Overdrive or Distortion?
- Thread starter MTJR
- Start date
Godspeed64
Active member
Or be like me, I got several different kinds of gain pedals for different kinds of music..
Whitestrat
New member
I swear... my age is showing. I've never heard of any of these groups... My rock is more like ACDC, Rolling Stones, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Led Zepplin etc etc...
wtf is a Switchfoot???:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
zullio
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Last edited:
Godspeed64
Active member
\m/ now that's rock and rolllllll!!!
Whitestrat
New member
That's not rock man... THIS is rock!!!
YouTube - DEEP PURPLE - SMOKE ON THE WATER w/STEVE MORSE GUITAR SOLO
Turn it up LOUD...:mrgreen:
MTJR
New member
I just found something that really helped me! Might help ther person above me too, Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical ... - Google Book Search
theunknown
New member
Boost - overdrive - Distortion - Fuzz
By Anders Bergdahl UGG
When shaping youre tone you will sooner or later want to add some type of pedal to boost leads or add a sound
to you're amp. When soma companies market their pedals the sometimes label them quite unlogical. The
classification we use will cover most traditional pedals and especially the boutique pedals we hear so much about.
Since these are quite expensive stuff we want to help you find the pedals the best suit you're current need so
we will try to describe 4 main categories and what you should expect from pedals within these categories. We
will also mention some pedals within each category, this will not nessecerely mean that these pedals are the
best, but they are pedals that are held in high regard and that we have some experience of.
We hope this will help clearify some of the confusion regarding what a overdrive or boost pedal should do. I
have heard people say that the Klon Centaur is a bad overdrive or that Baby Blue Overdrive is not transparent.
Comments like this often arise when someone is buying a overdrive when they really should look at a boost pedal
or are buying a boost and are disappointed because it doesn't give them the amount or type of distortion they
wanted. This might help you when you read reviews, for example on Harmony Central, where sometimes people gives
a boost pedal a very bad review since they wanted an overdrive or distortion box. Or they might criticize a
overdrive/distortion because it is not as transparent as a boost is.
Boost pedals
Boosts are intended to amplify the signal and typically don't and any distortion in them selves. Some boosts
are combined with a overdrive circuit, for example Klon Centaur, but to be regarded as boosts the need to be
able to add distortion free amplification. When looking for boost pedals you quite often want it to be
transparent, that means that the pedal should amplify the signal without changing it harmonically. Some boost
do change the signal and are intended to, for example you have treble boosts and fat boosts the should be
transparent as well but not completely, a treble boost is made the boost the treble frequencies and a fat boost
should emphasize the mids, but you should still here the character of you're amp and guitar So what should a
Clean boost do, a clean boost is like a small pre-amp that should amplify your'e signal so that the amp
receives a hotter louder signal. A clean boost could be used to boost leads, raising the volume when needed.
Most tube amps that are run so that the produce some amount of distortion delivers more distortion when you
use the clean boost but it is important to understand that the pedal itself does not produce the distortion,
it's a result of giving the amp a higher in signal which will further the overdrive. Used with some very touch
responsive amps, like a Komet, a boost might not raise volume much at all instead the amp will distort more.
So basically when used with a super clean amp a clean boost will give a volume boost with a distorted amp it
might give a volume boost and a increase of the distortion.
Treble boost are made to amplify the high-mid and high frequencies there are two main uses one is to make a
neck pickup (well mostly neck) sing in a amp guitar combination where it sounds a bit dull, för example adding
a BJF Little red Treble between a 52 reissue tele and a Toneking Comet made a rather dull sounding neck PU
sound fine. It this context the treble boost works a bit like a Bright switch would do on a amp. The other
common use is to add treble boost to a distorted sound and it sound a bit like having a Wah in a fixed position.
Clapton used a treble boost on the Beano Bluesbrakers album. An other well known guitarist that sometimes uses
treble boost with distorted guitar is Brian May.
Overdrive
The typical overdrive adds its own distortion to the signal but is made do blend with the nature of the amp.
It will make your clean amp an edga and make sing a little more but if yu want distortion the best result is
almost always with a tube amp that is driven to the edge of distortion, an overdrive will overdrive it further.
