one pedal, so would save space on the board and use only one DC-output. But for €239 (euros) it's waaaay overpriced I think.....