10 Best Distortion Pedals in 2024 [Buying Guide] - Music Critic (2024)

Distortion Pedal Buyers Guide

What is the Best Metal Distortion Pedal?

When anyone comes looking for a distortion pedal, the first thing they have in mind is the type of music that they play. And often, that’s metal, because pretty much every single guitar in metal music is distorted.

So what exactly are you looking for? The problem with this is that it will depend entirely on the type of metal that you like to play, or think you’re going to play most often. Metal is a hugely diverse genre, more so than many people would initially think, which is why it’s very hard to say that there is one single metal pedal that sits above all others.

Traditional heavy metal, for instance, will often use a bit of distortion in a way that’s designed to replicate the overdrive heard on old school amps. It’s a slightly different tone to out-and-out distortion, and if you go for something with too much gain, it just isn’t going to sound quite right. Similarly, a lot of 80s metal and heavier arena rock will call for this kind of tone but with some compression pedals. Look for pedals that talk about overdrive-voiced distortion, or that offer some sort of go-between of overdrive and distortion. Think the ProCo RAT 2 or similar.

Black metal will often go for super high gain, which is easy to find on a pedal, but you’ll really need to be able to crank up the treble and mids to replicate the sound, which means that you’ll want a pedal that has those knobs available. Unless of course, you don’t mind adding to your chain, or you think the amp’s own functions can take care of that. Death metal will call for the same, but with more bass.

If you’re playing straight, out-and-out modern metal, covering everything from alternative metal to nu-metal and even metalcore, then most standard distortion pedals are going to work to get you pretty much bang on the distortion sound that you need. However, rather than hoping one single pedal will get you to the tone you’re looking for, if you’re looking for something incredibly specific, you will need to think about everything that influences tone, from your pickups to the settings on the guitar.

If you have a favorite artist, then it may well be useful to see what they use, rather than hoping to find the holy grail of distortion.

So to conclude, there are so many different types of metal, with varying sounds, that it just isn’t possible to say there’s one single greatest pedal for metal. If you pushed us for a choice from this list, however, we’d recommend the Boss DS-1 for its flexibility, and potential for proper distortion. It’s a good starting point for most types of metal, but if you wanted something for 80s shred, then you might go for the Distortion+ or RAT 2. Alternatively, stoner metal might call for the Acapulco Gold.

What is the best high gain Distortion Pedal?

High gain is what gives you that really distorted sound, and is often what you’re looking for if you want a seriously heavy distortion pedal for metal tones, but it can be good for hard rock too. As we’ve already discussed, there’s a lot for you to look for if you’re playing metal, but this is often a good place to start.

There are lots and lots of different pedals out there that offer high gain and very significant distortion, which makes picking the ‘best’ quite a difficult task. What you’re looking for is something that can give you that searing sound whether you’re plugged into a full stack valve amp or a little practice amp. You don’t want things to fall apart as you crank it up or down - some lower quality pedals will just become muddy at too low or high volumes.

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.

Of course, there’s no substitute for trying some out yourself.

How to use a Distortion Pedal?

A distortion pedal can be used anywhere in your effects chain to really give your tone an entirely new sound, and they’re really very easy to use. Unlike some effects pedals and other guitar peripherals, there really isn’t much difficulty to using one.

Simply plug the distortion pedal in between your guitar and amp, dial some adjustments in, and you’re ready to go. From then on, it’s all about tweaking whatever options available with your particular pedal.

It’s worth bearing in mind of course that there are many, many different types of distortion that you can achieve using one of these pedals. They don’t all sound the same, so you can use them differently. On virtually all pedals, you’ll get one knob for controlling the gain or level of distortion, and it’s this you can use for going between an almost clean sound, to a very distorted noise.

There’s often also EQ to be found too, which will help you to sculpt your tone - ideal if you’d like a little more bass, or you want to shine with some screeching treble.

It’s always a good idea, to begin with your pedal somewhere in the middle of the settings. This way you can easily bring things up or down a little to fine-tune and find the sound that you like or are trying to replicate. More gain isn’t always better, and you might be surprised by how much difference might be made when cranking up the volume, or adjusting some of the EQ.

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?

So what exactly does a distortion pedal do when you hit that footswitch? How do distortion pedals work?

Most distortion pedals will use a variety of transistors and diodes to both boosts the guitar’s signal, and also change the shape of the signal’s waveform. The boosting of the signal is fairly simple to understand, but the clipping is less straightforward, but is very important, because it is what creates that distinctive sound.

A signal wave normally looks like a smoothly undulating wave, with naturally curved peaks and troughs throughout the range. Distortion happens when these waves are clipped for any reason - that is that the highs and lows of the waves are cut off - and is essential when the ‘quality’ of the sound is reduced. When it comes to distortion pedals, this is, of course, a desirable effect.