Examples of overdrives are, TS-808, TS-9 (the classic tube screamers), Baby Blue overdrive, Austone millennium;
Voodoo Labs -Sparkle Drive, Crowther Hot Cake, Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive Etc. Most overdrives do compress
the signal a bit and most have their own sound, it means that it will mot sound exactly like you're amp, the
most transparent OD in the world probably is the Klon Centaur, but this also means that you have to like the
sound of you're amps natural overdrive if you want anther sound you should choose another OD than the Klon.
For example, I didn't like the overdrive sound from a Fender Prosonic so I used Baby Blue Overdrive in the
clean channel to give me a more satisfying overdrive sound. Overdrives should always be able to produce a
semi clean sound. Most people also agree on that a good overdrive should react like a tube amp on you're
picking technique and the setting on you're guitar. Sometimes you want an overdrive to alter the sound, for
example make a Fender sound a bit like a Marshall, but quite often a overdrive should be rather transparent.
Distortion
Distortion will typically have a sound of their own sound and generate the distortion you need even with a
clean amp but even here best result is with an overdriven or almost overdriven tube amp. Distortion pedals
have a much more radical effect on the signal than overdrives and you quite often want a dist pedal to alter
the sound. There are several distortion pedals on the market, some examples are: BJF Dyna Red, Fulltone
distortion Pro and Landgraff Mo D.
Fuzz
The next step is Fuzz but even Fuzzes generally needs some amp or another distortion to sound good. Some
Fuzzes retain a lot of the original signal while some makes all guitars sound the same. So when it comes
to Fuzzes it's sometimes desired that all pickup settings sounds almost the same. There are pedals labeled
Fuzz that could be seen as distortion pedals or even overdrives and visa versa. The subject of fuzzes is
quite big one thing that is typical for fuzzes is that the sound comes from transistors generating the
distortion most of overdrives and distortion use chips to create distortion.
Conclusion
So the lesson to be learned is that you need a good tube amp that's able to produce some distortion or
breakup in sound without being to loud. If you like the sound of you're amp but want more "power" add some
type of boost. If you only have a small amount of distortion from you're amp or don't like the Gain channel
on you're channel switching amp and want another flavor of distortion sound use an overdrive. If an
overdrive does not give you all gain you need you should look for a distortion box and for those most
extreme sound you will need a fuzz. You should be aware that many pedals are mainly one thing but has
some capabilities to work in another context. Klon Centaur is a excellent boost that crossover into
overdrive, My hope is that this will help you to have the right expectations when testing different pedals.
i was pretty confused for a long while about overdrives,distortions,fuzz and boosters till i read this
----i did NOT write this. i got it somewhere in this forum too i think. still, u wont really know till u hear the diff urself.
By Anders Bergdahl UGG
When shaping youre tone you will sooner or later want to add some type of pedal to boost leads or add a sound
to you're amp. When soma companies market their pedals the sometimes label them quite unlogical. The
classification we use will cover most traditional pedals and especially the boutique pedals we hear so much about.
Since these are quite expensive stuff we want to help you find the pedals the best suit you're current need so
we will try to describe 4 main categories and what you should expect from pedals within these categories. We
will also mention some pedals within each category, this will not nessecerely mean that these pedals are the
best, but they are pedals that are held in high regard and that we have some experience of.
We hope this will help clearify some of the confusion regarding what a overdrive or boost pedal should do. I
have heard people say that the Klon Centaur is a bad overdrive or that Baby Blue Overdrive is not transparent.
Comments like this often arise when someone is buying a overdrive when they really should look at a boost pedal
or are buying a boost and are disappointed because it doesn't give them the amount or type of distortion they
wanted. This might help you when you read reviews, for example on Harmony Central, where sometimes people gives
a boost pedal a very bad review since they wanted an overdrive or distortion box. Or they might criticize a
overdrive/distortion because it is not as transparent as a boost is.
Boost pedals
Boosts are intended to amplify the signal and typically don't and any distortion in them selves. Some boosts
are combined with a overdrive circuit, for example Klon Centaur, but to be regarded as boosts the need to be
able to add distortion free amplification. When looking for boost pedals you quite often want it to be
transparent, that means that the pedal should amplify the signal without changing it harmonically. Some boost
do change the signal and are intended to, for example you have treble boosts and fat boosts the should be
transparent as well but not completely, a treble boost is made the boost the treble frequencies and a fat boost
should emphasize the mids, but you should still here the character of you're amp and guitar So what should a
Clean boost do, a clean boost is like a small pre-amp that should amplify your'e signal so that the amp
receives a hotter louder signal. A clean boost could be used to boost leads, raising the volume when needed.
