The active bass control is also round the other way as well, so when the pot is all the way counter clockwise, you are getting maximum bass, and none added when it is all the clockwise. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2022 Wampler Pedals. With two of the same pedal, you can essentially set your tone to be the same and use different gain settings to give you a rhythm tone and lead tone, or use them both together for a huge saturated sound. Harder, more aggressive clipping. also use a distortion pedal to send an already distorted amp into extra saturation, but you have to be careful with your choice of pedal and your settings so that you dont oversaturate your sound. Distortions feature a much higher rate of gain than most overdrives, and will use harder clipping of the signal to create a more aggressive sound. Youre probably thinking, if all a boost does is increase the amplitude of a signal, why are there so many options on the market for boost pedals? This makes overdrive pedals very desirable for expressive styles of guitar playing, but not a hard and fast rule. is to (almost) always leave the boost pedal on as a part of your fundamental tone. Distortion pedals almost always feature the same three controls for gain, tone, and volume that youll find on an overdrive pedal. Well, its one that doesnt fundamentally change the EQ of whatever is coming into it. Some of the most famous vintage fuzz pedal designs are the aforementioned Fuzz Face, the, Today, with modern design techniques many of the initial issues with germanium have been overcome, and many fuzz pedal designs continue to use germanium transistors. All rights reserved. What that means is that they fundamentally change the sound wave of your signal, usually by clipping the signal (boosts are excluded from this, somewhat). Overdrive pedals, much like fuzz and distortion pedals, typically consist of at minimum these three controls: Gain/Drive, Tone control, and output level. Gearbox, parts shortages, and whats coming next? Op-amps are, This concept was most famously applied in the now legendary. One other interesting thing you can do with a fuzz is to run an overdrive pedal on a lower gain setting before the fuzz. A lot of vintage organs/keyboards/electric pianos were designed to run into tube amps, which would inherently add some distortion of their own as you cranked them up, so this is something of a modern application of the same concept. They were also not the most reliable transistor, which both led to effects breaking relatively often, and that no two effects ever sounded exactly the same. One of the things Ive ALWAYS loved about the Timmy is that the tone pot is actually wired the correct way, so everything appears to be backwards for people who are used to other pedals. This means that if you have the gain on the Timmy ALL the way down and the tone and bass control all the way up, you are hearing what I think is the most transparent overdrive currently available. Boosts, as well as the other pedals, change your signal by increasing the amplitude* (or gain) of the signal. to create an even more unique tone and combine the best elements of both transistor types. This led to the creation of the first distortion pedals, which were designed to give you the sound of the amp when you cranked it without doing so by clipping the signal before it hit the amp. These pedals are almost always transistor-based as opposed to the op-amps found in most modern drives and distortion pedals. Boosts, clip your signal, though they are generally designed to make. Boost pedals are sorta the odd man out of this group because they are essentially one part of what happens in any sort of overdrive, distortion, or fuzz circuit. The spicier and more aggressive cousin of overdrive is the distortion pedal. While the pedal isnt going to give you an exact replica of a 60s Supro Amp, it does give you the character of overdrive that those amps provided with your own setup, which makes getting those sounds a lot more attainable than an amp model or a vintage tube amp. This is because while the circuit inside is the same as a boost, its connected to clipping diodes or transistors which distort the circuit afterwards. With all of these different pedals on the market today, it can get confusing to even figure out what any given pedal does, let alone why one manufacturer might be better than another for your application. That sounds like boosts are simply a way to get more volume out of your amplifier because its like turning the amp up, right? You can also add it after a delay to give your overall delay some compression and boosted sound. To show this literally, weve made afew graphs to demonstrate it visually. What is that pedal?!! , and most boutique pedal companies usually refer to these designs in their own products, directly or indirectly, when describing their products. The ProCo Rat has a very wide range of distortion available in it, which lends to its inclusion as both an overdrive and distortion. Most fuzz pedals are classified as being either germanium or silicon-based, which refers to the type of transistor used in the effect. This means that the electrical circuit in the effects pedal uses electrical transistors or op-amps to amplify and modify the signal. It is also important to note that sonically, using two pedals together with the gain set lower will sound different than if youd just used one pedal with a higher gain setting. While there have always been people who tinkered with circuits to make their own effects and creative sounds, today there are thousands of boutique pedal companies across the globe making their own pedals and effects. Operationally most