Must Have Distortion Pedals

Today I show you my favorite modern distortions that give you the best sounds to bring the rock. There are hundreds, nay, thousands of distortion pedals out there, and these are my favorite from my collection. In the comments below let's talk about your favorite pedal from today, one of your favorite distortion pedals that I didn't mention, Soundgarden's Superunknown record and a record that introduced you to distortion and made you love it!

Josh's guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Gold Top

Gear in this episode:
0:27 Seymour Duncan Palladium
1:25 CKK Electronic Destruction Drive
2:09 Dr. Scientist The Elements
3:39 GFI Systems Jonassus Drive
4:44 JHS Pedals Kilt V2 & JHS Pedals Red Remote
6:01 T-Rex Mudhoney
6:44 Caroline Guitar Company Wave Cannon MkII Superdistorter
7:52 Daredevil Pedals Drive-Bi
8:55 Fender Pugilist Distortion
10:02 Strymon Sunset Dual Overdrive
11:46 Earthquaker Devices Acapulco Gold
12:05 Wren and Cuff Two Five
12:20 Friedman BE-OD
12:24 PAL 800 Gold Overdrive
12:33 Walrus Audio Ironhorse
12:47 DOD FX-70 Metal X
13:08 TC Electronic Dark Matter Distortion

Record Time
Soundgarden - Superunknown

Josh’s record player is by U-Turn Audio:

#jhs #thejhsshow #distortion

[jhspedals]

Hey everyone! Please check out the full description for info on the gear in this episode, the white JHS amp, Josh's guitar and strap and links to gear and the record in Record Time. Thanks for watching!

[its_tunezz]

Finally a JHS. I thought you didn't knew about them, great pedal makers

[jeffkellogg]

I have an original ProCo RAT . I love this old technology bent steel box pedal. It quit working and I sent it to ProCo in Kalamazoo, Michigan and they returned it to me not only working like new but enclosed a RAT t-shirt and a note stating that they hadn’t seen such an old RAT in a long time. Repair and shirt were free . ProCo is a great company with awesome products and better people running it

[jimmyholloway]

It's hilarious when a design engineer says something like "I like it cuz the knobs don't really tell you what they do." This is fast becoming my favorite Channel on YouTube.

When a buddy of mine introduced me to Soundgarden all I could say was, "at last here are the successors to Black Sabbath." Born in the early 60s I didn't have a relationship to grunge and sort of resented the whole Seattle thing. My son's obsession with Kurt Cobain didn't really help. But this album and Soundgarden's Garden of sound opened my mind.

[johnsidorovich]

Had “Badmotorfinger” and knew the next album would be beyond amazing. Got “Superunknown” the very day in came out and was blown away. Cornell was a genius writer, harmonically, melodically, rhythmically, lyrically, and must always be included in any list of the greatest rock singers ever.

[PedalPalFx]

Yeah!!! our PAL800 GOLD Overdrive ! Thank you Josh for having our pedal in your list, we are very grateful, it is amazing! Keep Rocking!

[aquinojose]

Josh is so humble, he plays and recommends other pedals, not only speaks on them. Great demo.

[axelbergstrom]

I only need 13 metal zones to sound good

[JasonM]

If only I could like this video twice: once for the video as a whole and once for you playing the riff from “Corduroy.”

[BigShtsie]

The second i saw the title of this in my notifications I was like “great, here goes lots of money.”

[JAugust]

Superunknown may very well be the best rock album of the 90's. There's so much excellence throughout it. A true masterpiece.

[AdamMalster]

Good call on the Superknown. RIP Chris - legend.

[johnwilliams]

I was also a ninties grunge kid. Silverchair's Frogstomp was what drove me to really learn the guitar that I had gotten years earlier. There was a little distortion involved... yis.

[d.j.ashley]

Boston's "Don't look back" riff leading into the choruses and the "Piece of Mind" track's isolated, distorted main riff after the solo. Over 20 years ago I heard those riffs on my mom's Greatest Hits cd when she picked me up from school one day in Alabama and I became a guitarist and rock fan that day. I still get a chill every time I hear it. That's how distortion changed my life.

[ulash]

"Super unknown" is probably one of the best grunge albums out there, but in terms of distortion I think "Bad motor finger" is heavier than the "Super unknown". I love them both...

[siamesedream]

Here in Canada, as well as a teen in the 90's, Grunge was it. A great Canadian band that got its start in the early 90's is the band Sloan. And their first big breakout album Smeared was released by DGC. This album and their sound on this album is what got me started on the search for that sound. They say this album was soaked with the Boss HM2 heavy metal pedal, but not sure if there is any truth to the myth.

[TheApexofthevortex]

Jerry Cantrell's sound on Dam that River has got to be one of my all time favorite distortion sounds from the 90s

[ThatBaritoneGuitarGuy]

To so kindly quote Brian Wampler, "I've seen distortion pedals that are actually preamps." That means you can run it directly into the Effects Loop Return to replace your amp's own preamp, instead of it being a simple pedal you run into the front of a clean amp. In the category of preamps, the Seymour Duncan Palladium definitely is a winner. In the same category of preamps, I also love the Wampler Triple Wreck, and the Alexander Jubilee. BUT, by far, my absolute favourite preamp is the Effectrode Blackbird. I have mine running into an Orange Pedalbaby, and that combination has replaced my amp. That combination IS my amp.


As for simple distortion pedals you run directly into the front of a clean amp, by far, my absolute favourite is the classic ProCo RAT 2. There is a very good reason why everyone copies them. That said, as good as most copies are, as great as a few copies are, none have the same vibe as the original RAT 2. None of them can put you into the same mindset as the original RAT 2. Always go with the original ProCo RAT 2.

[dangerhartwilliams]

The album with best distortion sound ever is HUM
You’d prefer an astronaut
As a 90’s kid I’m sure you’d love it

[somethingelsedoesmatter]

Superunknown was my first Soundgarden album, bought it on cassette after only hearing Black Hole Sun. It has a heavy air about it, and I just love it. Still my favourite of theirs.