Boss Power Stack ST-2

DISTORTION PEDALS
Jog on if you’re one of those ‘straight-through-the-amp’ types – this month’s
Group Test is for stompbox junkies who want to pimp their pedalboards
LET’S
hear it for hands: they pull the
strings, fret the notes and throw the
horns. But if all you do with your feet is tap out time,
mount monitors and shoe the odd stage invader, then
you’re halving your body’s potential to rock.
At this point, the more highbrow members of our
readership will probably start muttering something
about “favouring the organic break-up of valves” to
“cheap outboard distortion”. Their loss. From the
boutique-style units through to more affordable
additions to your pedalboard, the modern pedal
marketplace is a fun-packed pick ’n’ mix, where a
rainbow of sexy and savage stompboxes jostle for
the attention of our size 10s.
No sector is more seductive (or more saturated)
than distortion. From the moment that Roger Mayer
built his first fuzzbox for Jimmy Page back in 1963,
distortion pedals have been part of our lives. In 2011,
there are so many models that stacking them up
could recreate the Great Wall of China (possibly),
which is cool, but also means it takes a special flavour
of filth to get our attention and stop us going over to
the multi-fx side. With four big names lining up for
their shot, which will stamp its mark on the test?
Words Henry Yates
MAY 2011 157
GROUP TEST GEAR
TGR214.gear_test 157 3/29/11 11:01:44 AM