overdrives and distortions work in basically the same way, with many pedals easily being able to fall into both categories based on how you set it. Most fuzz pedals are classified as being either, , which refers to the type of transistor used in the effect. Spirit Lawsuit: Theft Or Fair Play? Like the overdrive pedal, there are a few holy grail designs that pedal-makers base their designs off of, such as the MXR Distortion+. The Catalinbread Blood Donor (a revamped and fine-tuned version of the Katzenkonig) tries to take the fuzzed-out distortion tones from a rat to new heights, while the 1981 DRV tries to take it into more overdrive territory. Boost VS Overdrive VS Distortion VS Fuzz: Differences. One somewhat unconventional use of a boost pedal (and what I actually do in my own rig!) The gain control, while described in the same way as a boost pedal works, typically controls, This is because while the circuit inside is the same as a boost, its connected to clipping diodes or transistors which distort the circuit, This means that as you turn the pedal from left to right it will usually always be. This means that as you turn the pedal from left to right it will usually always be increasing whatever frequency band the tone is selecting. bDub made a video last week that was discussing this, so I thought I would expand on it further, concentrating on the most famous transparent OD of them all Paul Cochranes Timmy. The other common use for a boost pedal is to transparently add more gain to an amplifier (or another pedal) to help it overdrive. Like the overdrive pedal, there are a few holy grail designs that pedal-makers base their designs off of, such as the. The tone control (or controls in pedals with multiple) will essentially act as an EQ of some sorts, usually a shelving EQ based around a chosen frequency. Its important to note though that almost every pedal features a different EQ design, so it is important to read what the tone or EQ knobs do on any individual pedal and not take this as a catch-all by any means. Ultimately this led to the market shifting to using the more reliable, consistent, and cheaper silicon transistor in the late 60s and 1970s. Boosts, as well as the other pedals, change your signal by increasing the amplitude* (or gain) of the signal. This makes overdrive pedals very desirable for, This can be useful if you really need to emulate the style of a certain player or amp for a sound, or if you are looking for a way to make your, is designed to be a model of the Supro Thunderbolt, an old amp from the 1960s that was famously used by Jimmy Page on, While the pedal isnt going to give you an, replica of a 60s Supro Amp, it does give you the. Feel free to also check out our guide on Chorus vs Phaser vs Flanger. While the tone stacks and clipping methods are inherently going to change your overall tone somewhat, they do so in such a way that your guitar playing dynamics and overall playing style still shine through to your amp. Other boost effects (such as the Xotic EP booster,) are designed to replicate the tonal qualities of a certain type of preamp/amplifier, which adds more components to the circuit. So, when the knob is all the way round clockwise, the treble isnt being added, bass is being taken out. Another use for an overdrive pedal in conjunction with other effects. Some pedals even have options for both types, such as the Fuzz Face, to please users who liked both versions of the pedal, and other modern creations use both types of transistors (such as the Earthquaker Hoof or Keeley Fuzz Bender) to create an even more unique tone and combine the best elements of both transistor types. than if youd just used one pedal with a higher gain setting. This works best with a preamp with a little bit of its own flavor, because you can use the subtle coloration of the boost to become a part of the clean tone. Germanium transistors were featured in the earliest fuzz pedals and were widely used in both guitar effects and general electronics throughout the 1960s. We could split hairs over whether its one or the other for weeks, so Im just gonna talk about its usefulness as both a drive and a distortion. Most examples of these effects feature a solid-state, or transistor/op-amp based design. This is a great application for one channel amplifiers. (Heres The Real Answer), 5 Creative Sound Design Tips To Make You Rethink Effects, Sample-Heavy Approach To Production (Interview With BCee), Out-Of-The-Box Experiments (w/ Kamikaze Space Programme), Is Tape Undergoing A Renaissance? It is also important to note that sonically, using two pedals together with the gain set lower will sound. Since they are more aggressive and in your face sounding than overdrive, its common to see a distortion pedal used for lead sounds and an overdrive for rhythm parts. While the tone stacks and clipping methods are inherently going to change your overall tone somewhat, they do so in such a way that your guitar playing dynamics and overall playing style still shine through to your amp. At their core, all of these pedals are tonal modifiers. This is partially because of the vintage designs most fuzz pedals are still based on, and partially due to the fact that transistors allow you to clip the signal in a much more aggressive way more efficiently than modern diodes. Fuzz pedals are still in the same tonal modifier wheelhouse as boost, overdrive, and distortion, and most fuzz pedals feature the same set of controls for gain (or fuzz/distortion), a tone stack, and output volume. From here, well change the EQ and gain controls to show what is happening in terms of the cut. Required fields are marked *. The volume (or sometimes called