Most tube amps that are run so that the produce some amount of distortion delivers more distortion when you
use the clean boost but it is important to understand that the pedal itself does not produce the distortion,
it's a result of giving the amp a higher in signal which will further the overdrive. Used with some very touch
responsive amps, like a Komet, a boost might not raise volume much at all instead the amp will distort more.
So basically when used with a super clean amp a clean boost will give a volume boost with a distorted amp it
might give a volume boost and a increase of the distortion.
Treble boost are made to amplify the high-mid and high frequencies there are two main uses one is to make a
neck pickup (well mostly neck) sing in a amp guitar combination where it sounds a bit dull, för example adding
a BJF Little red Treble between a 52 reissue tele and a Toneking Comet made a rather dull sounding neck PU
sound fine. It this context the treble boost works a bit like a Bright switch would do on a amp. The other
common use is to add treble boost to a distorted sound and it sound a bit like having a Wah in a fixed position.
Clapton used a treble boost on the Beano Bluesbrakers album. An other well known guitarist that sometimes uses
treble boost with distorted guitar is Brian May.
Overdrive
The typical overdrive adds its own distortion to the signal but is made do blend with the nature of the amp.
It will make your clean amp an edga and make sing a little more but if yu want distortion the best result is
almost always with a tube amp that is driven to the edge of distortion, an overdrive will overdrive it further.
Examples of overdrives are, TS-808, TS-9 (the classic tube screamers), Baby Blue overdrive, Austone millennium;
Voodoo Labs -Sparkle Drive, Crowther Hot Cake, Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive Etc. Most overdrives do compress
the signal a bit and most have their own sound, it means that it will mot sound exactly like you're amp, the
most transparent OD in the world probably is the Klon Centaur, but this also means that you have to like the
sound of you're amps natural overdrive if you want anther sound you should choose another OD than the Klon.
For example, I didn't like the overdrive sound from a Fender Prosonic so I used Baby Blue Overdrive in the
clean channel to give me a more satisfying overdrive sound. Overdrives should always be able to produce a
semi clean sound. Most people also agree on that a good overdrive should react like a tube amp on you're
picking technique and the setting on you're guitar. Sometimes you want an overdrive to alter the sound, for
example make a Fender sound a bit like a Marshall, but quite often a overdrive should be rather transparent.
Distortion
Distortion will typically have a sound of their own sound and generate the distortion you need even with a
clean amp but even here best result is with an overdriven or almost overdriven tube amp. Distortion pedals
have a much more radical effect on the signal than overdrives and you quite often want a dist pedal to alter
the sound. There are several distortion pedals on the market, some examples are: BJF Dyna Red, Fulltone
distortion Pro and Landgraff Mo D.
Fuzz
The next step is Fuzz but even Fuzzes generally needs some amp or another distortion to sound good. Some
Fuzzes retain a lot of the original signal while some makes all guitars sound the same. So when it comes
to Fuzzes it's sometimes desired that all pickup settings sounds almost the same. There are pedals labeled
Fuzz that could be seen as distortion pedals or even overdrives and visa versa. The subject of fuzzes is
quite big one thing that is typical for fuzzes is that the sound comes from transistors generating the
distortion most of overdrives and distortion use chips to create distortion.
Conclusion
So the lesson to be learned is that you need a good tube amp that's able to produce some distortion or
breakup in sound without being to loud. If you like the sound of you're amp but want more "power" add some
type of boost. If you only have a small amount of distortion from you're amp or don't like the Gain channel
on you're channel switching amp and want another flavor of distortion sound use an overdrive. If an
overdrive does not give you all gain you need you should look for a distortion box and for those most
extreme sound you will need a fuzz. You should be aware that many pedals are mainly one thing but has
some capabilities to work in another context. Klon Centaur is a excellent boost that crossover into
overdrive, My hope is that this will help you to have the right expectations when testing different pedals.
i was pretty confused for a long while about overdrives,distortions,fuzz and boosters till i read this
----i did NOT write this. i got it somewhere in this forum too i think. still, u wont really know till u hear the diff urself.
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