When it comes to creating your tone, the type of gain you use plays a big role. Depending on the distortion pedal you use your tone could have a buttery smooth feel with seemingly endless sustain, it could create a nice thick wall for crushing rhythm parts, or it could be a fizzy mess. This guide will help you learn which ones fall into each of the categories described above. All of the pedals in this guide can also be used as an overdrive and can provide quite a bit of gain. There are two types of pedals that will be covered, authentic and vintage. When shopping for fake replacements a lot of the questions you’ll be asked revolve around these two…authentic vs fake. Trust me when I say that you should get the authentic ones. There are much cheaper and poorly crafted versions that will duke it out with a vintage circuit, and depending on the gain, tone, and tamper-resistance, a fake circuit is going to get the job done just as poorly. Turntable Whammy Effects Historically, this was one of the simplest and most iconic pedals. Since a rotary switch and a big knob controls volume, the tone comes from combining the two signals. These tones can be more or less harsh depending on which tone knob is turned. Classic humbuckers are loud and beefy with just enough bite, and vintage style levers are thin and wiry. There are a wide range of pedals on the market today producing different combinations of efficiencies, but the original era of this circuit has a lot of robustness and character.

Most of the time when it comes to purchasing a distortion pedal you will be asked to figure out how you like the sound. A lot of manufacturers include a tone knob on the side of their pedals so you can dial in the right amount of gain. Vintage pedals usually include a box and screw terminals so you can plug in directly which makes the process a little less verbose. Authentic vs Fake An authentic distortion pedal is essentially a preamp with a gain knob and obviously a delay/reverb unit built in. These are rare and expensive pedals. You will rarely see them on Walmart shelves. The most popular distortion unit the Road Warrior has. The old school bling bling They usually use a bi-directional vs. bi-amped single pole single throw switch. That is really it. There is no name/logo on them to differentiate them. Some manufacturers mention a “Warrior LV2” on the box but no real benefit over just another “Warrior” in stock. While a warrior certainly sounds better than most other pedals, it is nowhere near worth the price. They are from Texas and there is a lot of rifle talk out there so they may surprise you with a faulty unit.

Most distortions change the fundamental frequencies of an audio signal by modifying how the signal is modulated. You do this by applying a first-order EQ (equaliser) followed by a second-order (distortion) with a boost or cut to forge a signature. Vintage pedals used the same principle to sculpt the sound of their era, and in some cases, some modern copies attempt to do the same thing. Fairlight and Sweetwater will typically answer any questions you might have regarding distortion, bypass pedals and more. The following is a list of differences between the more common and inconvenient distortions pedals. Realistic Boost:Rectifier pedals are often touted as being the most accurate way to achieve a punchy overdrive sound. The Pro series has a realistic boost option that will give you a good boost you won’t hear on a vintage pedal and won’t crack your voice up as much. Truthner, NC 700 and Musical Freedom create an authentic boost-your-tone-independent-of-gain tone, like the original pedals but at half the speed. These pedals will give you an accurate boost across the signal, found by putting a dB of gain into each band.

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