different types of dirt boxes
- Thread starter emilio
- Start date
SirJackdeFuzz
New member
Re: different types of dirt boxes
The question that you asked have been aske many times in the past on this forum (good question though) so do try to do a search with those three words and you might get several posts on this very topic !
OK, let me try and put some info in a nut-shell . . .
Overdrive :
Like stated above me, it is to simulate a valve amp being pushedpast blow-up !
An OD-pedals can also do less extreme tones, not just tube-melting tone !
Some popular Overdrives = Boss SD-1, MXR ZW44, ProCo Rat [this one is an OD/Dist unit] Ibanez TS9 & TS808, Blackstone OD, Boss BD-2 & OD-3, Digitech Bad Monkey.
Distortion :
This form of dirt is much more prominent than an overdrive, ie, much harsher clipping.
Most dist. pedals can do very mild distotrt tone to alsmost fuzz-like mayhem.
Dist. pedals are more like the dist. tones of valve amp, as aposed to a hard driven amp.
Some popular Dist. units = Boss MT-2 [NOT much love on this forum, so forgot i mentioned this thing ], Boss DS-1, Proco Rat [OD/Dist.], T-Rex Mudhoney, Expandora, EHX Hot Tubes.
FUZZ :
This is a tricky one to try and explain to someone who has not heard a fuzz-unit, or song with a lot of fuzz in it !
Many folks say that it is a more extremekind of clipping compared to Dist., but that is not very accurate !
Fuzz is the wild-child here - as you get very smooth fuzz, almost like an Overdrive with more fizzy clipping, right up to extreme moise terrors, EFFECTOR13 comes to mind !
Some one else can separate the smooth, "regular" and extreme units from one another !
Just like the OD's & Dist.'s there are hundreds of fuzz units on the market today, and again, some are = EHX Big Muff, Colorsound Fuzz Box, Carl Martin The Fuzz, Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz, Dunlop's Fuzz Face, Dunlop's, Classic Fuzz, Voodoolab SuperFuzz,
Fulltone Soul Bender, almost all the units from Effector13.
*******************************************
SirJackdeFuzz is quite right (always??) but Fuzz is much more then clipping; fuzz is amplifying without the right needs
A fuzz is just a very basic amplifier so it will boost the signal; then, because it has too little headroom, the things we use to amplify begin to react weird and will take on the signal we put in in a different way; it will clip, yes, but in a very natural way.
The big difference between distortion and fuzz is that fuzz is not limited in harmonies (it will give out all harmonies produced by the guitar as it only "boost") while a distortion pedal is limited to 3rd, 5th and sometimes 7th harmonies.
This restriction is mainly done by the clipping mechanism of distortion pedals: diodes. So a distortion pedal is usually a booster with diodes (a. to ground for hard clipping; b. in a loop for soft clipping).
OD is there in multiple forms, but basically you have 2
A. Pushing OD: a pedal that does not alter the signal but just "push" the preamp of your amp into OD
B. Emulating OD: a pedal that will mimic the sound of an OD'ing amp
B OD's are also made by diodes and are therefor also restricted in harmonies. They are basically nutured distortion boxes Usually they don't have the same power / saturation level of distortion boxes so they only reach 3rd order harmonies
Then the sounds........ and let me be brief; why does fuzz sound "nicer" to the ear then distortion (although it can be scratchy and trebly); it is because of those harmonies that are present. The human ear just loves the full spectrum and in this way all "gaps" are filled
OD pedals tend to sound nice as they let some of the clean signal blend in at the output (TS, SD-1, etc) so you basically lose less
Hope it helps!
There you have it in a nut shell :13:
The question that you asked have been aske many times in the past on this forum (good question though) so do try to do a search with those three words and you might get several posts on this very topic !
OK, let me try and put some info in a nut-shell . . .
Overdrive :
Like stated above me, it is to simulate a valve amp being pushedpast blow-up !
An OD-pedals can also do less extreme tones, not just tube-melting tone !
Some popular Overdrives = Boss SD-1, MXR ZW44, ProCo Rat [this one is an OD/Dist unit] Ibanez TS9 & TS808, Blackstone OD, Boss BD-2 & OD-3, Digitech Bad Monkey.
Distortion :
This form of dirt is much more prominent than an overdrive, ie, much harsher clipping.
Most dist. pedals can do very mild distotrt tone to alsmost fuzz-like mayhem.
Dist. pedals are more like the dist. tones of valve amp, as aposed to a hard driven amp.
Some popular Dist. units = Boss MT-2 [NOT much love on this forum, so forgot i mentioned this thing ], Boss DS-1, Proco Rat [OD/Dist.], T-Rex Mudhoney, Expandora, EHX Hot Tubes.
FUZZ :
This is a tricky one to try and explain to someone who has not heard a fuzz-unit, or song with a lot of fuzz in it !
Many folks say that it is a more extremekind of clipping compared to Dist., but that is not very accurate !
Fuzz is the wild-child here - as you get very smooth fuzz, almost like an Overdrive with more fizzy clipping, right up to extreme moise terrors, EFFECTOR13 comes to mind !
Some one else can separate the smooth, "regular" and extreme units from one another !
