Teach me: Distortion pedals

Spicy Lauren

Lads, whats the difference between a CHORUS and an OVERDRIVE pedal?

Ta ta,

Lauren

Fingers Mcginty

why don't ya just google it mrs?

Neo#

Overdrive is just like a light distortion. Chorus is more of an effect. Sounds like more guitars than one when you have it turned on.

Doctor J

You're probably better off hearing each effect, there are samples of a lot of effects here

http://line6.com/tonecore/soundsVideo.html

Frankiestylee

Chorus isn't a distortion effect at all really though is it? It's a delay yokey surely? Not comparable pedals at all. If it was say comparing over-drive with distortion then that'd make a smidge more sense me thinks.

TelePaul

Weird question...it's like saying, what's the difference between elephants and marmalade.

Frankiestylee

You never get an elephant bastard!

Oh, wait, maybe that's a differant joke.

Lauren an interesting idea might be to plug some tracks into a bit of recording software. I think most of them come with built in effects (though obviously they're not normally as good as a nice lil stomp box) and you could just play with them and see which is which. I know adobe audition has a load of delay and distortion effects. Or, go to a music shop and try out a multi-effects pedal that'll have all of them pre-programmed and ready to roll, maybe something cheap like a zoom or something. You're just looking for an idea of all the differant pedals yeah?

Though, you could just go to Dr.J's link... does the trick so it does.

Mr. CooL ICE

Frankiestylee wrote:

You never get an elephant bastard!

As said, overdrive is like a light distortion. Chorus on the other hand (correct me if I'm wrong - I usually am) shifts the waveform up an octave and plays it alongside both the original wave and a new waveform generated from shifting it back down an octave, whereas overdrive simply amplifies the signal so the circuitry clips the top of the soundwaves.

A lot of 80s glam/hair rock made heavy use of chorus effects, listen to the start of something like Hysteria by Def Leppard, or even hear the chorus effect on the bass intro to Come As You Are by Nirvana

The Freeman

the best example i can think of is listen to 'its so easy' by guns 'n' roses on appetite for destruction album and the part of the song that axel sings' ITTS SOOOOOOO EEEEAAASSSYY' is where slash(the guitarist) uses the chorus effect.


regarding the other overdrive its self explainatry as the lads have stated.



while we're on the subject what other aspects are ya uncertain about regarding the guitar??

Spicy Lauren

I guess the best is to try them out then, isnt it?
Only tried Chorus through these Marshall amps that have chorus effect built-in, and it sounded to me like a distortion... But then again, I'm no too keen on Marshall amps...

Its just that i'm using an amp now, and when i use the overdrive option I dont find it crunchy enough... I thought maybe a chorus or an overdrive pedal would do the trick... But now if you're saying that chorus pedals sound like r n' r back in the 80's, maybe i'll stay away from them... I'd totally hate to sound like that!!
Tomorrow, Lauren shall have a stroll around music shops, guitar in her hand, ready to try out pedals!

night night x

L.

Voodu Child

Yeah, a nice overdrive is what you're looking for.

Frankiestylee

A nice overdrive AND distortion pedal is the Marshall Jackhammer. Nice solid build, nice set of controls, I really like it.

Spicy Lauren

Recommendations on overdrive pedals then?
I need a bit more 'beef'...

TelePaul

Overdrive channels on most amps are actually distortion..."what's the difference?" I hear you cry. Well it depends on the Wavform....Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz all produce different wavforms depending on the extent of the clip. "Soft clipping" is usually marketed as "overdrive", where the gain is inversely proportional to the input signal level. This is found when you push a valve amp hard and it starts to break-up. "Hard Clipping" is marketed as "distortion", where the signal level is restricted within a range.

If you want overdrive, I'd go for a Boss SD1. Here's a crappy diagram of how I'd use it...I have it with a Distortion pedal.



So I can get fine Overdrive sounds with the SD 1, a variety of rhythm/lead distortion with the DS 2, or for the secret weapon: set the SD1 as a booster with Gain at zero and Level at full. Feed it into the distortion for some great high gain sustain.

TelePaul

Frankiestylee wrote:

A nice overdrive AND distortion pedal is the Marshall Jackhammer. Nice solid build, nice set of controls, I really like it.

I had that pedal, it was awesome while it lasted but like my other marshall Pedal, gave up the ghost after 6 months

Spicy Lauren

Telepaul,

so you know at the mo I'm using a blues driver pedal in conjonction with a fender blues deluxe amp... Silly I knoW, yet it works. Need more beef tho!!

TelePaul

Spicy Lauren wrote:

Telepaul,

so you know at the mo I'm using a blues driver pedal in conjonction with a fender blues deluxe amp... Silly I knoW, yet it works. Need more beef tho!!

That's not silly...what seems silly is that the blues driver still isn't doing the job.....are you pushing the output of your amp? It's a good amp, it should saturate nicely. Otherwise, jack up the mids with an EQ pedal or on your amp.

