Overdrive/Distortion pedals

MIZPAH · #1 02-20-2021, 09:49 AM

Hi ... I'm a newbie here; and to preface my questions I would like to emphasis that when it comes to electronics; I have very little experience; so here goes:

1) Do OD/Distortion pedals actually produce their "sounds" inside the pedal and then that sound is released into the signal path and then into the amp without stressing the amp?
I own a keyboard amp slaved to a bass amp ... which provides a sweet warm acoustic tone for my "bell-like", Fishman Blender equipped Rainsong WS1000 guitar.
I want to add some effects ... and I'm thinking of the Fender Smolder type OD or any Distortion pedal that will work with an acoustic guitar ... the amps I have only have clean channels, and:
2) I wonder how much trouble I would have getting a Distorted/OD sound -being as they are not purely electric guitar amps, nor are they dedicated acoustic guitar amps - even if they handle a wide frequency range suited to acoustic guitars?
I know nothing about pedals ... and basically do not want to drive either of my amps into oblivion by forcing them to produce distorted tube amp sounds. Hope this all makes sense ...

Brent Hahn · #2 02-20-2021, 10:47 AM

I'm lucky enough to be an acoustic player with a son who's a pedal freak. He's got tons. Here's what I've gathered so far:

1. To your first question, the pedals (except for gain boosters) do their thing on their own, no danger to the amp.

2. They're tonally optimized for electric guitars, so acoustic tones may be compromised. As in skinny. With fuzz/overdrive pedals, especially.

3. Per #2, magnetic pickups work best.

4. Watch out for feedback.

5. What works isn't always what's in the best of taste. A compressor pedal into a chorus pedal works great, but it sounds like 1982.

6. I personally love the looper pedal to death, hours of fun, although it's not strictly an "effect."

Just for fun, listen to some old Siegel-Schwall Band. Jim Schwall was what we in the present would call an "early adopter."

blue · #3 02-20-2021, 11:34 AM

I wish this vid had been around when I was starting out

BlueStarfish · #4 02-20-2021, 12:05 PM

Hi Mizpah,

I am having good fun with a $50 TC Electronic “Mojo Mojo” overdrive pedal with with my collection of acoustics into an acoustic amp. That pedal is marketed as a low-gain overdrive pedal for electric guitars but I am finding it works well for acoustics.

I don’t run the gain up all the way on the pedal, the fun zone seems to be between 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock. There is a voicing switch on that pedal, I find it sounds better in the “down” position (which puts more emphasis on midrange and less on treble and bass). With this range of settings, it makes the whole rig sound a bit like I’m playing through a tube amp, but without getting into the heavily over-driven distortion space. If I add a bit of slapback delay, I can get a very fun rockabilly vibe that sounds great on Johnny Cash songs and the like. If I instead add a small bit of reverb, it instead gives the vibe of an early electric bluesy tone, or maybe a bit of a jazz box tone, again in a 1950’s mold. You could push the gain even higher on the pedal (and back off the level) to get more distortion if that’s your thing.

I’ve just been using piezo based pickups, as I am finding prefer those to mags, but if you have a mag you could push things further. Anyways, I’ve gotten my $50 worth of fun from the purchase and then some. Of all the various guitar gear I have spent money on over the years, this pedal has had a particularly good ratio of fun to cost.

Go forth and have some fun!

Nick84 · #5 02-20-2021, 03:40 PM

The fender Smolder OD is made for acoustics. It does a great job, well worth checking out.

RXMoore · #6 02-20-2021, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueStarfish

Hi Mizpah,

I am having good fun with a $50 TC Electronic “Mojo Mojo” overdrive pedal with with my collection of acoustics into an acoustic amp. That pedal is marketed as a low-gain overdrive pedal for electric guitars but I am finding it works well for acoustics.

I use that same Mojo Mojo pedal, with a cheap chorus pedal and a TC Electronics Forcefield compressor with my acoustics, all run through a 5w Bugera tube amp. It's fun to play around with, and I especially like the chorus effect. I can create some sounds that I really enjoy.

SupremeDalek · #7 02-21-2021, 08:15 AM

My setup contains a Boss SD1 and Soul Food. I have found this pedal to work well with my guitar and amp together. Not all OD pedals work nicely (sound good) with acoustics. For example the Keeley 1962 is too much for it, but the SD1/Soul Food is nice. After a little tweaking with the settings everything sounds awesome.

Nothing will happen to the amp. Feel free to try whatever pedals you want.

Dru Edwards · #8 02-21-2021, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SupremeDalek

My setup contains a Boss SD1 and Soul Food. I have found this pedal to work well with my guitar and amp together. Not all OD pedals work nicely (sound good) with acoustics. For example the Keeley 1962 is too much for it, but the SD1/Soul Food is nice. After a little tweaking with the settings everything sounds awesome.

Nothing will happen to the amp. Feel free to try whatever pedals you want.