output) control controls the overall output level of the pedal. sources (like your guitar amp) reach their own saturation threshold. There are also plenty of amp in a box pedals that can be considered distortions as well, depending on what amp they are modeling. As you can see, that is what we would call over here in England as flat as a pancake, with a slight roll off at the very top end. Floating Tremolo Vs Non Floating (Differences Explained). I dont want low cut. Different boosts may have differing types and amounts of transistors in the amplifier circuit, which will in turn affect the overall sound of the boost effect. This results in some soft clipping of your signal and the addition of some ear-pleasing even order harmonics. You can change the amplitude of a signal through an amplifier. Hello, can I have a free pedal? As the cost of creating music and recording has gone down, the door has opened for many people to get into making their own guitar pedals for use. Exactly! Running a distortion pedal into an already distorted/overdriven amp typically results in a mushy and oversaturated sound, but with that being said there are always exceptions. sounding effects. This is obviously different from a lot of the tone stacks that bDub puts in his pedals (which are 100% active EQs) so in those when the control is theoretically at noon there is nothing changed, but take the relevant frequencies away when turned counter clockwise, and then added when turned the other way. Mythbusting: Is The ProCo Rat An Overdrive or Distortion? Really it depends on how you have the pedal set and what your application is for, but generally, when using distortion you want to keep the amp clean and use the pedal for its own distortion character, not the character of your amp. Many transistor distortions tend to fall into the fuzz category, which well cover later. While many overdrives on the market are various takes on classic designs, there has been a surge in recent years for amp in a box style pedals, that aim to recreate the overdrive sounds of classic amps in pedal form. Another common use of overdrive pedals is to stack multiple drives together. Other boost effects (such as the. They are definitely similar in their overall design conceptually, but their application in each pedal is different. You can also use fuzz sounds to liven up a boring-sounding keyboard patch by keeping the fuzz at a lower setting to add some extra edge and sustain to your original sound. Some of the most famous vintage fuzz pedal designs are the aforementioned Fuzz Face, the Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi, and the Fuzz Tone/Tone Bender. For further clarification, check out this article on the, Boost pedals are miniaturized amplifiers that are designed to add more. If you place your boost at the end of your pedalboard (right before you hit the amp) it will give you a nice little volume boost (and some extra saturation if youre playing with an overdriven amp or pedals) to help you cut through the mix. This gain can be quantified by how many decibels the signal is amplified by. (and why do so many of them cost so much money!). by Jason | Feb 18, 2019 | Talking about gear | 3 comments. Your email address will not be published. The ratio of the input and output signal is known as the gain of the amplifier. Due to their overall design simplicity, most of these pedals are mini-sized so you can always squeeze one (or two!) One somewhat unconventional use of a distortion pedal, and what some actually claim the Metal Zone is best at, is to actually not use the distortion in the pedal and instead use the tone-shaping on board to affect an already saturated amp sound, leaving the gain knob all the way down (or almost). For further clarification, check out this article on the different types of harmonic distortion. These are placed into the circuit to make up for the volume drop that occurs when you clip the signal and are essentially a boost circuit built into the end of the overdrive pedal design. But these designs were somewhat crude and are described as fuzz or distortion effects by todays standards. This led some to specifically look for germanium based fuzz pedals because they preferred the tone of those pedals over silicon transistor pedals. We live in a golden age for guitar pedals. Some pedals even have options for both types, such as the Fuzz Face, to please users who liked both versions of the pedal, and other modern creations use. ) A standard three-knob drive circuit will actually usually feature two amplifiers in it, one that features the clipping stage to add distortion, as well as an overall output volume amplifier to control the total sound level of the effect. More gain in pedals, and more refined gain since you could control how much clipping is added in a refined way, from soft to hard, with different diode designs. The spicier and more aggressive cousin of overdrive is the. What did this mean? ,) are designed to replicate the tonal qualities of a certain type of preamp/amplifier, which adds more components to the circuit. All Rights Reserved | Website by. Experimentation is key, and remembering that there arent really any rules when it comes to how you use an overdrive pedal as long as it sounds good. Like a LOT of pedals the Timmy tone controls is not active, but passive, so it doesnt add anything it only takes it away think of it this way a basic treble control is a LPF (low pass filter) that is wired backwards. This is partially because of the vintage designs most fuzz pedals are still based on, and partially due to the fact that transistors allow you to clip the signal in a much more aggressive way more efficiently than modern diodes.