Spicy Lauren

TelePaul wrote:

Otherwise, jack up the mids with an EQ pedal or on your amp.

What would an EQ pedal do?

The Freeman

don't knock the chorus though, its a very versatile effect also and very common too, it can sound great with a suttle approach through an acoustic set-up

was listening to alice in chains acoustic recently and your man uses one and sounds very good

Spicy Lauren wrote:

I guess the best is to try them out then, isnt it?
Only tried Chorus through these Marshall amps that have chorus effect built-in, and it sounded to me like a distortion... But then again, I'm no too keen on Marshall amps...

Its just that i'm using an amp now, and when i use the overdrive option I dont find it crunchy enough... I thought maybe a chorus or an overdrive pedal would do the trick... But now if you're saying that chorus pedals sound like r n' r back in the 80's, maybe i'll stay away from them... I'd totally hate to sound like that!!
Tomorrow, Lauren shall have a stroll around music shops, guitar in her hand, ready to try out pedals!

night night x

L.

TelePaul

Spicy Lauren wrote:

What would an EQ pedal do?

EQ? Like on your stereo. Filters/Boosts/Cuts certain frequencies i.e Bass, Mid, Treble.

TelePaul

The Freeman wrote:

don't knock the chorus though, its a very versatile effect also and very common too, it can sound great with a suttle approach through an acoustic set-up

was listening to alice in chains acoustic recently and your man uses one and sounds very good

Yes, chorus is a great effect. Andy Summers was a big fan, his stuff is great.

Spicy Lauren

TelePaul wrote:

EQ? Like on your stereo. Filters/Boosts/Cuts certain frequencies i.e Bass, Mid, Treble.

So you reckon if I use my Blues Driver pedal in conjonction with the EQ pedal, I would get a very VERY nice distortion that boosts the whole thing up? Would it not be better to get ONE overdrive pedal instead? (I'm thinking practicality here)

... Plus I need more BEEF than that.

God I'm fussy arent i?

TelePaul

Spicy Lauren wrote:

So you reckon if I use my Blues Driver pedal in conjonction with the EQ pedal, I would get a very VERY nice distortion that boosts the whole thing up? Would it not be better to get ONE overdrive pedal instead? (I'm thinking practicality here)

... Plus I need more BEEF than that.

God I'm fussy arent i?

What exactly do you mean by beef? Sadly, not every laymans term has an equivalent in the guitar world. Did I se ein your sig you ahve an EP?

Anyways, I didn't think you wanted distortion...I thought you wanted overdrive (less gritty, warmer boost) An EQ isn't an Overdrive pedal though, it can be used anywhere, on clean tones, to tighten up distortions, on vocals during the recording process, on bass.....

Spicy Lauren

TelePaul wrote:

What exactly do you mean by beef? Sadly, not every laymans term has an equivalent in the guitar world. Did I se ein your sig you ahve an EP?

Anyways, I didn't think you wanted distortion...I thought you wanted overdrive (less gritty, warmer boost) An EQ isn't an Overdrive pedal though, it can be used anywhere, on clean tones, to tighten up distortions, on vocals during the recording process, on bass.....

yeah sorry all these terms get me really confused... I meant 'overdrive'

How can one describe 'beef'? Maybe like 'when you stomp on the pedal, it feels like it goes off the ****in roof' type sound??

I dont use clean tones, my drive knob is usually turned up to 10 on my amp. I need that extra 'beef' on some parts of my songs (ie. chorus etc... )

Yes EP is out and about.

TelePaul

Spicy Lauren wrote:

yeah sorry all these terms get me really confused... I meant 'overdrive'

How can one describe 'beef'? Maybe like 'when you stomp on the pedal, it feels like it goes off the ****in roof' type sound??

I dont use clean tones, my drive knob is usually turned up to 10 on my amp. I need that extra 'beef' on some parts of my songs (ie. chorus etc... )

Yes EP is out and about.

If you're drive is at 10 there's not much more you can add.... Maybe an SD1 or TS9 Tubescreamer, but it sounds like you're already pushing your gain to the maximum without a full-on distortion sound. The best way to get a fuller sound on choruses etc is to have a second guitarist.

Spicy Lauren

TelePaul wrote:

The best way to get a fuller sound on choruses etc is to have a second guitarist.

BLASPHEMY!!

Grolschevik

You might find some useful info here: http://www.amptone.com/index.html

John

Lauren, could you give us an example of an overdriven/distorted guitar sound from another artist that you like so we've a rough idea of what you're looking for?

Spicy Lauren

John wrote:

Lauren, could you give us an example of an overdriven/distorted guitar sound from another artist that you like so we've a rough idea of what you're looking for?

ok let me think about it

Voodu Child

It sounds like she's on 10 and wants to go to eleven

Spicy Lauren

voodoo_child wrote:

It sounds like she's on 10 and wants to go to eleven

heehee! my amps goes up to twelve
Honest lads, I cant think of any artists!