The Soul Food is an amazing pedal at a great price. I've never used it on an acoustic before but it's my "always on" pedal for electric. Great transparent OD that gives me "more" of what I'm looking for.

rockabilly69 · #9 02-21-2021, 11:10 PM

I use overdrive for acoustics and I find they work best when you are able to use them in tandem with EQs to tailor the sound. Some overdrives are nothing more than clean boosts designed to light up the preamp of electric guitar amps, and other overdrives create overdrive/distortion within there own circuit. Like anything artistic, experimentation is the key when looking for sounds that work for you. Most people will say they work best with magnetic pickups, but all my stage guitars are UST equipped and I still get some cool overdrive tones. Most of the time I run the XLR out of my Grace preamps to my clean acoustic amp or PA, while I run the 1/4" to a Mythical Overdrive in front of a hand-wired Princeton Reverb! I blend them and they sound GREAT!

MIZPAH · #10 02-22-2021, 04:18 AM

Thanks to everyone for the replies ... and thanks for this Rockabilly69, stating that some pedals are "designed to light up the preamp of electric guitar amps, and other overdrives create overdrive/distortion within there own circuit." This is what I have for pedals: Comp (Mooer Yellow) - EQ (7-band Berhinger) - TC Electronic "Cinders" OD - TC Electronics CHOKA tremelo.
I need to mess around with the Cinders a little bit more - like turn down the volume and turn up something else; I dunno ... this one might be a pedal that just wants to drive the amp more. Now all I gotta do is research pedal that create OD within "their own circuit". Bear in mind that my amp has a 15 inch speaker designed for all instruments ... wide range, so I'm guessing that pushing it to distort might be difficult? The bass amp has an effects loop which I've tried to no avail with the Cinders OD; maybe the loop just doesn't work ...
it's an adventure for sure .... ... I'll put delay pedal onboard then I should get
some cool sounds using it in front of the tremelo pedal, INO no need to go to reverbs and choruses. Any suggestions for pedals that create their own OD inside the pedal????

RoyBoy · #11 02-22-2021, 07:11 AM

Rockabilly's response is spot on. The best juicy OD tones come from the pedal overdriving the preamp tubes in a tube amp to breakup (thus the OD name). Pedals that do this are generally labelled "transparent" as they let the pickup's character show through. Others add clipping with diodes to get the fuzz and distortion and also change the EQ and compression.

As someone who lives in both worlds, I don't think I'd ever be satisfied with overdrive tone from an acoustic. Your guitar, pickup, and amps are designed to avoid overdrive. Nothing beats a good electric through a nice tube amp. That being said, the aforementioned Mojo Mojo is a good entry level OD pedal.

P.S. as an acoustic player, you really should try a tele!

T.Lime · #12 02-22-2021, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIZPAH

Thanks to everyone for the replies ... and thanks for this Rockabilly69, stating that some pedals are "designed to light up the preamp of electric guitar amps, and other overdrives create overdrive/distortion within there own circuit." This is what I have for pedals: Comp (Mooer Yellow) - EQ (7-band Berhinger) - TC Electronic "Cinders" OD - TC Electronics CHOKA tremelo.
I need to mess around with the Cinders a little bit more - like turn down the volume and turn up something else; I dunno ... this one might be a pedal that just wants to drive the amp more. Now all I gotta do is research pedal that create OD within "their own circuit". Bear in mind that my amp has a 15 inch speaker designed for all instruments ... wide range, so I'm guessing that pushing it to distort might be difficult? The bass amp has an effects loop which I've tried to no avail with the Cinders OD; maybe the loop just doesn't work ...
it's an adventure for sure .... ... I'll put delay pedal onboard then I should get
some cool sounds using it in front of the tremelo pedal, INO no need to go to reverbs and choruses. Any suggestions for pedals that create their own OD inside the pedal????

I use the Cinders when I use an acoustic pedal board ( i.e. when it is a longer gig and I can play) This is my current chain for a J 45-
(Trance Audio Amulet Pup) > Cinders on med > Green Mile on V. Low > Yello Fall Delay> TC Hall of Fame2> Passive DI> PA....
Note that even with the pedals the Amulet does not need compressor or EQ, If I was use the 1970's Antoria amped up I would need to use both of those.
Hope this helps

mjh42 · #13 02-22-2021, 06:51 PM

I'm a bit of an odd ball here, I'm playing a Godin Mulituke with the RMC pickup system. I like a little overdrive. I'm using a EH Turnip Greens for a little Soul Food and Reverb for when I want a little bit more edge. Almost finished with my pedal board. One more mini pedal and I think I'll be done for a while.

MIZPAH · #14 02-25-2021, 08:03 AM

Thank you so much for all the replies ... hopefully I'll be able to reprt back as soon as I've managed to get things arranged with all this gear without getting sensory overload!

MIZPAH · #15 03-02-2021, 09:18 AM

I don't want to complicate the uncomplicated ... I'm planning on using 2 amps with my acoustic guitar using ABY box.
1) One for vocal and guitar on separate channels (each with their own amp settings for effects) and I'll run a tremelo pedal through that same amp.
2) the other amp is a bass amp through which I'll run a couple of stacked overdrives.

There should be no problems with this set up for solo gigging as far as I can see ... as long as the amp are in front of me I guess.

Any comments on any part of this setup are welcome.