Novice Questions - Help!

[Bruce Weaver]

Okay, now I'm frustrated. Nobody seems to be able to give a straight answer on this - or at least one that I can understand.

1. Is there a difference between an overdrive pedal and a distortion pedal? If so, what is it?

2. Why would you use one? Don't most amps have 2 or 3 channels and a foot switch?

Well, I guess if you don't ask questions, you won't learn anything. Thanks for the help.

UV [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[taxistationary]

Re: Novice Questions - Help!

Im no expert, but i think that distortion pedals are used to add distortion to your signal before it reaches the amp (duh). I think an overdrive pedal boosts your signal so high that you overdrive your amp (thus the name "overdrive pedal"). I could be wrong here, but thats what i've always thought. The reason people like to add distortion or overdrive there amp is simple; The amp doesn't produce enough gain for the users liking.

[ May 24, 2003, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: john ]

[Twisteramps]

Re: Novice Questions - Help!

Originally posted by Unionvillain:
Okay, now I'm frustrated. Nobody seems to be able to give a straight answer on this - or at least one that I can understand.

1. Is there a difference between an overdrive pedal and a distortion pedal? If so, what is it?

2. Why would you use one? Don't most amps have 2 or 3 channels and a foot switch?

Well, I guess if you don't ask questions, you won't learn anything. Thanks for the help.

UV [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">1) overdrive pedal is meant to 'push' or add more volume/light amount of distortion to an amp. Most guys with old tube amps with only one channel started using these to get more gain and sustain with an already cranked amp. Take a JCM800 fairly loud - it's not enough gain for metal. So, take an overdrive pedal like a TS9 or a boss super overdrive, crank the volume on it, cut the amount of drive, and it will slam the first tube with so much volume that THE TUBE distorts.

Distortion pedals are generally (not always) run into a clean amp to get all of the distorted tones. A MT2 metal zone is a great example of this. You set your amp for a good clean tone, then dial in the MT2 so it provides the dirt.

These pedals are still useful in a multichannel amp, since you can 'add' channels with one. For the longest time, I ran a VHT 50/CL with a FullDrive II (which can do both overdrive and distortion). My clean channel was just barely overdriven for an edgy tone, then when I turned the FD II on, it sounded like an old Marshall. My lead channel didn't need any help from a pedal. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] This way I had the equivalent of a three channel amp.

[Bruce Weaver]

Re: Novice Questions - Help!

Thanks very much for the help. I appreciate it. I was just thinking that most guitarists use pedals of some sort, I assume to customize their tone. Then I started to wonder how it actually works. I went to an in store appearance by Michael Angelo, and he was using a TS-9 Tube Screamer with a Dean Hardtail and a Peavey XXX. I think he had it set up for the clean channel to mute. It was a real nice set up.

What would something like a TS-9 with my Marshall AVT50? It's got one tube in the pre-amp?

Thanks again [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]