Achieving slight distortion with buffer overloading.

[GibsonGM]

So far, I'm finding LT to be the more intuitive of the two...I am curious how accurate they are with respect to each other, though.   I guess it's all in what you're used to!   

[Thecomedian]

Well, that's a little less complex, anyway )    You may find the audible differences between the wave you have there and a pure sine aren't too dramatic, Comedian.   A little more 'sparkly' and 'open', perhaps.  Or maybe so little change you just don't hear much difference?  2nd order (octave) harmonics are the root of good drive, and are the characteristics of a moderately overdriven tube tone.   Transistors generally go into odd harmonics, 3rd, 5th etc.  That is 'the land of the flat tops (square waves)".   

So it's cool you've managed to begin clipping smoothly here with the bjt/fet setup.   I'd start here, build it and listen!  It would be especially enlightening if you have access to an O-scope, and could watch the waveform while hearing it AND tweaking components!   

You may have to raise that 100m input voltage to about 1V P-P to more accurately represent the output of a guitar, as well....even 2V!   They vary so much.  So, because all this stuff is analog and variable, it's difficult to REALLY know what's going to happen inside the circuit until you can get in and get your hands dirty!  )

I have a follow up question to raising the voltage. When working with the electra distortion build, if I took it to 500mv or 1v, it'd send the waves to the moon and output a nasty square wave with no good characteristics.

Does that happen to you if you model a 1v P2P?

[jishnudg]

@TCA -  I'm starting on TINA myself - - but I'm a complete beginner in the area of circuit sims - - was hoping if you could perhaps share some of your TINA TI files (like the ones on this thread) so I could check out how you lay out a circuit in the software...
Thanks a ton!
J.