Distortion or Overdrive??

[kurtteej]

I've been away from things for a while, but have found a place in life that's really allowing me to get back into music.

When you guys are talking distortion, are you really talking overdrive or are you actually talking distortion like thru a stomp box? I actually haven't played with a distortion stomp box in about 20 years. I only use a reverb box, a compressor and an equalizer when I play.

Are there any pluses to using distortion or are we talking essentially the same thing here?

 

[schulteboy]

Both of these words have multiple definitions. In some cases they are interchangeable. Distortion is the general term for the sound you get by sending too much signal through a circuit. It can be good, as in "Dude, I get this awesome distortion when I turn my practice amp up to ten." It can also be a bummer: "Dude, I forgot to check the recording level and my acoustic guitar is all distorted during the intro to Stairway to Heaven."

In the past twenty years about a zillion new stomp boxes have been developed. There is a class of pedals that are called Overdrive--they produce a certain kind of distortion which is a bit different from a fuzz box or a distirtion pedal. Overdrive is also a verb. You can also overdrive some (most) amps by turning up the gain knob as in "Dude, I get this awesome distortion when I turn my practice amp up to ten."

 

[gcapel]

yes what he said

good distortion/overdrive = controlled with and amp or effects box

bad distortion/overdrive = usually refering to recording when a mic pre's gain is to high getting too much of the sound source.