What kind of distortion is this ???

Hi everybody ,
i?m searching for a kind of distortion but i?d like some help and excuse me for the long post !!!....thanks .

I?d like one with tight lows, beafy , good midrange , articulate and defenited , perfect for palm mutting and goods riffs like DOWN , i don?t need a lot of distortion ....
i have :
- the Egnater ERECT that is good but is has a fluby lows and a distortion tap that doesn?t convince me at all.
- The Egnater single MODERN HG , a little flat and without much personality ,very compressed , too treble and VERY noisy . Lows for pm aren?t bad at all .
- The Randall PLEXI is very good , vintage sound , articulate...but it need more balls .
- i?d tested the Randall RECTO but it?s similar that ERECT but less beafy and personality .
At last , i must say that i play with a Boss cs3 Humphrey mod in front of and les paul and strat guitars with JB Duncan in both guitars .

i forgot one thing , i?d like crunch but not fried !!!

I would definately advise you towards the Chandler/ Tubeworks/ Butler TubeDriver. Used units show up every now and then and are rather frequently occuring on Fleebay. Set right and with the right valve it can deliver as ound remenicient of an electric grader or a Caterpillar engine with lots of chutspa and authority.

There are 3 existing models to my knowledge; the 3 knob, the 4 knob and the rackmount. Then there's another type of valve driven pedal made by Butler that has fled my mind.

There are being made some clones of the TD by VOX (the Big Ben) and Huges & Kettner amongst others, but I can't speak for those.

at first thanks for answering ,
i?m not looking for a distortion pedal ?cause i spent a lot of money in the M4 / modules and i need one module ( and MIDI function ) , i?ve the Boss MT2 Humphrey mod and a Xotic RC Booster for soloing or add some gain/crunch to the different modules and at last the BBE sonic maximizer into the serial loop .
I like cream distortion but not fluby , dark but not muddy , with some bright and grainy but not fried , good tight lows but not dried , beafy but not Inflated , articulated and defined , maybe a little scooped but not 80?s ,.....it?s difficult to me explain it ?cause i?m Spanish ....but i could say that it would be similar to DOWN distortion ( old school but with more balls )...

Then what do you wish to know?

i wish to know simply what module is nearer to my parameters .

Look, distortion occurs a little along the entire signal chain, from string to the air set to motion by the speakers.

To achieve distortion you can:
Make an external dist box clip
Push the pre-amp by an external box
Make the pre-amp clip by pushing it with the pickups
Make the pre-amp clip by increasing the gain
Make the power-amp clip by pushing the output section by driving it with the pre-amp
Make the power-amp clip by turning it up (alternatively by running it through an attenuator)
Create compression of the speaker by pushing it with the power-amp.

In your case I would look into the valves in your pre-amp + modules and the power-amp. What brands and types of valves do you use today? Also what amp and speakers do you use more exactly?

michel said:

i wish to know simply what module is nearer to my parameters .

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EG5

i use a H&K vs 250 power amp ( 50w with the american presense at 3 o?clock ) , 2x12 cab with 2 Celestion v30....
eg5 ??? i don?t know this module .

YUPPERS..........the Egnater EG5. Its just brutal.
METAL ON BROTHER!!

It's a modified MHG with better mid section,It is badass....

where can i see it ?
i?ve the old single MODERN HG , and i think that is a little flat and without much personality ,very compressed , too treble and VERY noisy . Lows for pm aren?t bad at all , i like his crunch but it doesn?t convince me...

michel said:

i use a H&K vs 250 power amp ( 50w with the american presense at 3 o?clock ) , 2x12 cab with 2 Celestion v30....
eg5 ??? i don?t know this module .

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2xV30 equals 120W. My guess is you'll have plenty of headroom as long as you keep it at around 50W.

For pre-amp valves I would go with Tung-Sols for body and depth and JJs for bite and gain.

Then output valves are important. You would probably need a strong pair of beam tetrodes for the sound you're after - or perhaps the 6CA7 power pentode. If you can fit them try out the new so called KT66s that are rebottled 6L6s. They're strong and sound much like the revered 6550 but w. lower power rating. Amongst others Zack Wylde uses the 6550.

where can i see it ?
i?ve the old single MODERN HG , and i think that is a little flat and without much personality ,very compressed , too treble and VERY noisy . Lows for pm aren?t bad at all , i like his crunch but it doesn?t convince me...

Check out this article with Pepper Keenan: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=99050&s=articles&src=3SOSWXXA
It's about COC but I'm assuming Pepper used the same Mesa 50 Caliber heads for Down.

The Egnater EG5 pretty much nails the 80's high gain sound. It has plenty of gain and loads of cutting treble. It's like the MHG but with more pronounced high mids and treble.

IMO, the Randall and Egnater modules are awesome for Fender and Marshall tones but they're lacking in the Mesa sound. If they made a Mesa Mark IV or IIc+ module that would be the one to use to sound like Down.

Well , this is a good option to loooking for and i think that it?s time to change them , i?ll search for these kind of tubes....THANKS .
I?ve the Egnater single MODERN HG and i think that it?s a little flat and without much personality ,very compressed , too treble and VERY noisy . Lows for pm aren?t bad at all...you think that with the modification will be that what i?m looking for ??? is it the diference so notificable ???
i forgot one important thing , i put into the pararell loop one g-force and it add eq and distortion for tha distortion channels ( more punch , midrange ,...)

thanks for that nice link?cause i agree 100%...old school Blues , Mr.Gilmour ,trower , gibbons...and Mr.Keenan....this is what i?m loohink for , it?s not all metal and metal and metal......i think that the best Rhythm sound ( inclueded for metal ) is a blues sound and then Add to taste balls ( it?s means crunch , articulation , sustain , grain , spongy , percusive ,....feel ,it?s not all lows lows lows.....
My last preamp was the Boogie Studio preamp and i love it for years and years and i sold it ?cause i need MIDI funtion and more balls but i think that it is THE SOUND .

If you think the MHG is too trebly and compressed you would not like the EG5 at all. For the sounds you describe I recommend the EG3/4. I agree that you should experiment with tubes as well.

i forgot one important thing , i put into the pararell loop one g-force and it add eq and distortion for tha distortion channels ( more punch , midrange ,...)

Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand correctly but you don't want to put EQ and distortion in the parallel loop as you will get phasing issues, only time based effects.

michel said:

thanks for that nice link?cause i agree 100%...old school Blues , Mr.Gilmour ,trower , gibbons...and Mr.Keenan....this is what i?m loohink for , it?s not all metal and metal and metal......i think that the best Rhythm sound ( inclueded for metal ) is a blues sound and then Add to taste balls ( it?s means crunch , articulation , sustain , grain , spongy , percusive ,....feel ,it?s not all lows lows lows.....
My last preamp was the Boogie Studio preamp and i love it for years and years and i sold it ?cause i need MIDI funtion and more balls but i think that it is THE SOUND .

Click to expand...

Hey, did I get it right: you don't want a metal sound?

hi , thanks for add us ,
do you think that P.Keenan?s sound is metal ???