Boss DS-1

And I'm like, I don't know.

A DS-1's kind of a rat, too, then.

Or whatever.

Everything's a rat.

Well, for that, I mean, like every player, I feel like I started out with basically, you know, I had a Les Paul Classic that I worked up to that.

And then I had my Boss DS1 and my Overdrive and my Wawa pedal.

So I had like the rig that everybody had.

And what I noticed was So I'm a lefty.

Its V3 or G12 cabinets were dialed into an aggressive gain stage, then clipped in a way that kept the mid-range punch intact.

Adding a Boss DS-1 for mild overdrive and a small clone envelope filter helped sculpt the distortion so it wasn't just a flat scream, but a tone with subtle dynamics that responded to playing.

In terms of amp selection, Butch Vig's mixing room had a handful of options, Marshall Plexi, Fender Twin Reverb, and even a clean Vox.

You could route the guitar through different amp simulators or real cabinets.

You can insert distortion pedals or even a simple overdrive before feeding into the amp to shape the signal further.

Many producers use a single stomp box like a Boss DS-1, but adding something like a Tube Screamer can push the preamp of your amplifier in an almost analog way.

If you want more creative control, consider a multi-effects unit with built-in amp models so you can patch it straight into the line input instead of using real hardware.

Routing the signal from the DAW to the pedal and back is surprisingly straightforward but needs careful cable management.