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I'm using a clean tube amp currently and I'm looking for a pedal that would act as a nice base (not bass) distortion, preferably something that can get pretty heavy (kinda looking for something that'll cop me some Swans tones). I was looking at the EQD Monarch or the Blackout Effectors Mantra, any recommendations?

Also thanks for your time!

Dr Scientist Elements

Versatile as hell.

Blackart Toneworks Black Forest is dope too.

Casavettes wrote:Dr Scientist Elements

Versatile as hell.

I can't speak to the Black Forest (though a lot of people love it), but I can second The Elements - Ryan built it for high gain, but the low gain mode is fantastic! And there are more ways to shape your tone than one can shake a stick at.

I'm also intrigued by the Fuzzhugger Magic Meter - that's another one with a ton of options, but I haven't tried it yet.

Sonic Titan (it was designed for clean amps).

Heard good things about the Okko - Dominator as well.

If you listen carefully, Swans guitar sound is not that heavy... it's just amp drive... I think they where using Orange on the last tour.
They sound heavy, but it's more like an intensity thing.

So maybe Earthquaker Device Monarch would do it for you.
Dr. Scientist would do it also since it's so versatile.

I'm a big fan of Swans.

Mountainking Electronics Megalith into a Blackarts Toneworks Black Forest. End of story.

Fuck?

Dr Scientist, the Elements

for a base tone that'll do fun things with others:

get a superfuzz clone and dime the volume, with a smidge of expander so it sounds super overdrivey/distortiony

Hair of the muthafuckin DOG!

The Elements fo sho. Seriously. If you're a guitar player, I don't have very many suggestions as I suck at guitar. Okko Basstard is awesome too. Fucking, fuck! Fuck OD is fucking sexy. Internet Overdrive is fucking sexy as well. Just buy them all.

bigchiefbc wrote:Hair of the muthafuckin DOG!

That's what you're going to need tomorrow morning.

Thanks for the recommendations, folks. I'll look into them!

sylnau wrote:If you listen carefully, Swans guitar sound is not that heavy... it's just amp drive... I think they where using Orange on the last tour.
They sound heavy, but it's more like an intensity thing.

This is true. Swans might sound "heavy" but I certainly wouldn't categorize it as brutal.

To the OP - based soley on "brutal" I would recommend the following:

Okko Dominator
Amptweaker Tightmetal
Wampler Triple Wreck
Railhead TUA (Total utter annihilation)
Weehbo Morbid drive
MI Audio Megalith Delta

Those are strictly HIGH gain distortion and don't have square clipping ala a fuzz pedal would have. They are cutting and brutal.

That being said, I think you want something a little tamer based on the Swans reference:

Dr. S Elements
Amptweaker Tightrock
Mountainking Megalith, Maximum OD, or Heavy Machine
Fairfield 4 Eyes
SS/BS Fuck OD


Plus all the good suggestions posted above.
You want something that blurs the line between OD, fuzz, and distortion.