So here's a question: Is there a definite, clear distinction between overdrive and distortion...or is there a grey area where they overlap? Is a distortion just an overdrive with more gain and dirt, or does it do something completely different than an overdrive?
Tawk amongst yehselves.
Great question - way I look at is - and there will be other opinions - overdrive pedals are simulating power tube clipping and distortion is simulating preamp tube clipping. So for example, when I think of overdrive I tink of a Fender blackface with the volume turned up past the top of its clean headroom, distortion is like turing up the gain on a Marshall or Boogie. Does that make sense?
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
There's definitely an overlap between the two and there are people selling overdrive pedals called distortion pedals and visa-versa. OA spelled out the definitions very well though.
I changed a resistor in a Rat clone- a pedal that's always been on the border of overdrive and distortion- and made a great overdrive pedal out of it.
IMHO, Overdrive pedals can be used for distortion pedals but distortion pedals don't overdrive.
To me, overdrive is like "American Woman", and distortion is like "Satisfaction".....
isn't American Woman fuzz all the way? That would be serious distortion!
I'm w/ OSA's definition, although I would not use a BF amp as example - maybe a 5E3.
So, IMO overdrive would be 'Funk 49' and distorton woud be ... 'American Woman' LOL!
d'oh
I like OA's definition, but that's not quite how I say it when attempting to explain the difference (IMO) to others.
Typically what I say is that overdrive helps the amp do what it wants to do naturally without needing to turn the amp up obnoxiously loud.
Distortion adds an unnatural clipping quality to the audio signal, which is then passed through the amplification process.
Sometimes the differences can be subtle between the two. This tends to happen with players who don't take advantage of the volume/tone knobs on their instruments (amp included) and just go fo full out whatever-comes-out sounds. A player who utilizes all of the available controls can obtain greater seperation of sound from overdrive vs. distortion.
"American Woman" and "Satisfaction" are both fuzz- an entirely different topic.
An overdrive pedal is like a cranked 5E3- an imitation of power tube distortion- "Funk #49" is a great example.
A distortion pedal is like a Cranked Mesa/Boogie- pre-amp distortion.
That's how I use my 5E3 clone and Mesa/Boogie.
There's gonna be some hair splitting over the words I think. But, isn't "American Woman" a "Herzog", "overdriving" an amplifier? I think of overdrive as a smooth, vocal-like tone, and distortion as a "bee in a coffee can" type sound.
I too concur with OSA's definition
Fuzz is proof God love us and wants us to be happy. - Franklin
http://www.frankdenigris.com
Good discussion all around! Thanks.
When I built a BYOC overdrive -- which was my first dirt pedal ever -- I was kind of surprised to find it had a clipping circuit in it. I'm not sure what I thought an overdrive had in its guts before that-- but ever since then I've kinda wondered about the difference between an overdrive and a distortion.
I've kinda come to think of overdrives and distortions as being similar at their core...but an overdrive is more about compression and sustain with a little dirt, and a distortion is more about a lotta dirt. Is that basically right?
And where does fuzz fit in? Is it just a distortion with way more dirt?
Technically its part of a spectrum with Clean boost first, then overdrive, then distortion, and finally Fuzz.
There most certainly is a gray area. Some pedals can do two functions really well. Preamp/clean boost, Clean boost/Distortion, Overdrive/Fuzz.
Look at some popular pedals for a case in point;
Boss DS-1 distortion - An industry standard distortion, but works well as a clean boost with gain down.
Fulltone OCD- a industry standard overdrive, but is also an excellent clean boost with gain set to zero.
Big Muff-pure fuzz,
Rat- a pure distortion
DOD 250- an overdrive , but also a distortion with gain set to maximum.
Just a brief rundown of the way i see it.
When I think of 'overdrive,' I don't think of a pedal at all, unless it's a boost. Maybe I am old - fashioned. When I think of 'distortion,' I think it is the opposite of a sub-set, whatever you call that, and encompasses ALL kinds of dirty signals, including power tube, pre-amp tube and pedals or tricked up SS amps.
Yeah, my original post coulda been clearer. I was mostly talking about the differences between pedals marketed as overdrives and those marketed as distortions. But it's all good grist for discussion.
Just for the discussion note than may pedals today are a mix of these in various ways. Especially the fuzz-OD or fuzz-dis mixes.
Guitars: Teles, Strats, LP, VW Wormoth, others. Amps: Bassman LTD, Richter 5e3, 5e3 Head, Taynor Bassmaster II, Gretsch 6150 (Supro), others. Board: Guitar>Java Boost> Huckleberry>Fuzz Head>Top Fuel> SFX-03 >Keeley 4 knob Comp>EH Clone Chorus>Flanger>DD-6
Yeah, I just saw an ad for the Fulltone Catalyst, which I guess is a new pedal. It's a relatively small box (like OCD size), with four knobs and one mini-toggle, and they market it as a "Boost, OD, Distortion, and Fuzz." The tagline is something like "Replace some of your pedals."Originally Posted by Dale
Anyhow...that kind of thing does suggest that all these different things are part of one big spectrum of drive and dirt.
Tubescreamer = OD
Rat = distortion
end of discussion, LOL
I have a Radical Tonebone Classic it has a bunch of different settings so it can get a clean boost, overdrive and distortion. It is expensive but it isn't as expensive as three good pedals.
Ampdan, I think that you're making the distinction between American Woman and Satisfaction based on the idea that fuzztone is that waspish buzzing sound (a la Satisfaction) but I can tell you that when I had my Big Muff Pi pedal, I could get the American Woman tone by rolling off the tone on my guitar. So there is a huuuuge gamut in fuzztones.
"I'm gonna find myself a girl
that can show me what laughter means
And we'll fill in the missing colors
In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."
We're talking about the solo in American Woman, right? Not the rhythm part?
I believe so
Yes, the intro. Like I said, there's going to be hair splitting. Those were the first songs I thought of with the obvious difference in tone....I believe so
overdrive to me preservers more of the tone
distortion masks the tone with ....distortion
Well, technically, its all "distortion." Distortion of the amplified signal - i.e. clipping. You can get into all sorts of arguements about soft clipping, hard clipping, asymetricaly, symetrical, yadda yadda yadda.
yup....just make sure it sounds good.
That's it. Overdrive is the original signal breaking up. Distortion ADDs it's own tone to the original signal.
Just my 2cents,
PG
Even order vs. odd order harmonics might be one way to distinguish...
Or, keeping your guitar tone vs. triggering the pedal or amp's tone...
These are fine lines between overdrive/distortion. Fuzz, however, is an entirely different proposition...
"I'm gonna find myself a girl
that can show me what laughter means
And we'll fill in the missing colors
In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."
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