Just like the OD's & Dist.'s there are hundreds of fuzz units on the market today, and again, some are = EHX Big Muff, Colorsound Fuzz Box, Carl Martin The Fuzz, Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz, Dunlop's Fuzz Face, Dunlop's, Classic Fuzz, Voodoolab SuperFuzz,
Fulltone Soul Bender, almost all the units from Effector13.
*******************************************
SirJackdeFuzz is quite right (always??) but Fuzz is much more then clipping; fuzz is amplifying without the right needs
A fuzz is just a very basic amplifier so it will boost the signal; then, because it has too little headroom, the things we use to amplify begin to react weird and will take on the signal we put in in a different way; it will clip, yes, but in a very natural way.
The big difference between distortion and fuzz is that fuzz is not limited in harmonies (it will give out all harmonies produced by the guitar as it only "boost") while a distortion pedal is limited to 3rd, 5th and sometimes 7th harmonies.
This restriction is mainly done by the clipping mechanism of distortion pedals: diodes. So a distortion pedal is usually a booster with diodes (a. to ground for hard clipping; b. in a loop for soft clipping).
OD is there in multiple forms, but basically you have 2
A. Pushing OD: a pedal that does not alter the signal but just "push" the preamp of your amp into OD
B. Emulating OD: a pedal that will mimic the sound of an OD'ing amp
B OD's are also made by diodes and are therefor also restricted in harmonies. They are basically nutured distortion boxes Usually they don't have the same power / saturation level of distortion boxes so they only reach 3rd order harmonies
Then the sounds........ and let me be brief; why does fuzz sound "nicer" to the ear then distortion (although it can be scratchy and trebly); it is because of those harmonies that are present. The human ear just loves the full spectrum and in this way all "gaps" are filled
OD pedals tend to sound nice as they let some of the clean signal blend in at the output (TS, SD-1, etc) so you basically lose less
Hope it helps!
There you have it in a nut shell :13:
Robert Delahunt
Showmasterologist
Re: different types of dirt boxes
Google is your friend! But I'll give my 2 cents:
Overdrive: over-amplified signal, causing "soft clipping", or compressed amplitude waves (waves form "curves" on top)
Fuzz: inserting random garbage in the signal, with or without amplification, etc.
Distortion: "hard clipping" where you over-amplified the signal, but it caused the signal to get distorted due to the signal being clipped (waves look "cut off" on top)
Boost: simply making things louder.
Google is your friend! But I'll give my 2 cents:
Overdrive: over-amplified signal, causing "soft clipping", or compressed amplitude waves (waves form "curves" on top)
Fuzz: inserting random garbage in the signal, with or without amplification, etc.
Distortion: "hard clipping" where you over-amplified the signal, but it caused the signal to get distorted due to the signal being clipped (waves look "cut off" on top)
Boost: simply making things louder.
SirJackdeFuzz
New member
Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: different types of dirt boxes
Cascading gain...more gain
And noise...maybe even too much cutting in the signal.
Cascading gain...more gain
And noise...maybe even too much cutting in the signal.
JohnnyGuitar
New member
Re: different types of dirt boxes
Overdrive in front of fuzz... what happens is Eric Johnson... :banana:
You can produce some really amazing full tones by overdriving a distortion/fuzz, I tried it and I liked the result... it was BIG (add delay and reverb and you'll really have some fun)... but it takes lots of tweaking because otherwise you'll go into blur and mud...
Overdrive in front of fuzz... what happens is Eric Johnson... :banana:
You can produce some really amazing full tones by overdriving a distortion/fuzz, I tried it and I liked the result... it was BIG (add delay and reverb and you'll really have some fun)... but it takes lots of tweaking because otherwise you'll go into blur and mud...
SirJackdeFuzz
New member
Re: different types of dirt boxes
Very true about the mud-city thing !
What i do is to keep both the dirt-boxes at a very low gain level, abd try to keep the vol. as high as possible !
One of my fav. Cascading-combo's :
RAT (Vol. @ noon/Gain @ 10 o'clock) -->Big Muff (Vol. @ noon/Gain @ min or as high as 9 o'clock, but never higher for my style) -->DE7 -->AMP :smokin:
Very true about the mud-city thing !
What i do is to keep both the dirt-boxes at a very low gain level, abd try to keep the vol. as high as possible !
One of my fav. Cascading-combo's :
RAT (Vol. @ noon/Gain @ 10 o'clock) -->Big Muff (Vol. @ noon/Gain @ min or as high as 9 o'clock, but never higher for my style) -->DE7 -->AMP :smokin:
JohnnyGuitar
New member
Re: different types of dirt boxes
+1
And having the right pickups is also important... pups without enough output or enough defintion won't do.
I once played a friends rig which included an overdrive through a Rocktron Rampage distorion. With his G&L it sounded pretty muddy... then I ran my Gibson through it... what a change...
But drive through fuzz/distortion does give you great tone for shredding...
+1
And having the right pickups is also important... pups without enough output or enough defintion won't do.
I once played a friends rig which included an overdrive through a Rocktron Rampage distorion. With his G&L it sounded pretty muddy... then I ran my Gibson through it... what a change...
But drive through fuzz/distortion does give you great tone for shredding...
