What's the difference between distortion pedals and overdrive pedals?

They are essentially the same effect. Distortion is an extreme kind of overdrive. ‘Dynamics’ are the difference between your loudest playing and your quietest playing. Light overdrive will preserve your dynamics whereas distortion will compress them to the point where all your notes are the same volume and have a long, singing sustain.

How to stack overdrive and distortion?

A good starting point is to put the pedal with the least 'Gain' first and the highest fain pedal next. But as with music it's good to experiment! So feel free to move all your pedals around till you find your sound.

Do I need both overdrive and distortion pedals?

Of course not, but it can't hurt to have extra versatility! Your pedalboard is yours and you should load it with pedals you love the sound of.

Should I get an overdrive or distortion pedal?

Without wwanting to say ‘you should get both’, you should get both! Players often use overdrive and distortion in tandem, using distortion for riffs, choruses and solos and using overdrive in verses and lighter songs. Overdrive and distortion pedals work really well when ‘stacked’ in the same signal chain, creating a wider range of gain and tones.

Where does my overdrive and distortion pedals go in a chain?

Overdrive and distortion tend to go near the beginning of the chain - before modulation pedals and time-based effects, like reverb and delay. If you are using both overdrive AND distortion pedals, players tend to stack these in order of gain. Plugging the guitar into the lighter gain overdrive pedal and then into the higher gain distortion pedal works well.

Overdrive & Distortion Pedals | guitarguitar

Keeley Mk3 Driver Andy Timmons Full Range Overdrive Pedal

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Love Pedal Les Lius Overdrive (Pre-Owned)

£149.00

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LSL Instruments Lucid OD Transparent Overdrive Pedal

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Korg OD-S Nutube Overdrive Pedal Kit

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MXR 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Dookie Drive

£219.00

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MXR M225 Sub Machine Octave Fuzz (Ex-Demo) #AC56T852

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MXR Rockman X100 Analog Tone Processor Pedal

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MXR M80 Bass D.I. + (Pre-Owned)

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£59.00

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Xvive XT2 Dynarock Micro Distortion By Thomas Blug

£59.00 £64.99

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£259.00

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Overdrive & Distortion Pedals

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Keeley Mk3 Driver Andy Timmons Full Range Overdrive Pedal

Keeley Manis Iconic Overdrive

Keeley Synth-1 Reverse Attack Fuzz Wave Generator (Pre-Owned)

J.Rockett Audio Mark Sampson High Top (Pre-Owned) #5123600

JHS Pedals Packrat White Distortion Pedal

Love Pedal Les Lius Overdrive (Pre-Owned)

Love Pedal Purple Plexi 100 (Pre-Owned)

LSL Instruments Lucid OD Transparent Overdrive Pedal

LSL Instruments Original Overdrive Pedal

LSL Instruments Vital Distortion Pedal

Mad Professor Big Tweedy Drive (Pre-Owned)

KHDK Electronics Dark Blood Kirk Hammet Signature Distortion (Pre-Owned)

Korg OD-S Nutube Overdrive Pedal Kit

MXR Wylde Audio Overdrive Pedal (Ex-Demo) #AC72G363

MXR YJM308 Yngwie Malmsteen Overdrive Pedal

Marshall 1959 Pedal

Marshall JCM800 Pedal

Marshall JCM900 Pedal

Marshall JVM Pedal

Marshall DSL Pedal

Marshall BB-2 Bluesbreaker II (Pre-Owned)

MXR Gran Torino Boost Overdrive

MXR 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Dookie Drive

MXR M225 Sub Machine Octave Fuzz (Ex-Demo) #AC56T852

MXR Rockman X100 Analog Tone Processor Pedal

MXR M80 Bass D.I. + (Pre-Owned)

MXR CSP233 Micro Amp Plus (Pre-Owned)

MXR M249 Super Badass Dynamic Overdrive

Way Huge Smalls Geisha Drive

Wren and Cuff Mercy Phuk Colossal Overdrive Orange Edition (Pre-Owned) #00102597

Xotic BB + Preamp (Pre-Owned) #6799

Xotic BB-Preamp Andy Timmons Limited Edition (Pre-Owned) #BBP-AT-0584

Xvive XT2 Dynarock Micro Distortion By Thomas Blug

Zoom MS-200D Drive Pedal

Wampler Ecstasy Drive (Pre-Owned) #142010

Wampler Pinnacle Distortion (Pre-Owned)

Wampler Pinnacle Distortion (Pre-Owned)

Wampler Plexi Drive Mini (Pre-Owned)

Walrus Audio Voyager Preamp/Overdrive (Pre-Owned)

Walrus Audio Mako ACS1 Amp + Cab Simulator (Pre-Owned)

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