The Steel Guitar Forum

Probably the most unusual "overdrive" pedal in my quiver is a Lovetone Brown Source. It's probably the least-known of the boutique Lovetone line.

When you first turn it on (no lights - you have to know its on or off) it sounds...boring. Sort of weak, not much going on. You'd be apt to think it's broken.

But then you play with a band and using a typical Fender Deluxe, Pro Reverb, Bassman...an Ampeg, old Magnatone...no matter what, it sounds like you are playing through a REALLY good plexi Marshall. It is astonishing. Play by yourself...blah. Play with a band, or mix it on a recording - instant Marshall. Not "close" - you'd swear you're playing through a semi-cranked early Marshall through a 4x12 Greenback-stuffed cabinet. But you're using a box with a Silverface Pro Reverb.

It's amazing.

I still like a Tube Screamer, especially with single coils. I have tried many other pedals, and my son has used Brad's prototype. Many of these pedals add this or that, such as a big bottom end, tighter lows, smoother highs, etc. Brad's prototype added bottom end girth to 'lil Jim's rig that normally isn't there, that's what I didn't like about it, but someone else might love it. My current screamer is a buzzed TS5, when used thru my SF Deluxe just sounds creamy and so smoooth. But it also sounds really good thru my SS amps, including a Bandit, a NV112, and a Carvin SX100. It makes my guitar sound as if thru a cranked amp, at all mid to high levels, without changing the inherent character of my guitar. It does, however, suck with pedal steel. JP

Has anyone tried the Womaniser yet by Damage Control?
They look interesting, a little pricey though. I think Robert Randolph is using one.

I think we need MORE overdrive/distortion pedals to choose from!
It just amazes me how many there are out there these days.

More overdrive to choose from....

The Eventide H8000A comes with 88 distortion presets.

The Eventide H8000A comes with 88 distortion presets.

Man, I have lost count of how many times this has been posted, but:

"Distortion" is NOT "Overdrive". Overdrive CAN be distorted - but it's a different distortion than one "created" by a distortion device. An OD uses the amp's natural capabilities, and pushes THE AMP into overdrive. A true overdrive doesn't create distortion - it facilitates distortion if you are using a cranked amp.

Jim,
what you're talking about is boost!
There simply are no hard-and-fast definitions for these terms, and one company's overdrive is another one's distortion, and some overdrives double as boost pedals, but I believe the most widely used definition is this:

"boost": does not distort the guitar signal by itself, but adds so much gain that the preamp tubes of the amp will go into overdrive (that's what you're talking about). Classic models: Rangemaster Treble Boost, El.Harmonix Linear Power Boost.

"overdrive": does add a moderate amount of distortion/clipping to the guitar signal by itself; good ones sound more amp-like than distortion; most overdrive pedals can double as boosters, when their gain is set very low; usually, they do sound best in front of a tube amp that is already on the verge of break-up, but they definitely WILL sound dirty by themselves, too.
Classic example: Ibanez TubeScreamer

"distortion": much higher gain than overdrives, usually rawer, rougher, harsher sound than overdrives; usually not very amp-like break-up. There's no strict line between OD and distortion pedals, it's more like a scale from OD to distortion. Classic examples: ProCo Rat, Boss DS-1

"fuzz": hard clipping, not amplike at all, usually add lots of sustain, usually not very useable for chords, only single notes; usually sound best in front of a tube-amp that's already overdriving. Classic examples: Fuzz Face, Big Muff.

Well said Roman. Yea, the terminology in the past few years has come to be exactly what you said. These days "overdrive" refers to THE definitive OD pedal, the Ibanez Tubescreamer type pedal or the hundreds based on that approach using clipping diodes in the opamp's feedback loop. Overdrive pedals these days create the sound of an amp being overdriven, but without actually needing to push an amp. They create a warm and compressed and somewhat tubey sounding harmonic distortion character. And as you said, there's no good defining line between "distortion" and "overdrive" pedals. Many pedals cover the whole range from mild to distortion. Traditionally however, a "distortion" pedal will have more emphasis placed on creating distortion harmonics by having clipping diodes across the output section and NOT around the opamp. That's a less mellow sound. Lots of pedals these days do it both ways which give a nice mellow overdrive sound if you don't crank the drive control, but if you do, it gets into the harder rock sound.

There are a good number of fancy "boost" pedals out there. The Xotic RC Booster is a hot one lately. It's simply a clean gain pedal with low and hi EQ. The Rangemaster treble booster clones and mods are also a hot variety lately. This category of "boost" pedals are designed to push an amp into overdrive. I think that this may be what Jim was referring to as true "overdrive" pedals which makes sense because they truly help push an amp into overdrive. But today's pedal-crazy market has decided on different terminology.

Brad

Hey Brad,

I finally dropped the Nobel Overdrive on the pedal board this weekend--it's the first overdrive that I have liked with my steel--just like it say...natural overdrive. Just ordered a second one for the other board...

Sould be ordering a Dirt Box this coming week...

I heard great things about the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. Does anyone use this pedal? It should be great for the "Fender over the top" sound, whatever that might be.

The Nobel replaced the SparkleDrive on my steel pedalboard, though I love it, too...

My Zen Drive finally arrived. For once I have to say the hype seems semi-justified. Lots of different tones available, most very creamy and subtle. Very sensitive to volume pedal/knob settings.

But the queue seems to still be 6+ months.

-eric

I just received my new Barber LTD SR. Most excellent! It alters the amp/guitar tone almost none, and the drive is really sweet. What I like best is that it doesn't have too MUCH drive. I typically find that overdrive/distortion pedals do have too much, even with the gain knob all the way down, which just tends to sound wimpy.

Not this one though!

I recently bought a Digitech "Bad Monkey". It's low priced (40 EUR) and it sounds really, really great. You can boost you amp but you also can add the overdrive gain from the pedal itself. I'm not much of a gearhead, but I have definetely grown picky when it comes to sound, and I really can recommend this little thing.

Check out the reviews of the Liquid Blues, Solid Metal, Glass Nexus and the Time Line "Damage Control" pedals receive very good reviews in the July 2007 Guitar Player magazine. Check them out! I personally prefer the Liquid Blues pedal for six string electric.

Martin Abend wrote:I recently bought a Digitech "Bad Monkey". It's low priced (40 EUR) and it sounds really, really great. You can boost you amp but you also can add the overdrive gain from the pedal itself. I'm not much of a gearhead, but I have definetely grown picky when it comes to sound, and I really can recommend this little thing.

Hey, I got a BM a couple of weeks ago, too - I compared it to a number of other non-boutique, but still more expensive pedals from Boss, Marshall and Ibanez, and the BM was the best to my ears; now I use my JD10 for low gain stuff, and the BM for a bit more gain.

Marc Jenkins wrote:The Fulltone OCD is really nice. It's got two settings: one's a bit Fender-ish, and one with a bit more gain and a Vox-like honk. Gain-wise, it starts off pretty tame but can deliver pretty big tones if desired. Best of all, it's extremely dynamic and touch-sensitive.

Fulltone OCD

Marc,

I recently picked this one up, as a standby to my trusty ole MXR Distorion+
It came extremely close to those tones I like. (Usually mild, but occasionally a bit over the top. My bandmates just laughed and said, THATS YOU!! (OCD)
They were grinning all night when they heard it though.
Thanks for your suggestion.

Clete