ok heres the deal

a distortion pedal is a pedal you plug your guitar into, and then another cable (that you will have to buy) goes from the padal to the amp. when you stomp on the box, your pedal turns on and gives you distortion, when you stomp on it again it turns off and you just hear what your amp sounds like naturally. for your first pedal i would suggest something cheap and simple yet still good, like a boss DS-1 or a Boss METALZONE. they are simple, and t5hey can be run with batteries. go for the DS-1. you will have fun with it. it will get you a girlfriend too.... and you probably need one... im klidding, it wont get you a girlfriend. good luck man.

It depends on the type of music you wanna play. If you wanna turn clean into very heavy distortion I found the Marshall Jackhammer quite good although I know alot of people will disagree.

If you want a bluesy, less metaly effect then I personally like the Boss DS-1 (again, many may disagree but hey John Fru' uses one so thats good enough for me!)

These are both in the same sort of price range and are near enough an on and off pedal so you don't need to worry about all the settings that are going to make your mind implode.

If however you are feeling particularly fruity and have a birthday or some other event where you can rape loved ones for cash and presents then go for the Z-Vex Fuzz Factory. I have one myself and it is so good its filthy!
Its very versatile and ranges from a light fuzz to heavy fuzz and then all the way to Velcro fuzz (which basically sounds like rubbing your face on sandpaper, but trust me it has its uses!) Given the right settings and it takes on an octave ghosting like quality and the deal breaker has to be the analog pitch control - Basically this thing will just oscillate at any frequency you want with infinite sustain so just fool around with it and some delay for an out of control intro and then tune it to the key you are playing in. The joy comes when you play and after the sustain on your guitar drops, the pedal just belches over the top with its harmonized...... errr..... noise! God I love that thing.

Rant over.

p.s. heres a vid - http://media1.zvex.com/fuzzfactory.mov

nicenice. well i want to be able to walk in the worlds of Metal and ..erm...wel..clean. eg: half way thru Master Of Puppets, when the clean part comes in, then eventually goes bak to all the big riffs.
so basically distortion and clean is what i want.
btw i googled the boss DS-1, looks prety good satan

You can't get a distored sound straight out of the amp?

Effects pedals are super cool though. Be prepared... don't think you'll only buy one. It's an addiction and you'll want more and more. Go to the guitar store and try some stuff out. You are going to want to get at least the following pedals; distortion, chorus, & delay.

I personnaly like multi-effects pedals where you get more than you'll ever use.

Go to BOSSUS.com and check out the differnt effects pedals. Most of the stuff on their site has audio and video demo's so you can get a taste of what each item does.

ok thanks dude :D

And while you are at the Boss site check out the ME 20 I got one for Christmas and for someone who is just exploring the pedal world it is kind of cool it's got overdrive, metal, fuzz, blues, etc, Also has Chorus, phase Rotary, and stufff like that Three delays and a pedal that can be used for volume control or as a wah. Not too bad for $200 and while individual pedals will give you more freedom this will certainly open up the world of pedals and give you something to increase your knowlege of sounds available as you grow. It shouldn't twist your head too much the book is short and simple and it's a Boss so life will be sonic.

I must second the Boss metalzone. I had one way back when i first started playing. great distortion pedal, look used can get one for around 50 bucks. Also the ME series from boss would be cool too then you'll have a bunch of effects to play around with. Setting up and adjusting pedals isn't rocket science man, just spend some time playing with it and you'll figure it out. one other thing if your gonna use a distortion pedal don't use the gain channel with the pedal unless you want your ears to bleed and leak your brains out.

By the way... Beware of G.A.S.....Its such a bitch

GAS? ive seen this before..... what is it? did i mention how much of A CAFFEINE HIGH I AM ON RIGHT NOW?