Overdrive & Distortion Pedals

Overdrive & Distortion Pedals are a mainstay on many guitar players' pedalboards to add anything from slight breakup gain to huge wall of sound distortion. If you're looking to take your clean tone to a new level overdrive and distortion pedals can offer you a whole new world of sound. From transparent boosts and transparent overdrives to modern rock and heavy metal tones and everything in between.

The term ‘overdrive’ comes from players in the 50s turning up their amps louder than the amp could handle. This overdrove the valves and created a rich, saturated guitar tone. Since then, overdrive has become the definitive sound of the electric guitar. The only trouble, however, was that turning amps like this was very loud. Overdrive and distortion pedals, then, allow you to capture this sound in a more user-friendly way.

You'll usually see the amount of overdrive something has referred to as ‘gain’. Overdrive and distortion is pretty much the same effect, except distortion is higher gain than overdrive. This means it is suited to classic rock, hard rock, punk, and metal. Famous distortion pedals include the Boss DS1 - as played by Kurt Cobain and Steve Vai - and the ProCo Rat - rocked by Blur’s Graham Coxon and The Police’s Andy Summers.

Some of the most well known overdrives include the Klon, Tube Screamer, Boss DS-1, but these days pedal companies have expanded on the classic overdrive circuits with new features, total redesigns or new and original designs which give players not only access to a huge selection, but the ability to craft a signature tone. With modern quality and circuit redesigns pedals are more reliable than ever and almost all of them come with true bypass to keep your signal clean when not in use. If you want a simple overdrive that responds to your guitar's volume knob or tone knob, or something with more features like a built in noise gate, it's easy to find these days with such a selection. A player may want to go with a simple but versatile pedal like the MXR Duke of Tone mini pedal, or the Electro Harmonix Soul Food Transparent Overdrive for a warm and classic tone, or an MXR 5150 overdrive to pour on the gain and emulate an iconic sound from Eddie Van Halen.

Why Should I Choose an Overdrive or Distortion Pedal?

• Overdrives and distortions come in many different styles 
• Most popular guitar effect
• Stacking overdrives can help you craft your own style
• Light saturation to thunderous distortion
• Find your voice as a guitarist
• Modern overdrives can emulate classic sounds and give you totally new sounds!