Difference between od, dist and fuzz?

[347sixtyseven]

Hello,

For my first post i have a basic question. What are the differences between overdrive, distortion and fuzz effects?

I have just built my 2nd pedal, a big daddy from ROG. Is it a distortion or fuzz?

My first pedal was a fuzz of some type that i built about 4 years ago and wasn't real happy with the results. Could be why it took so long to build another project

Any info greatly appreciated

Cheers

Gary

[MadMac]

Overdrive is usually used to describe the mildly broken up sound.
Distortion - mid to heavy
Fuzz - big sounds like your speaker is ripping apart.

[DWBH]

Yeah, it's like MadMac said... I guess.

In my opinion there's much to argue on the border between Od and distortion. For instance, I find that my Brown Sound in a Box is much more a distortion than a overdrive, but many people call it an overdrive.

[petemoore]

  None, unless you know you think you know what the difference is exactly, seeing it on a scope or hearing a soundclip can better define the terms 'Od, Dist, and Fuzz'.
  In the normal way they're used [IOW: vague, and having ~interchangable meanings], Dist Od and FUZZ imply that the signal is clipped so some degree or other. Fuzz would be the standout of the three, and 'should' [IMO] have come to mean...more treble at the output on a ~heavily clipped waveform...but it's asking a lot to expect to read that and have the definition define what's what. 
  It's like talking about 'Hot' air...the exact same air can be 'warm' or even 'cool', some may feel it is 'hot'.
  Or 'Spicy'...to some people 'spicy' includes any Basil or Cinnamon, to others banana peppers are 'hot'.
  They do make a little more specific sense of definition when the 'literal' meaning is referenced, but that is rare enough around 'Distortion Box-ers' to be moot.
  "Distortion' in a phaser...well literally a phaser 'messes' with the phase, looking at the signal output shapes on a scope will show it has been distorted from the input shapes, still, 'my phaser distorts' generally is used to describe a phaser which is malfunctioning, but could be describing a phaser which has a pre-distorted signal to enhance the perception of phasing sweeps.
  Difference between od, dist and fuzz?
  Range from vague and misleading, to vaguely specific if talking about a specific 'distorter or Fuzz' circuit, and perhaps some other contexts thrown in.
  Fuzzes distort, OD's Distort, Distorters 'can' make Fuzz, ''This 'distortion' sounds more like 'Fuzz'' is a common enough thread or train...and can mean:
  Anything from:
  Technical definition: any difference in waveshape between input and output, however slight, if detectable is 'distortion'.
  Loose Slang Term: Any Fuzz...
  There I went and exampled it, 'Fuzz' is the standout of the three, if used right, IMO, and sometimes IME, means there is hard clipping distortion [tops and bottoms of the +/- wavepeaks are sliced off], and that tone has 'enhanced HF response' [as in 'sounds trebly' because HF's were not shunted to ground or otherwise greatly limited at output].
 

[ambulancevoice]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdrive_%28music%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_%28guitar%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzzbox

[frank_p]

Welcome to Toyland.

This is the best answers that I can give you.

An overdrive is an effect that is used by musician for playing their tube amp without disturbing everybody around (instead of increasing the volume to have more distortion).  It's useless because when you plug the device, you'll have the natural tendency to increase the volume of your amp anyway and thus disturbing even more.

A distortion is a box that you buy to replace the distorion channel of the solid state amp that you already have and you don't like.  At the end you'll have two piece of equipment that you will like so-so.

A Fuzz is an effect that sound so horribly cheesy that you will think it's cool.

In the three cases, these are used to produce excitement and to shake eardrums hard.

[bkanber]

Here's how I always thought of it:

Overdrive and distortion are basically the same thing-- they both clip the sound in a similar manner, but many like to reserve the term "overdrive" for distortion that happens when your tube amp is distorted because of a high input.. usually you can overdrive a tube preamp by simply using a boost out of the guitar. I've always thought of distortion as something that tries to emulate the tube amp's overdrive without tubes or even without the amp.

Fuzz is a little different, as others have mentioned. While distortion and overdrive tends to sound "crunchy", fuzz sounds "fuzzy". It's because of the specific shape of the waveform; ie, the fuzz face has asymmetrical hard clipping which brings out all the "warm, fuzzy" overtones (they're called overtones if you're a musician, harmonics if you're a physicist).

[tranceracer]

I tend to think of OD, Distortion and FUZZ tones in terms of artist sounds rather than the "technical" definition.  They all clip the signal somewhat but to different degrees.  The pure OD, Distortion and Fuzz tones are like the primary colors blue, red, yellow of clipping.  Many pedals and artists mix and match these to get their sound.

IMHO, Some artists that have some signature tones of OD, DISTORTION, and FUZZ in the purist sense:

OD tone:
Santana, SRV

Distortion:
ACDC, GnR

Fuzz:
Hendrix

Pls add more...

[347sixtyseven]

Thanks for the very informative replies guys. Tranceracer, your list was very helpful, the sound references make it a bit easier for me to differentiate between the different effects.