In the past, distortion would happen when a signal was put through an amplifier that couldn’t deal with the sound. If the signal was too strong, then the speaker might have been physically unable to recreate the highs and lows of the sound wave, causing them to be cut off.

A distortion pedal is therefore set up to artificially clip the signal wave in a similar way to what would happen if the amplifier or speaker was overdriven but in a much starker and more significant way. We’ll cover the main differences between overdrive and distortion in the next section.

This clipped signal then goes through to the amp from the distortion pedal, and you get the distorted sound, with more sustain, and a broader range of harmonics. Simple in theory, but there are lots of different degrees to which this clipping is done, and ways in which it is performed, which is why there are many distortion pedals on the market.

Overdrive vs Distortion Pedal

One of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to effects pedals, is “what is the difference between overdrive and distortion?”. In truth, they are quite similar, and the line is often blurred when people are describing the sound that they hear. Lots of guitarists themselves won’t even be able to distinguish between them in the middle of the mix, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t differences.

In addition, this becomes more complicated when some pedals are marketed as overdrive pedals, some are marketed as distortion pedals, and many even mention both. Hopefully, we’ll be able to clear up some of the confusion.

It helps to first give a bit of background to these effects and where they came from, some of which we’ve actually spoken about already. Originally, distortion was seen as a bad thing. It happened when amps were given more than they could deal with (overdriven), or if the amp was damaged. Eventually, however, this sound became fashionable.

In order to replicate it consistently, guitarists would therefore intentionally over drive their amps to get that bite. That sound is, as you would expect, now known as overdrive, and can be achieved naturally in the same way, or it can be done artificially with a pedal, just as explained with a distortion pedal above.

Once overdrive had become popular, however, guitarists wanted more. They wanted distortion. So they took overdrive methods and made them more aggressive. This was done by clipping the sine waves more aggressively using effects, and ultimately pedals. Overdrive pedals will clip softly, or smoothly. This is visualized as a narrowed wave that is still curved at the top. Distortion, however, will simply shear off the top of the curve into a (mostly) flat shape.

So ultimately, overdrive pedals are not as harsh as distortion pedals; aiming to replicate the natural sound, whereas distortion pedals are more artificial and aggressive. There are however many overlaps and different sounds, so hard and fast rules are few in number.

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.

For more info on the differences between them all, read the study.

Top Choice - Electro-Harmonix Soul Food

We’ve decided on the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food as our top pick in this list, quite simply because it sounds so very good indeed, and has a lovely, transparent overdrive that can be cranked up when you need it. Admittedly, if you’re looking for a metal distortion pedal, then this isn’t it, but everyone is going to have different tonal goals. We don’t think a distortion pedal has to be versatile to be good.

If you’re looking for any kind of overdrive or something just on the border of proper distortion, then we really do recommend that you at least give this pedal a try. It has this brilliant ability to give you some distortion without altering your core tone. This transparency isn’t something that everyone will want, but it’s highly sought after among many guitarists, and we don’t think there’s another pedal that does it better.

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

It sits somewhere near the top of the distortion pedal market when it comes to price, and as with our top choice, it’s not a flexible pedal - it has only one job. The thing is - it does that job so very well in such an awesome package that this has to be our premium pedal of choice.

A lot of the more expensive pedals tend to be very restrained; offering transparency, or flexibility, or boutique manufacturing. This doesn’t. It’s an in-your-face distortion pedal for people who want crippling fuzz, loud distortion, and a no-nonsense approach to tone. It really is very loud when cranked up, which is something that can be missing from old-school fuzz pedals sometimes, and we love it. The manufacturers describe it as being like the roar of a hot-rodded model T, and that couldn’t be more apt.

And of course, it wouldn’t be our premium pick without its stunning looks either. The gold artwork and the huge dial just look so very cool and larger than life. We could really imagine this pedal on the board of many a rockstar. You really feel like you’re getting what you pay for, which can’t always be said for premium guitar equipment.

Great Value - Pro Co RAT2

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 sound that the RAT 2 produces will be unmistakable to many audiophiles, with a fantastic capacity for shaping it with the incredibly useful filter knob. There are so many 80s-90s hard rock and light metal tones that you can get with this pedal, all in that beautiful space above overdrive without excessive distortion. It really is fantastic, which is why this model is likely to prove just as popular in the future as the original RAT.

With its square chassis and 80s detailing it also doesn’t look quite like anything else, making it even more attractive. There’s not a lot else that feels this bulletproof either - at any price - let alone this one. Just a fantastic all-rounder that anyone should consider, even if you aren’t on a budget.

Conclusion

So. Ten distortion pedals, all of which clearly deserve to be here, and options whether you have a small or large budget, and whether you want some compressed, controlled distortion for thumping metal rhythm, or hot fuzz for screaming leads. It’s not easy picking between them, but whichever one you go with, you’re sure to be impressed. If you'd like to read more about distortion pedals, click here for the fantastic study.

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