Dord

what type of distortion are you looking for?
on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being extremely high gain (death metal?) and 1 being a slight bit of dirt when you dig in. where would it be on the scale?

are you looking for a tight distortion, very focused, or a looser type?

Grolschevik

Spicy Lauren wrote:

Honest lads, I cant think of any artists!

Really? There must be some song you like the sound of? If you listen to music, you must have an opinion on whether or not you like the sound of a particular guitar part? What about, for example, the classic AC/DC rhythm tone? Or PJ Harvey's "Sheela na gig"? It's inconceivable that you can't think of any...

Voodu Child

Spicy Lauren wrote:

Honest lads, I cant think of any artists!

But basically thats it - you've got your amp and OD pedal cranked up as far as they go, and you want a little something extra for solo's or chorus's...?

You can use a distortion pedal to make your sound dirtier, something simple and crude like a Boss DS-1 will give you a tight, mean (chainsaw-ey) sound. There's tonnes of other popular ones.

A boost pedal in the fx loop (not in front of the amp) will push the power section of your amp harder, and give you a subtle(ish) volume boost. An EQ can do the same job, but you can be more selective about which parts of your tone you want to boost.

The simplest and least obvious solution is to just work backwards with what you've got.

Kenny_D

Tubescreamer seems like the ideal thing here. Have a look at Maxon OD808. Great pedal for boosting tube amps. Think punchdrunk is selling one ad adverts (my old pedal)

The Boarder Man

Spicy Lauren wrote:

I dont use clean tones, my drive knob is usually turned up to 10 on my amp. I need that extra 'beef' on some parts of my songs (ie. chorus etc... )

Out of curiosity; what is your volume control set at? If it isn't already up particularly high I'd advise turning down the drive and turning up the volume and see what you think. I find if you turn your drive up too high compared to your volume things get mushy and you don't get much "beef".
A lot of recordings are beefed up by using lower gain on the guitars then you would think and then double tracking it. I use a similar idea to beef up distorted tones on my GT8 using the delay, so you could try a delay pedal with a second output and a delay time that goes to zero. I don't know anyone who has tried this live so it might not work. Any comments from the knowledgeable people here?

TelePaul

Lauren maybe you should start quieter and turn on the Blues Driver for the chorus.

TelePaul

The Boarder Man wrote:

Out of curiosity; what is your volume control set at? If it isn't already up particularly high I'd advise turning down the drive and turning up the volume and see what you think. I find if you turn your drive up too high compared to your volume things get mushy and you don't get much "beef".
A lot of recordings are beefed up by using lower gain on the guitars then you would think and then double tracking it. I use a similar idea to beef up distorted tones on my GT8 using the delay, so you could try a delay pedal with a second output and a delay time that goes to zero. I don't know anyone who has tried this live so it might not work. Any comments from the knowledgeable people here?

I said get a second guitarist, but she could get a second amp....you're spot on about double tracking, it's a great technique.

Spicy Lauren

TelePaul wrote:

Lauren maybe you should start quieter and turn on the Blues Driver for the chorus.

That's what i do at the moment, that's why I need to beef it up and was enquiring about overdrive pedals...

Johnny Storm

Posted just for the sake of confusion: Surely a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver IS an overdrive pedal?

Seriously, you could get two overdrive pedals and turn on the second one at key moments. I believe the Bad Monkey is another popular and inexpensive OD pedal, basically similar to the Blues Driver.

Spicy Lauren

TelePaul wrote:

I said get a second guitarist, but she could get a second amp....you're spot on about double tracking, it's a great technique.

2 amps to carry around, are ya mad? One's enough as it is!
My poor little arms, like!!

TelePaul

Spicy Lauren wrote:

That's what i do at the moment, that's why I need to beef it up and was enquiring about overdrive pedals...

Right, now I'm wondering hwo serious a question this was in the first place.

Grolschevik

TelePaul wrote:

Right, now I'm wondering hwo serious a question this was in the first place.

Me too. "No artists whose songs have a nice guitar sound that I can aspire to?"

Anyway Lauren, as far as I can remember you play (or played) with a gentlemanly French bass player who also happens to be an excellent guitarist. Have you asked him for advice?

Spicy Lauren

Nope. we dont play together any more.
My new bass player is kick ass though, but no he doesnt play guitar...
Nevermind lads, thanks all the same, I'm sure I'll eventually find what I'm looking... Trial error I guess...

The Boarder Man

Spicy Lauren wrote:

2 amps to carry around, are ya mad? One's enough as it is!
My poor little arms, like!!

LOL. They'd be sacrificial for your art, like.

Frankiestylee

Well Lauren you've got the names of a few pedals there, I'm saying "yay Marshall Jackhammer", other people mentioned some boss ones, and I think there was another one recommended... so me thinks you should take your wee guitar (Wayne is it?) and try out the pedals in Musician or somewhere?

Spicy Lauren

Lads, tried out Tubescreamer and gonna go for that, so thanks all for the great help

x

L.