Distortion vs Overdrive review.

[Dr.Mavashi]

Ok, this is my understanding of the differences between Overdrive stumps and Distortion stomps. The overdrive is more of a “signal push” a mini amp before the pre-amp of sorts. Overdrive magnifies the amount of saturation your pre-amp gives you. That is gives you more of your amp without jeopardizing the single note clarity, the level of your gain/distortion increases but there is very little mud. If you play a double-stop or a power code “and you listen close” you can actually hear the individual notes, overdrive really pushes the mids through and gives you excellent responsiveness to fast palm mute riffs making the “short” notes cut through loud and definitively. Distortion pedal is however an analog/digital emulation of an overloaded amp. That is, it imitates the sound of pre-amp distortion the signal out of your pedal to the front of your amp is not a pushed signal as with overdrive but simply a distorted/saturated signal. It gives you a massive, lava-tsunami type of saturation, but there is a price. It really kicks up your highs/treble and muddies up single notes. With distortion you get that Godzilla stomp THUMP on all the palm mute stuff and bigger then galaxy power chords but the faster the tempo of the riff you are playing the more muddy your over all sound is likely to get. The increased highs are also likely to decrease your ability to distinctively cut through a drummer and another guitar player on stage. On the other hand for some reason that I actually can’t explain, distortion pedal increases your sustain. Now guys, on how many points I am on and on how many off???

 

[baritone]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Fuzz uses the same idea of distortion for a simulation of heavy overdrive. The best fuzzers sound like a saxaphone with single notes, and chosrds shouldn't sound out well.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

My understanding is they're just different types of clipping. Overdrive is more of a natural clipping: rounded waveforms. Think tube amps. Distortion is more of a harsh clipping: more squarish waveforms. Think digital amps. However, with pedals these days, the lines can get blurred at times.

Here's the best explanation of the differences I've found:

GM Arts

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

From a subjective standpoint, I think you've hit on it at least 90%. I would argue that you can get clear single notes from a distortion, but I agree that the clarity of individual notes is more apparent when using overdrive. (Your double-stop example is a perfect one.)

For some reason, I often think of distortion as having the classic smile EQ (i.e., scooped mids), while the overdrive I think of having more of a midrange boost. However, I think that's just me thinking of the ways I've most often heard these two types of gain EQ'd.

Out of curiosity, what's the impetus driving this thread?

- Keith

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Out of curiosity, what's the impetus driving this thread?

Well, I was never a gear guy untill about six months ago when I got back into playing after a very long break and really started to pay attention to tone and gear. I really believe that Overdrive and Distortion pedals are different animals and depending on your style and objective they serve a different purpose. I am biased to overdrive boxes. I believe something like tube screamer brings out your individuality while distortion gives you a major kick in saturation but effect your clarity and kind make sound generic. I can only right now think of Zakk who is totally unique off a distortion box. I am interested to know if there are others here who kind of think along the same lines.

 

[devastone]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

I can only right now think of Zakk who is totally unique off a distortion box.

Zakk uses an overdrive, originally a Boss SD-1, now his MXR box which is basically an updated SD-1. He uses it to push his already distorting Marshall harder.

I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for, I might argue that it's hard to lump all overdrives and all distortions together. You say that overdrives let chords come through better, but if you are driving a hot amp, the focused mids of some ods may actually muddy the chords up more. Of course, if you dime all the dials, anything has the potential to produce mud. I like the Boss DS-1, although it is a distortion, with the gain low it can be a clearer (less mid humpy) boost than a TS. But if you get into the Metal Zones and the like, they are mostly just noise makers IMHO.

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Duhh, I thought the MXR became an overdrive while SD-1 was a distorition, I always mix up those SD/DS things. Well, if you do very little drive and most of the level knob on TS you get wonderfull chime and clarity even if your gain is cranked up to 7 or 8, of course if that TS has been moded by STRUTDELUXER.
One thing I want to say that if you look for a brown type tone it is definately overdrive not distortion I think.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

The main difference is that the distortion chops up the whole of the signal and clips all of it, an overdrive only clips one side of the sinus curve, while leaving the other clean.

 

[devastone]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

The main difference is that the distortion chops up the whole of the signal and clips all of it, an overdrive only clips one side of the sinus curve, while leaving the other clean.

