Which effect is right for me? Distortion pedals typically fit in better with the needs of musicians who are interested in playing rock, metal, or heavy metal, while overdrive pedals are more commonly found in the use of country and blues musicians.
Overdrive is mild/medium; distortion is spicier — and hotter! Another difference is this: while an overdrive pedal pushes your signal pretty darned hard, it doesn't change your existing tone much. Distortion pedals, on the other hand, not only add more saturation (or spice), but they also tend to alter your sound.
Again, using both together will affect how clipped the sound is and give you more versatility. It's also really important to remember that distortion and overdrive pedals don't just alter the level of gain and compression, but they also affect the EQ (equaliser).
Whether you want to put your overdrive or distortion first depends on what you want to boost the most. If you're looking for more of a distorted gain style, then put it after the overdrive. But if you want a subtler sound, then put your overdrive last and don't have your distortion pedal cranked up too much.
No, not really. Distortion is just a more aggressive overdrive pedal that usually has more EQ adjustments. Some overdrive pedals can get pretty close to full-on distortion and vice-versa. Buy the pedal that best fits your genre of music and playing style!
Combining two drive/distortion pedals is often referred to as gain stacking. This option is perfect for guitarists who love the always-on overdrive method but need somewhere to go when the chorus kicks in. It's a powerful technique for more versatility from distortion and overdrive sounds.
Cranking the output of the first pedal will push the input higher and clip the signal harder. This will make a big difference, because if you want a volume boost for a solo, you'll want to put it 2nd in the stack. Using an EQ pedal after your drives can help better sculpt your dirt tones.
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.
Overdrive pedals and processors either represent a cranked tube amp (think AC/DC), or serve to drive an amp into a natural and vigorous grittiness. Simply put, overdrive strives to emulate the interaction of a guitar plugged into a tube amp.
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.
The Tube Screamer is an overdrive pedal, and not a distortion pedal. It adds grit and crunch to your tone and is popular with classic rock, indie and blues guitarists. Distortion pedals on the other hand are more aggressive and suit heavier styles of music.
Whereas an overdrive takes your original tone and pushes it harder, a distortion pedal changes the sound completely and saturates the signal.
The best guitar effects pedal chain order starts with tuner pedals (closest to the guitar), followed by wah then fuzz. Dynamic-effects (e.g. compression) should go next, and then overdrive and distortion. EQ and modulation pedals should go next, and reverb and delay should go last in the chain.
The Empress Effects Multidrive is the best distortion pedal for flexibility that is designed to deliver amp-like guitar tones. This stompbox doesn't just include a distortion pedal – you also get fuzz and overdrive. But, it is unique in the way they are combined.
Overdrive should be utilized at cruising speeds on highways and byways. And the fuel economy benefits of overdrive are best seen over longer distances. Whether it is a lengthy daily commute or a family road trip, overdrive will save money at the fuel pump and deliver a more relaxed ride, overall.
The distortion pedals that James Hetfield and Metallica used included ProCo RAT, Ibanez Tube Screamer, MXR 5150 EVH Signature Overdrive, and more. During Metallica's heyday, the distortion pedals and other effects weren't as advanced as they are in today's market.
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..
DS pedals were the distorted sound used throughout Kurt's career, but he did replace his DS-1 with the DS-2, which he used with the exact same parameters as his DS-1. Both pedals are similarly priced, so if you want “Bleach” and “Nevermind” distortion then use the DS-1. For “In Utero” and “MTV Unplugged”, use the DS-2.
Kurt Cobain used a range of tones depending on the songs he was playing, but generally, he set his amp settings at 7-8 for the treble and mids and the bass around 5. He generally set his distortion high for choruses (8-10) unless a pedal was used.
The amp doesn't know whether an incoming signal is distorted or not. Driving an amp to the point where it is clipping the output, producing a square wave, even of varying frequencies, could damage it and the speakers. Amplifier output and speaker fuses are often slow-blow, so damage could occur before the fuses blow.
Whether you use the AmpTweaker Tight Metal JR distortion pedal or a physical amplifier, you will hear a lot of Metallica. The Blackstar amps provide excellent onboard distortion, as do Hetfield's Mesas and VH4.
The more gain stages (pedals) you add to your signal chain, the more likely your tone will become 'muddy'. So unless you are looking to create a heavily overdriven and quite unruly tone, I would recommend sticking to two or three overdrive pedals at most.
It is for this reason that overdrive pedals are generally associated with 'softer' and 'warmer' guitar tones, whilst distortion pedals are associated with 'heavier' and 'dirtier' guitar tones. The level of distortion that overdrive and distortion pedals can create is one of the key differences between them.
Definition of Distortion and Overdrive
Distortion: Distortion is the exclusion from the original waveform in the reproduction process. Overdrive: Overdrive is a sign of exceeding maximum gain.