To do this, set the amount of overdrive pretty low on your pedal, but set the output volume a bit high. Set your amp for a mild amount of distortion. If your overdrive has a tone control, set it so it doesn't alter your tone as it is before you turn the pedal on. This mode is also effective for boosting solos.
This means either turning it up as loud as it can go, or—if your amp has a master volume control—turning up your “gain” knob but leaving the volume fairly low. (On some amps, there are separate knobs for “volume” and “master.” To get overdrive, turn the “volume” knob way up, but leave the “master” knob fairly low.)
For a distorted tone, set your amplifier settings to 7-9 for gain, 4-5 for bass, 5-7 for mids and 5-7 for treble. For metal, consider decreasing the mids and increasing the treble and bass. For heavy rock distortion, lower the gain slightly, and increase the mids. Keep in mind, that this is just a starting point.
1. Creating distortion using amp's distortion channel. To create distortion without a pedal, simply turn on the amp's overdrive channel called 'crunch', 'drive', depending on the amp. By turning it on, you overdrive the tubes of your amp and you instantly get a nice crunch without using the pedal.
Setting both to a mid level should give a good clean or crunchy sound, while running the first up high and the second low will give you the most distortion. Overdrive, Distortion, Gain and Drive Pedals can also give a similar sound.
Distortion adds a consistent crunch or grit to what you're playing. Whereas an overdrive takes your original tone and pushes it harder, a distortion pedal changes the sound completely and saturates the signal. You get the same amount of distortion no matter how hard or soft you play.
There are many possible reasons why your guitar might sound distorted. It could be that your amplifier is set to too high of a volume, or that the gain is turned up too high. It could also be that your guitar's pickups are dirty or misaligned.
Yes, overdrive and distortion can be used together, this is known as gain-stacking (adding more than one pedal that adds gain).
The Tube Screamer is the most famous category of overdrive pedal and is characterised by its distinctive EQ curve. Most pedals based on this style of overdrive will be soft-clipping and generally will cut bass and add lots of mid-range, which can add thickness to a clean-ish sound, or tighten up a high gain sound.
Generally, your distortion, overdrive and fuzz effects pedals should go towards the start of your pedal chain as they have the greatest effect on the tone. Fuzz pedals should usually go first, followed by overdrive and finally distortion.
One of the most common ways to use overdrive is as a boost. Boost is subtle overdrive that compresses the sound and gives it a nice volume lift. The mid-range saturation creates a nice, full tone. This can help you punch in a thicker sound for big parts of a song.
With overdrive, you'll increase the refresh rate and lower the response time, so the pixels on the screen change colors faster. This way, it won't slow down and you won't see ghosting and stutters on the screen while you game.
Boost pedals – an honourable mention. To my knowledge, Eric Clapton does not – nor has he ever – used overdrive or boost pedals. This is most likely because he instead relies on the mid-boost circuit built into his guitar.
BK Butler Tube Driver. This pedal is an overdrive that features a preamp circuit driven by a vacuum tube, making it quite memorable among gain stage pedals in general. It is very versatile, able to deliver everything from a clean boost to a singing lead tone, which is why Gilmour liked it.
Jimi Hendrix was known for his creative and unique use of distortion. He used a combination of fuzz and overdrive pedals, often combining them in interesting and unorthodox ways to create a unique sound. He also used wah-wah pedals and occasionally octave dividers to add further texture to his tone.
The first and most important stacking method that I use and have always used is taking a light gain overdrive, like the Morning Glory, and stacking it with a Tube Screamer. The reason I use the light gain overdrive is because I like having my first stage overdrive with no mid peak in it.
The BD-2 or Blues Driver by Boss is one of its most successful pedals. It is an overdrive pedal designed to give light distortion to your guitar tone. Overdrive pedals are more subtle than distortion pedals or fuzz boxes.
Tube Screamer is an overdrive/distortion pedal that is mild compared to many, but allows the true sound of the guitar and player's technique to come through. The most popular use of a tube screamer is to push a tube amp to make it overdrive more, but they sound good through almost anything.
Hendrix usually used a Vox Wah pedal alongside a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe pedal, and an Octavia stompbox built by Roger Mayer. Some of these pedals have since been discontinued and are now extremely rare - so here we'll explore some of the ways you can add these effects to your rig..
So the general consensus is, a couple/few distortion pedals on max won't damage the speaker, but don't do anything stupid like plug a power amp into a pre-amp.
A distorted sound is best achieved at a gain of 7-9, 4-5 for bass, 5-7 for mids, and 5-7 for treble. If you're playing metal, reduce the mids and boost the bass. If you're experiencing heavy rock distortion, your gain should be reduced slightly and your mids should be increased.
Why Practicing Guitar With Distortion Helps You Play Better. Your guitar playing improves faster when you practice in a way that exposes your mistakes. Fact: using distortion when you practice makes your mistakes much louder and easier to notice (and fix). Clean tone actually masks your mistakes.
Last but not least, it's time for the finishing touches by adding a little space. Many engineers like to use small room reverbs to simulate the sound of being in the room with a guitar amp. But reverbs can quickly wash out your mix, and erode the clarity and detail you worked so hard to preserve.