To those who know the circuit, what category would you put the ROG big daddy or grace in?

Cheers

Gary

[hellwood]

overdrive - makes your NMV 100 watt marshall sound like its on 10 when its only on 6.
distortion - bar chords, palm muting, and fast picking
fuzz - single note solos

[Chawk]

overdrive - makes your NMV 100 watt marshall sound like its on 10 when its only on 6.
distortion - bar chords, palm muting, and fast picking
fuzz - single note solos

+1 on these as typical usage. Depends on your personal tastes of course. Lot's of musicians out there use the fuzz sound for their bar chords or overdrive for solos and so on. Just depends on the user. 

[Mark Hammer]

The distinction between "overdrive" and "distortion" is somewhat less clear, but what people call "fuzz" tends to be something with pretty much no amplitude envelope.  That is, no matter how hard or soft (within limits) you pick or strum, the volume remains constant because the signal is as clipped as it can possibly be.  That can have any of a variety of tones de to how it gets EQ'd, but that general quality will almost always put it in the "fuzz" category for most people.

[raulgrell]

In my view, OD is a mild effect, while distortions and fuzzes are more in your face... Hard to describe, but easy to determine...

Whether something is a fuzz or a dist:

If it sounds horrible when palm muted, it's a fuzz...

[earthtonesaudio]

Reminds me of that old Supreme Court justice... "I can't describe it, but I'd know it if I saw it."

[m-theory]

AC/DC tone is distortion?  That's about as pure an overdrive tone as I know of. 

[petemoore]

  Distortion is what you have if the output signal isn't exactly, perfectly identical to the input signal...ie you have distortion.
  Overdrive is what it says it is. You can overdrive anything and get OD from it, speaker, tube outputs, even transistor amp [though when overdriven it would probably be called crap instead of distortion] the resultant output signal would be distorted when compared to the input signal, so you have 'Overdrive Distortion'.
  Fuzz can be overdrive and distortion...depends on the OD which is called a "Fuzz" or which Fuzz is named "OD".
  So the meaning of overdrive could be remaining 1/2 intact some of the time.
  The definition of distortion varies from what we'd call 'clean' to 'Fuzz', say you have a straight line and someone slightly [almost imperceptibly] dents it, it has been distorted, even the slight variation is 'distortion'...but that definition really doesn't apply to stompbox distorters where 'distortion' means something very instantly recognizable and perceptible.
  Confused/ that's nothing compared to when these terms are actually used in everyday descriptions of hifi or lofi...could mean about anything except the output being a perfect reflection of the input. 

[DWBH]

AC/DC tone is distortion?  That's about as pure an overdrive tone as I know of. 

Oh yeah. For many people that's just overdrive. For me, it's distortion.

[anti-idiot]

Check these intros:

OD: Pearl Jam - Do The Evolution
Distortion: Guns N Roses - Nightrain
Fuzz: Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky

to me, OD souns like almost-clean-almost-crunchy, Distortion is tighter and musical sound, while fuzz sounds like a fart (in a good way)

[m-theory]

For many people that's just overdrive.  For me, it's distortion.

It is, by very definition, "overdrive."  That tone is what you get when you plug an old SG into an old Marshall and "overdrive" the amp.  If you listen and focus on those guitar tones, you'll hear very clear note definition and separation, and in fact, at times, what almost sounds like a clean, but very loud signal.  You're not alone in over estimating the amount of "distortion" in that tone, though.  I've often heard cover guitarists using distortion to cop AC/DC.  Part of this is probably due to the overwhelming sense of power that comes from those high volume, hard hit, slamming power and open chords, and part of it is undoubtely because it's very easy to overuse distortion, both live and in the studio.  It's pretty deceiving, and I think the natural tendancy for guitarists is to want more than is really called upon, rather than less.

Look at the tube screamer.  Everybody knows that it's an overdrive, yet it can produce a fairly distorted tone.  How about a Rat or DS1?  Distortions, right?  Yet, they can produce a much milder, overdrive-like tone as well.  So, what about fuzz?  All about distortion, right?  No, because they clean up beautifully with guitar volume, and can produce a beautiful, sparkly tone that's almost clean. 

Everyone has a perception of these classifications that's based upon their own preferences and experiences, so it's really hard to generalize and nail anything definitive down. 

[Meanderthal]

 I guess the descriptions given are accurate to a point, but, there are exceptions. A good Fuzz Face can act like all 3 depending on volume knob on guitar setting, and a BMP can be either a distortion or a fuzz depending on how it's built. There are some old school publications out there that refer to EVERYTHING as a fuzz. The descriptions for fuzz could apply to 'metal' distortion also.

To me, if it sounds like a kazoo or it's no good for chords, it's a fuzz. If it sounds like doom, makes you want to get a mullet and play palm mute power chords it's a distortion. If it's kinda civilized and Hank Hill-ish, goes well with snakeskin and big belt buckles it's overdrive.