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"Types" of distortion pedals?

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  • "Types" of distortion pedals?

    Hey there, I'm sorta new, I've lurked for a few months here and finally decided to post something.

    I was checking out pedal demos and noticed that, dear lord, there are TONS of gain pedals. It seems they're the favorite pedal of pedal makers or something, because they're all over the place! But I don't know, a lot of them sound too similar to me.

    Is there some sort of a list or a diagram of the different types of gain pedals (based on the kind of circuit or how they process the signal input) out there? I'm looking pretty hard but I haven't found any links that don't end in dead pages or just not the information I'm looking for (I bet the distinction doesn't end on "overdrive, distortion, fuzz, and bitcrushing"!).

    If there's nothing out there, I guess I'm gonna have to delve a bit deeper. Also, if I'm getting the terminology mixed up here, I'm sorry.

  • #2
    Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

    I am sure someone somewhere has made some sort of chart, but pedal-wise, you can spend your life sorting through what we describe as distortion pedals. They tend to modify the signal in the order you mentioned them, from just adding overdrive on the hardest strums to all-out robot invasion that barely sounds like a guitar. Oh, and pedals sound and react different;y than amp distortion, so there's that. Best thing to do is go to a store with a whole lot of them, and play with them.
    Administrator of the SDUGF

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    • #3
      Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

      IMO, there are a few reasons for this. First of all, getting the right boost/overdrive/distortion/fuzz that works well with your amp and guitar (and other pedals) is a pretty important part of your core sound. Subtle differences can make all the difference for your ear and gear. However, they are also the easiest pedal to make, and by taking standard circuits and doing a few tweaks you can easily make a new drive pedal that's just a little different than everyone else's.

      I'll just do a stream of consciousness on my thoughts on different Drive pedals.

      Boost:
      -Clean: a literal clean boost that can be used to make your guitar louder or push the next stage in your chain harder for breakup. (See: Keeley Katana)
      -"Dirty": a boost similar to the clean, but it'll inject a little of its own breakup by transistors or opamps distorting. (see TC Spark Boost)

      Overdrive:
      Generally speaking overdrives use "soft clipping" diode arrangements. If you look at the guitar waveform on an oscilloscope, the peaks of the wave will "softly" turn over into clipping. Generally used to either add "tube style" breakup to an amp, push the next stage harder or both.

      -Tube Screamer style: a soft clipping overdrive with a stereotypical "midrange hump". It rolls of the bass, increases midrange and adds the diode clipping (See Tube Screamer, Boss SD-1)

      -"Standard": massive range of options, basically take the idea of a tube screamer but tune the EQ so not as much bass is rolled off and the midrange is less prominent. (See Boss Blues Driver, and most modern overdrive pedals)

      -"Transparent": ideally a "flat" EQ overdrive, that is supposed to sound like your guitar and amp, but "more". If you like the overall breakup and tone of your guitar/amp, this should just add additional breakup through boosting the next stage, adding clipping or both. (See Paul C Timmy)

      Distortion:
      These are usually separated from the overdrive category by their usage of "hard" clipping. The signal has a sharp limit rather than the smoother clipping of the overdrive style.

      -Classic style: uses an opamp and diodes to ground to provide the classic hard clipped sound. Can be used as a sole source of breakup or to layer over amp breakup. The EQ options are endless, from flat, to scooped mids to boosted mids. (See RAT, MXR Distortion +, Boss DS-1)

      -"Amp Style" using FETs. Most of these bill themselves as "Marshall in a Box", but they are using FETs to amplify and clip the signal, which combined with a classic Marshall tone stack can kind of approximate an amp tone and feel. At least more so than the classic diode clipped circuit. (See BSIAB, Zvex Box of Rock, Wampler Plexi-Drive)

      Fuzz:
      Probably the first distortion effect, they are usually pretty primitive transistor circuits that go to square wave clipping quickly.

      -60's style: super gritty and nasty. Think Spirit in the Sky or Satisfaction (See Mosrite Fuzrite, Maestro FZ-1)

      -Fuzz Face style: Next generation, buzzy clipping, but also do a really cool overdrive tone with the guitar volume backed off.
      Think Hendrix's tone. (See Dunlop Fuzz a Face, Fulltone 69, 70, etc.)

