No doubt, this pedal produces Distortion sounds. It's probably adequate for messing around with or as a first DS pedal (and the price is certainly economical), but I would not say that it produces high-quality distortion for rhythm playing. Yes, I know it's a classic- it's just not for me. It may be useful for some lead guitar, but the sound is very 'fizzy' and thin sounding- not a rich, complex tone by any means. I purchased the Boss DS-1X instead- we'll see how that sounds.