Ouch, I don't want any clipping in my sinuses!!! I think what you are saying that Distortion is symmetrical clipping and Overdrive is asymmetrical clipping of the sine wave. I don't know of any pedals that only clip one side, although many clip the sides at different levels to get asymmetrical clipping. But, the TS does symmetrical clipping and the SD-1 is asymmetrical, both are overdrives.

I usually think of overdrives as pedals that do their clipping in the feedback loop of the circuit which generally sounds softer and distortions do their clipping on the signal itself, which usually has a harder sound. Of course throw in some filtering and you can soften a distortions sound too. That said, when I was building pedals, I once built one that made a Matchless sound like a Recto, if I remember right, it used "overdrive" type clipping, the store that sold my pedals generally peddled (pun intended) to the blues crowd so they didn't think it would be a big seller.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

....Ok one more time, the curve goes up and down in a signal, on an overdrive only one side of the curve gets overdriven and the other end of the curve is just clean signal, and it is mostly fairly round curves with some hair on the top of them, while the distortion whacks the whole curve, and makes them look alot more sawtoothy on both sides, nothing to do with assymetrical or symmetrical clipping

 

[devastone]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

....Ok one more time, the curve goes up and down in a signal, on an overdrive only one side of the curve gets overdriven and the other end of the curve is just clean signal, and it is mostly fairly round curves with some hair on the top of them, while the distortion whacks the whole curve, and makes them look alot more sawtoothy on both sides, nothing to do with assymetrical or symmetrical clipping

I understand what you are saying (BSEET, 20 years in device design), but I don't know of any pedal that just clips one side of the signal. Granted, I don't know every pedal made, but the standard for ODs is the Tubescreamer and it clips both sides of the signal, the SD may also be considered a "standard" and it also clips both sides of the signal, just clips one side more than the other. If you know of some that only clip one side, maybe some of yours do, I'm open to listening, I was just making a statement that your explanation of OD was kinda off considering the TS is the "industry standard" for OD.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Damn language issues!!!!!!!

 

[devastone]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

If I am misunderstanding, I apologize! Just trying to make things clear, may not be helping that anymore either...

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Hehe well as much as I know English, it is still a second language for me
And when getting into more technical sides I am not as good there, as most of the stuff I have read on those things have been in German
Hmm well as for the od's, they are letting a clean signal pass along with the driven signal, the distortion is cutting everything up and then sending it out, I think we can agree on this?!?
Lol I hate this

 

[devastone]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Most ODs affect all of the signal, the Voodoo Sparkle Drive is an exception with it's clean blend control. Overdrives usually use the clipping diodes in the negative feedback loop of the opamp, which creates more of a soft, tubelike clipping of the signal waveform because the clipping diodes are "distorting" the original signal by changing the gain of the opamp, there is also a cap across the diodes which rounds the corners by charging and discharging slightly slower than the diodes turning on and off. Whereas distortion usually clips the signal waveform directly creating squared off edges (which are usually rounded some by a RC circuit after the clippers). So, I think the concensus for a players point of view is that overdrives is a kinder, gentler form of distortion which usually means more rounded output waveforms.

The best explanation I know of is here (posted earlier by TwinReverb who pretty much hit it on the head), or RG Keen's explanation of the TS here.

Of course, there are exceptions, the DOD Overdrive 250 and the MXR Distortion + are pretty much the exact same circuit with clipping diodes from the signal to ground, a "distortion" circuit if you will. Yet one is called an overdrive, the other a distortion.

Of course, you have designed some really nice pedals and apparently make a living doing it, so what do I know, in the end it comes down to what sounds good! :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

The main difference is that the distortion chops up the whole of the signal and clips all of it, an overdrive only clips one side of the sinus curve, while leaving the other clean.

Thanx Niels ,this was a amin question in my head about the pedals!!!:smokin:

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Wow, I did not know that schimatics wise MXR Dist + is more of an overdrive pedal. I just said to my bro who is debating which crunch box to chose that I will only get MXR dist+ if ever need back up as far as distortion sound goes. Now I know why, he-he. Do you guys agree on the playibility things I've mentioned as far the differences between Distortion and Overdrives.

 

[devastone]

Re: Distortion vs Overdrive review.

Actually, the DOD is more of a "distortion" but both are kind of a mild distortion that make great boosters.