Do Overdrive Pedals and Distortion Pedals Really Do the Same Thing?

We guitar players love Overdrive and Distortions pedals but what's the difference between them?
What is Headroom? Why do smaller amps distort at louder volumes?
Andy helps you understand all this and more. This is Guitar Stuff You Should Know.

If you're looking to get more out of your guitar playing, then you need to learn about overdrive and distortion pedals. This video will give you the information you need to make the right choice for your playing style. So sit back, relax, and let's take a look at the difference between overdrive and distortion pedals!

𝗚𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢 (Affiliate Links)

Wampler Phenom Distortion Pedal

Wampler Triumph Overdrive Pedal

I also played the Kauffmann Cozy Guitar:

𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗥 𝗚𝗘𝗘𝗞 𝗧𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘

𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦
00:00 What do Overdrives and Distortions do to your guitar signal?
01:19 Signal clipping explained
03:29 What is the difference between Overdrive and Distortion
04:11 Playing a 440hz Sine wave through guitar pedals
05:23 Comparing a guitar sound through an overdrive and a distortion pedal
06:51 Can an overdrive pedal sound like a distortion pedal?
08:39 Can a distortion pedal sound like an overdrive pedal?
11:06 Which Pedal should you buy, Overdrive or Distortion?

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗦
𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙙𝙚, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪!
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨.

#guitarstuffyoushouldknow #overdrive #distortionpedal

[jcwm]

I have been playing guitar since 1979 and have heard many explanations dist vs od. This is simply the best and most accurate explanation I have ever heard. Well done brother. Cheers!

[anishpal]

This video was so good I ended up subscribing!

[mateusrodolfo]

We need more videos with the oscilloscope on other effects! Fantastic job on this excellent video!

[peterszakal]

Thank you Andy! This is Guitar Stuff I Should Know. I never see this innovative visualization coming. You are the first person to explain to me what headroom means. Please do more presentations about fuzz, delay, reverb, compressor, wah, etc. it would be great geeky to see all with the oscilloscope.

[Riseandfishnish]

This was one of the most helpful videos I've seen. The oscilloscope was exactly what I needed to visualize the sound. Thank you! I love overdrive tones. hard to pick a fav, but right now I've been enjoying The Guess Who. No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature riffs are a 10.

[Twinhit]

Clean clean clean amp.
That is your baseline.

Pedals
OD
Distortion
Flanger
Phaser
Fuzz
Chorus
Delay
Echo plex
Compressor
EQ
Sustainer
Wah
Spring Reverb
Tube Reverb
Digital X-pedal Reverb

Outboard Tube Preamp Pedal

Tone Stack
Tone
Treble
Mid
Bass

It can get pretty

Amplifiers
Fender
Champ (tweed)
Deluxe (tweed)
'57 Twin (tweed)
'59 Bassman
'65 Princeton Reverb
'65 Deluxe Reverb
'65 Super Reverb
Twin Reverb

Blues Deluxe
Blues Deluxe RI
Blues Jr

Supro
Nice Small tube amps
Blues King 10 or 12
Delta King 10 or 12

Solid State
Roland JC-120
Probably the best solid state foundation for solid state based tone building.
Legendary and quite reliable.

Use caution when playing font hurt your ears!!!!

[gregmock]

Brilliant explanation...I just bought the Triumph yesterday and love it. I don't care much for high gain sounds so I'll stick with my old DS1 for a warm distortion...the Blues Driver DS1 and Triumph really cover all the gain I'll ever need. The Triumph has such a useable EQ....the DS 1 I back off the treble and gain to warm it up. Then I use a GE7 EQ as a boost for soloing. I find the Triumph loves strats.

[Peanut_Butter_Jelly_Jam]

This was a great comparison. Was really insightful to se how much they can sound like each other. I do feel that the Overdrive does a better job of sounding like the distortion than vice versa though.

[davidneily]

Wow, your videos have always been fun (please take this as a compliment) but now your videos have shot up immensely in production quality. Love the graphics and the inserted video while doing the A/B comparison. Fantastic job. Content and explanation were so clear and spot on. Thx Andy.

[tombudinger]

Well done mate. THE most helpful explanation. Thank you.

[nyguezz]

This has been one of most useful video I have ever watched on YT regarding this topic.

Currently I have a distortion pedal in low gain to emulate an Overdrive effect and when I want a distorted effect, I engage an EQ pedal in front to push mids, and the result is amazing.

[benjoel]

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and owned more pedals than I can remember, and this is by far the best and quickest explanation of distortion vs overdrive I have ever heard. Thank you. Now I'm looking for the fuzz explanation.

[TroyNaumu]

Favourite Distortion tone (one of them anyways) "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Boss DS1 / Boss DS-2 Brilliant and informative video as always.

[Parariddle]

Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter is my favourite today!

Phenomenal video and phenomenal t-shirt sir. Easily top 3 online personality content!

Will be selling branded guitar geek pedal switchers in the future ha ha

[guitardave]

Excellent video - I can imagine Mr Wampler himself would enjoy and appreciate this explanation.

Best distortion or overdrive tone? Difficult to name just one, but I do love the Soldano SLO crunch and overdrive tones. That raises another question though - is amp gain hard or soft clipping?…

[justmehere]

Easily the best description of this topic I have seen.

[rolandk]

Thank you for adding some science into this explanation. As a newer guitar player I can never quite get the adjectives used to describe sound clear in my head. This made it understandable.

[jacobholler]

The Vandals- "An Idea for a Movie". Andy, this is one of the best distortion vs. overdrive explanation videos I've seen. Great job exploring it without being presumptive, focusing on the sound, and avoiding acting like there are things that everybody should know or do. Great advice on finding your tone as well. Your end of the video club assignment made me listen to a few classic songs to figure out where my idea of a good gain sounds came from. Thanks and keep it up!

[kevlar_]

Bueno, this was a great description and demonstration of the unique qualities of the two.

[jdkimple]

Fav song with fav guitar distorted tone - Sister Havana by Urge Overkill.