My Life Like A Guitar

Distortion Guitar Effect

Distortion is an important part of an electric guitar's sound in many genres, particularly for rock, hard rock, and metal. A distortion pedal takes a normal electric guitar signal and distorts the signal's waveform by "clipping" the signal. There are several different types of distortion effects, each with distinct sonic characteristics. These include overdrive/distortion (or vacuum tube-style distortion), overdrive/crunch, fuzz, and hi-gain.

Overdrive Distortion

Overdrive distortion is the most well known of all distortions. It can be characterized stereotypically by the distortion of a Mar

shall JCM800 amplifier. Many pedals attempt to recreate this sound to provide a cheaper alternative. While the general purpose is to emulate classic "warm-tube" sounds, distortion pedals such as the ones in this list can be distinguished from overdrive pedals in that the intent is to provide players with instant access to the sound of a high-gain Marshall amplifier such as the JCM800 pushed past the point of tonal breakup an

d into the range of tonal distortion known to electric guitarists as "saturated gain." Al

though most distortion devices use solid-state circuitry, some "tube distortion" pedals are designed with preamplifier vacuum tubes. In some cases, tube distortion pedals use power tubes or a preamp tube used as a power tube driving a built-in "dummy load." Distortion pedals designed specifically for bass guitar are also available. Some distortion pedals include:

MXR ZW44 Zakk Wylde
Pro Co Rat
Boss DS-1 Distortion
Marshall Guv'nor
Line 6 Dr. Distorto
T-Rex Engineering's Bloody Mary
Digitech Hot Head
MI Audio Crunch Box

Overdrive/Crunch

Some distortion effects provide an "overdrive" effec

t. Either by using a vacuum tube, or by using simulated tube modeling techniques, the top of the wave form is compressed, thus giving a smoother distorted signal than regular distortion effects. When an overdrive effect is used at a high setting, the sound's waveform can become clipped, which imparts a gritty or "dirty" tone, which sounds like a tube amplifier "driven" to its limit. Used in conjunction with an amplifier, especially a tube amplifier, driven to the point of mild tonal breakup, short of what would be generally considered distortion or overdrive, these pedals can produce extremely thick distortion sounds much like

those used by Carlos Santana or Eddie Van Halen. Today there is a huge variety of overdrive pedals, and some of them are:

Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS-9 and TS-808)
Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
Boss OD-3 Overdrive
Line 6 Crunchtone
DigiTech Bad Monkey

Fuzz

Fuzz was originally intended to recreate the classic 1960's tone of an overdriven tube amp combined with torn speaker cones. Oldschool guitar players (like Link Wray) would use a screwdriver to poke several holes through the paperboard part of the guitar amp speaker to achieve a similar sound. Since the original designs, more extreme fuzz pedals have been designed and produced, incorporating octave-up effects, oscillation, gating, and greater amounts of distortion.

Some fuzzbox pedals include:

Famous songs using the fuzz effect:

Hi-Gain

Hi-Gain (descended from the more generic electric guitar amplification term high-gain) is the sound most used in heavy metal. High gain in normal electric guitar playing simply references a thick sound produced by heavily overdriven amplifier tubes, a distortion pedal, or some combination of both--the essential component is the typically loud, thick, harmonically rich, and sustaining quality of the tone. However, the Hi-Gain sound of modern pedals is somewhat distinct from, although descended from, this sound. The distortion often produces sounds not possible any other way. Many extreme distortions are either hi-gain or the descendents of such. The Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier Series of amps are an example.

Some Hi-Gain Pedals Include:

Boss MT2 Metal Zone
BBE Crusher High Gain Distortion Pedal
DigiTech Death Metal
Danelectro Black Coffee

Power-tube pedal

A Power-Tube pedal contains a power tube and optional dummy load, or a preamp tube used as a power tube. This allows the device to produce power-tube distortion independently of volume; therefore, power-tube distortion can be used as an effects module in an effects chain. Some examples are:

Hughes & Kettner Crunch Master
Stephenson Stage Hog
Damage Control Demonizer

Power attenuator

A Power Attenuator enables a player to obtain power-tube distortion independently of listening volume. A power attenuator is a dummy load placed between the guitar amplifier's power tubes and the guitar speaker, or a power-supply based circuit to reduce the plate voltage on the power tubes. Examples of power attenuators are: