Ibanez Tube Screamer
Not really a distortion — a midrange lens. Set the drive low, the level high, and it turns a decent amp into a focused one. Half the blues and metal tones you love have one in front of the amp.
The most recorded clean amp on earth and a pedal platform that flatters almost everything you put in front of it. Breaks up early enough to be musical, loud enough to be a problem.
Buy this once and stop worrying about clean tone for the rest of your life.
Not really a distortion — a midrange lens. Set the drive low, the level high, and it turns a decent amp into a focused one. Half the blues and metal tones you love have one in front of the amp.
The most adaptable electric guitar ever designed. Three single coils, a five-way switch and a vibrato that rewards a light touch — it covers Hendrix, Gilmour, SRV and Mayer without ever pretending to be more than a plank, a neck and some wire.
The diplomatic answer to Fender-vs-Gibson. Twenty-four frets, a 25-inch scale that splits the difference, and coil taps that get genuinely usable single-coil-ish sounds instead of thin apologies.
The template for British rock. Little gain on paper, enormous attitude in practice — the crunch happens because the power section is being asked to do something it barely wants to do.
Chime, jangle and that top-end sparkle that no Fender or Marshall quite does. Push it and it compresses into a snarl that's carried British rock from the 60s to now.
The modern metal standard. Saturated but tight, with a midrange that cuts through a loud band and a lead channel that turns sloppy technique into an audible confession.