Perhaps the quintessential effects pedal for the guitar, or any other instrument that needs to be "heavied-up," the distortion pedal reigns supreme. Boss's version of this classic is one of the most popular and longest lived. This pedal was first released over 20 years ago, and as such, transcends the "retro" craze by remaining a vital instrument today.

Music trends may come and go, but it seems that no matter what fad may evolve, a guitar with a good, smooth distortion tone is going to figure into it sooner or later. You can crank the DS1 up to a brutal stonk, or dial it down for a more subtle effect. Spin the tone control to tailor your sound from the bottom-rich tones so cool for harder jams to the trebly, cutting edge, closer-to-a-60's-fuzz tone. Stop anywhere in between to suit your own taste.

A distortion pedal is not a substitute for a good amp, but, in the same breath, amp distortion is not a substitute for a good distortion pedal. If you play guitar, you're going to need a good distortion pedal sooner or later. The DS1 by Boss is a very, very good distortion pedal.

The DS-1 provides a harder distortion effect for guitar and keyboard sounds. Instead of toneless, fuzzy distortion, the DS-1 faithfully reproduces all the subtle nuances of your playing dynamics, from whisper-quiet to screaming loud. The onboard Tone control allows you to tailor the overall sound to your liking.

The SD1 produces the warm, smooth distortion of an overdriven tube amplifier while maintaining the subtle nuances of your picking technique. Boss's unique asymmetric overdrive circuitry delivers a genuine

THE EARLY PUNK RAT

When Dimebag Darrell of Pantera first exploded on the scene, he ushered in a new era of tone and attitude.

This is the most classic sounding of all RAT distortion pedals. Think '60s garage rock. Think early punk. Think about the bands that changed the sound of rock 'n' roll.

THE DARKLY INTENSE RAT

The Turbo RAT is the most intense pedal in the RAT family. For those brave enough to harness its power,

THE STANDARD RAT IS A CLASSIC

This is the classic RAT tone. The standard that all other distortion devices are measured against. Heard on thousands of recordings,

VERSION 2 OF A CLASSIC.

The Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde V2 pedal - 2 channels contain almost any overdrive or distortion sound you could ever want.

A BASS BLAST FROM THE PAST

This hot pedal has been designed specifically for bass applications. The ODB3 Bass OverDrive delivers the chest-resonating distortion that "techno" and "industrial" bassists have been waiting for.

POCKET SIZED - ROCKET SOUND .

The Electro Harmonix Pocket Metal Muff is the little brother of the Metal Muff family distortion pedals, it takes the most powerful features and packs them into a slick die-cast box.

IT'S LITTLE AND BIG - BEAT THAT!

After extensive research into what made the 1970 Big Muff such a special and legendary pedal, Electro-Harmonix came up with a new addition to its Big Muff family: The Little Big Muff.

THE CLASSIC BRITISH TONE WITH EXTRA FAT.

With a wide range of dynamic tones from supple and clear to warm and punch! The Pork Loin's amazing features and superior functionality distinguish it from the mass of clones on the marker today!

THE SUPER JUMBO EXTREME FUZZ .

Way Huge Electronics: bringing a new age of sweltering saturation to the people... the Fat Sandwich is versatile and over-the-top. The consummate distortion pedal for any genre or playing style.

THE SUPER JUMBO EXTREME FUZZ .

The most sought after corpulent Way Huge pedal is back with new features... and it still has "more fuzz than a moldy peach!"

An amazing low/med pedal with four controls so you can create the exact tone you're after.

The British high gain distortion is brought to life with this little red box of tone. This is a Marshall amp on steroids.

There is no single stomp box more famous than the Ibanez Tube Screamer. Thanks to tubelike distortion, smooth sustain, fat tone, and acclaim by artists too numerous to mention, the Tube Screamer has been and continues to be the world's most popular

It's back - the incomparable overdrive pedal that's been described as "the Holy Grail of Tube Screamers." The TS808 reissue features the same famous large square footswitch and the even more famous warm tones of the JRC4558 chip used in most of the original

Equipped with a dual gain circuit, the MT2 provides super-long sustain and heavy mids and lows like a stack of overdriven amps. With 3-band EQ, a wide range of distortion textures is at your command.