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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
 Posted - 04/30/2009 : 19:10:25
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I was wondering if someone can tell me what is the difference between an overdrive pedal and a distortion pedal? Is it just a matter of gain or do they operate in fundamentally different ways? You can push and amp (valve please) harder with either and it seems to me that each will provide a degree of distortion on its own with a clean amp. So what makes a DS different from an OD? Apologies if this is a daft question.
David |
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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2009 : 20:30:33
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IMO, a distortion pedal is usually used with a clean amp, and the pedal provides all the dirt/drive. an overdrive pedal can be used on a clean or dirty amp, and/or with a distortion pedal, but usually OD pedals offer less dirt/drive than a distortion pedal.
overdrive pedals are generally used to hammer the preamp section of an amplifier a little bit harder, for example as a boost for solos. if you have very high-output pickups in your guitar, you might not need an overdrive pedal, since you could probably induce overdrive by simply hitting the strings harder. finally, you might like the additional tonal coloration provided by an OD pedal, regardless of your amp or pickups. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2009 : 21:15:56
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Not a daft question at all...!...to my ears distortion pedals tend to be a bit harder sounding while overdrives and fuzz a bit softer and warm sounding...overdrive is more the sound of a amp actually running on full tilt so as PT pointed out,tends to blend better with a cooking amp and pushes the preamp in the amp into a fatter heavier sound..think SRV or Clapton type stuff..fuzz is i think was the first attempts by designers to come up with a solution to guitarists having to run a marshall or fender at full tilt to get the overdrive effect and ended up with it's own unique sound.... personally i like the Seymour Duncan twin tube overdrive as it has real valves in it and runs in high voltage mode like a guitar amp...warm and fat sounding for what stuff i like to play but as distortion and overdrive is very subjective to each of us your probably better trying out as many different ones to see what suits you and the type of music you play.... |
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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2009 : 21:56:34
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Just to say what amps I own, a Marshall JTM60 and an Orange Tiny Terror. Personally I am convinced that the classic overdrive / distortion sound is a combination of valve pre and power amp stages and not really reproducable by a pedal but of course pedals do give us all sorts of flexibility. Currently I am using a modified OD-3 with the Orange to give me such flexibility and very nice it is too.
Thanks
David
p.s. as for COSM just don't go there  |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2009 : 21:58:10
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Overdrive vs. distortion is dictated by whether it is soft-clipping or hard-clipping. Distortion pedals in front of the amp induces hard clipping but you can still push the preamp with the distortion pedal's level control. Hard-clipping is generally most common in solid-state amplifiers.
Distortion comparably sounds more harsh & sterile, while an overdrive is warmer & more organic. An overdrive boosts the signal into an amp's input to create distortion & is especially effective with a tube preamp. The tubes saturate & clip in a more natural sounding way.
A pedal in front of a tube amp will sound very different from a pedal in front of a solid state amp. Most tube amps don't really give you the best tone until they're pushed. An overdrive pedal or can help reach the sweet-spot at lower levels without resorting to a power-soak attenuator.
Here is an interesting graphic showing clipping with different types of semiconductors. Notice the soft-clipping at the top with germanium components as compared to the hard-clipping of an op-amp at the bottom.
What is really eye-opening is the different waveforms presented for most Boss compact distortion & overdrive pedals as seen in The Boss Book which is the price of a pizza & simply a must-have reference for those who frequent Bossarea.
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Edited by - DeFrag on 04/30/2009 22:11:21 |
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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2009 : 22:33:02
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Thanks Defrag
p.s. I think I'll have to get that book, love to see those waveforms, although I'm sure it will make the P.A.S. worse! |
Edited by - archimedes on 04/30/2009 22:45:46 |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2009 : 02:02:14
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| Np mate |
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Overdrive vs. Distortion?