      -ToneBender: next step after Fuzz Face, the one most are familiar with use a third transistor for more distortion, early Jimmy Page was a big user. (See Tonebender, Throbak Stonebender)

      -Big Muff: Uses transistors and diodes to clip, plus a scooped EQ. Originally designed to sound like Hendrix's fuzz face into cranked Marshall. The singing Gilmour sustain and grungy fuzz riffs both use the smooth breakup of the muff. (see Electro Harmonix Big Muff)


      Like I said, those are just off the top of my head, from least gain to most gain. Some guys are going to split hairs over my definitions, say I missed some major category, or that I way over-simplified it, but regardless, I think a good chunk of pedals fit into these categories.

      Most boutique circuits are based on one of those base circuits, then tweaked for different EQ, clipping (harsher/smoother, more/less), and overall response. You are right, there are a million gain pedals out there now, but I think you can go into Guitar Center, play what they have to get in the ballpark, the do more research from there. Like "I want a Big Muff with flatter mids to cut through the mix" or "I want a Tube Screamer that has more output to push the front of the amp, and is a little fuller in the bass".

      Our good buddy GearJonser has wisely pointed out, it's all about matching your gain pedal to your guitar and more importantly your amp. Have fun on your quest, and don't make it more complicated than it has to be.
      Last edited by PFDarkside; 08-04-2016, 10:56 AM.
      Oh no.....


      Oh Yeah!

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      • #4
        Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

        Well that looks like a good starting place, guys! Thanks a lot.

        I'm gonna keep checking based on your distinctions - I might end up training my ear to notice the differences.

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        • #5
          Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

          Originally posted by PFDarkside View Post
          MI Audio Crunch Box
          Which is opamp+diode based.
          Originally posted by Myaccount876
          Attenuators are for pussies. Neighbors calling the cops isn't a problem - if the cops can actually still decipher the neighbor's complaint on the phone with the Marshall in the background, you're doing it wrong and it needs to be louder.

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          • #6
            Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

            Originally posted by Archer250 View Post
            Which is opamp+diode based.
            Indeed, my mistake. How about we sub in the Box of Rock for this category?
            Oh no.....


            Oh Yeah!

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            • #7
              Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

              I also like to distinguish between rock distortion & metal distortion. Metal distortion usually has multiple gain stages, which can still be turned down. It the realm of dist/OD/fuzz/boost pedals, there is a lot of overlap in technology, design, & sound produced. In the end, you'll gravitate toward the ones which produce the sound which expresses your style & matches your gear. At one point, I had over 30 pedals in the "drive" category, & now I'm down to 7 dirt stompers.
              Turn me on, Dead Man.

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              • #8
                Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

                PFDarkside did a great job explaining things.

                From my experience, some pedals might sound similar but feel/respond differently...and don't judge "sound" based off of YouTube videos as there are SO many variables going into what you are hearing from that clip.

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                • #9
                  Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

                  Originally posted by treyhaislip View Post
                  PFDarkside did a great job explaining things.

                  From my experience, some pedals might sound similar but feel/respond differently...and don't judge "sound" based off of YouTube videos as there are SO many variables going into what you are hearing from that clip.
                  I don't have that much of a "gifted ear" really, from what I've tried and compared to YouTube demos (I mean, the demos done by pros with good audio/video settings) I only find a little bit of difference in the real life. Granted, I've tried very few pedals myself; but still. Perhaps for other people with a more trained (or less strained?) ear the comparison would be worlds apart.

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                  • #10
                    Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

                    Good post PFDarkside :thumbsup: What I'd also recommended to get a better grasp on pedal design, components used, etc. would be "La Revolution Deux" which is a website for pedal and amp enthusiasts who have reverse engineered pedals (and a few amps). LRD gives tinkerers a better understanding of the pedal circuits which can ultimately save money and time in the long run....

                    http://revolutiondeux.blogspot.com/
                    Last edited by Southbound Suarez; 08-04-2016, 01:13 PM. Reason: web link not working

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                    • #11
                      Re: "Types" of distortion pedals?

                      Originally posted by EH2 View Post
                      I don't have that much of a "gifted ear" really, from what I've tried and compared to YouTube demos (I mean, the demos done by pros with good audio/video settings) I only find a little bit of difference in the real life. Granted, I've tried very few pedals myself; but still. Perhaps for other people with a more trained (or less strained?) ear the comparison would be worlds apart.
                      Well, then you have a "gifted ear" that will save you big bucks!

                      Pedals are very personal thing IMO–my setup enhances my playing (lack thereof) the ways I want my playing to sound and respond. And I wouldn't call it worlds apart–just processed and layered in ways that yours won't be so not the best way to gauge them.

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