How do I get the nice clean tight sounds for distortion?
I've got a solid state marshall that just sounds a little loose with distortion.
What can make me clean it up and make it sound nice and tight?
I play along with cds and can tell a noticable difference, but it sounds decent live.
Any suggestions... a friend told me to get a compressor.
Later... Josh

Mildred's Garage RULES!!!
I'm not really sure what you mean, but I'll try to help.
First, don't be too disappointed if you don't sound like the people on the CDs.
They don't sound like that live, either, and in the studio they have a very specialized environment with all kinds of expensive gear and seasoned professionals to work with.
Usually on CDs they'll layer and blend different guitar tracks, played with different guitars and setups, for a precise sound you won't be able to touch without thousands of dollars.
The actual process of recording, mixing and mastering those CDs also shines up their sound a lot, even when they're going for a "rougher" production.
You're best not even worrying about sounding like that.
Still, if you're unhappy with your sound, there are several things I can recommend you try:   1. Try turning down the mids if you want to use gobs of distortion.
Almost every modern metal band does this.
If you want heavy crunch you need to keep them turned way down, otherwise you'll sound loose and screechy.
The only problem with this is that mids are the sounds your amp projects the best, and what the human ear hears the best.
When you scoop them out you lose alot of volume, which is one of the big reasons that metalheads'll hardly ever be found with an amp smaller than 100 watts.
Playing leads with scooped mids is also a bad idea for the same reason: it's easy to get lost in the mix because the mids are what cuts through.   2. You said it was fine when you're playing live, which makes me think the tone gets better with volume.
In this case, that's just the way that guitar amps work: the louder you play the more driven the speaker is and the tighter things will sound.
Usually solid state amps will get muddy and cancel out the good vibes from the speaker by pushing a bad sound through it, but not always.
If you've got a big amp and don't like how it sounds turned down, you might want to invest in some kind of small practice amp.   3. A compressor'll help.
If you're not happy with your sound after playing with the mids, try one out and see what you think.   4. Put a humbucker in your guitar if you don't already have one.
Single coils sound loose, don't have the crunch, and don't drive an amp as well as a high-output humbucker does with distortion.
That's why you'll hardly ever see a guy in a metal band play a stock Strat or Tele.
I recommend putting it in the bridge for maximum versatility.   5. If you're talking about the smoothly distorted lead tones like you hear on old Black Sabbath and Queen solos you'll need a treble booster.
It smooths out the treble without getting harsh.   6. Try a distortion pedal.
Preferably some kind of heavy overdrive, since you said you want a tighter distortion sound.
Those solid state Marshalls, like most solid state amps, are known for having muddy distortion and a pedal might help.
The best kind of pedal you could get would probably be some kind of modeler, like a Sansamp or something.   7. If all this fails to get a tone you like, you'll need a better amp.
If you want to say solid state, you can't get much better than a Randall for distortion.
If you can afford tubes, you have some inexpensive options.
You can find a Peavey Classic 30 or Fender Blues Junior on ebay for less than $300.
Old "Silverface" Fenders can be found for about the same price if you look hard.
The Classic 30 and Blues Juniors are both small and might not be powerful enough for you and with any of these you'll need a distortion pedal with them to get good high gain sounds.
If you have money to spend or can tolerate the Marshall while you save up, you can get a Mesa Boogie or tube Marshall. I hope it helps.
I could help you out more if I had some examples of the type of tone you're going for or the guitar you're using.   Jeremy