Top Overdrive Effects That You Should Consider

Last Updated: November 19, 2019 The latest refresh of our chart on the best overdrive pedals out there saw a bit of a shakeup. We removed a couple of pedals, including the original JHS Moonshine. This was replaced by the new JHS Moonshine V2, while we also added the high-end MXR EVH5150 Overdrive and excellent BE-OD from Friedman Amplification.

Looking to take your guitar tone to the next level? Want to add a good dose of crunch and grit to your sound with minimal effort? You probably need an overdrive pedal! Overdrive is the tone behind most blues, rock ‘n roll and classic rock tracks, and one of the first effects pedals on any guitarist’s pedal board. Naturally, the market is awash with overdrive pedals to choose from. But, with so many, how do you know which are worth spending your cash on? In today’s article, we are highlighting a selection of the best overdrive pedals around. They range in design, versatility and price, but all deliver the goods! Stick around after the chart for a guide to overdrive pedals and their uses.

Top 10 Best Overdrive Effect Pedals:

What Exactly is the Overdrive Effect?

Overdrive is a staple of modern electric guitar tone shaping. An overdrive pedal is used in just about any genre of music that involves electric guitars – and electric bass for that matter. So much so, that overdrive is often considered the first guitar effects pedal a player should invest in. Before we explain the beauty of an average overdrive pedal, let’s find out how this effect came to be and where it all began. As you may already know, overdrive was first discovered when electric guitar pioneers began pushing tube amps outside their comfort zone. Once overloaded, the sound of the amp would start to distort, creating the crunchy effect that we know as overdrive. This method is still considered to be the best way to achieve organic overdrive. However, not everyone can or wants to push their amp to such extremes on a daily basis. This is where overdrive pedals come in. Manufacturers soon developed methods to recreate that clipping effect and pack it into a convenient pedal format, giving guitarists overdrive on tap.

Difference Between Overdrive and Distortion

One common misconception you often hear is that an overdrive pedal is the same as a distortion pedal. While they share similarities and belong to the same category of pedal – along with fuzz pedals – they are not the same thing. Overdrive pedals have tamer amounts of gain, offering a smoother, warmer broken-up tone. They tend to preserve the guitar’s natural tone and retain the player’s dynamics. On the other hand, distortion pedals offer an abundance of gain, completely distorting the sound, delivering high aggression to the tone. This is why overdrive is usually better for genres such as blues, indie and classic rock, while distortion is more associated with heavy modern rock and metal. If these are your genres, you should definitely read more about distortion pedals.

What Makes a Good Overdrive Pedal?

The beauty of an overdrive pedal is that they don’t need to be complex. On the contrary – simple is almost always better. When it comes to what makes a good overdrive pedal, it all comes down to the circuitry inside. As you can’t do much about the circuitry, look for a pedal that offers the controls you need. Some may just offer the basics, while others look like mini computers, allowing you complete control over your sound. While we appreciate simplicity, a good selection of controls is essential.

How to Use an Overdrive Pedal

Using an overdrive pedal might seem like a simple enough task. After all, these pedals are about as simple as it gets, right? Not necessarily. One of the most common ways to use overdrive is to simply plug the pedal into your signal chain, dial in a tone you like and go with that. However, once you start thinking outside the box, you will find that there is so much more to these pedals. Here are two main overdrive scenarios:

• • In Addition to Your Amp’s Overdrive

The idea behind this method is to boost your amp’s natural sound by utilizing the additional power of your pedal. Dial every knob on the pedal to its lowest value before you start. Without even touching anything else, just start to slowly add volume (or level depending on your specific pedal). You should hear your amp’s overdrive channel start to sound hotter and wider. You can experiment by adding a bit of grit and changing other parameters. One key thing is to take things slow – don’t go overboard. Going too far can even mess up your tubes, which is something you want to avoid.

• • As a Standalone Effect

In this case, you will want to have your amp set on the clean channel. Turn on the pedal and apply the same steps as we have described above. When dealing with a clean channel, you might have to be more liberal with your volume and overdrive levels, as you are building the overdrive tone from the ground up. Pair it with select modulation, such as a good chorus pedal and you will have a great platform to work with.

How Practical are Overdrive Pedals?

Overdrive pedals have found their purpose in just about any genre of music, spanning from jazz (yeah, seriously!) to heavy rock. The fact that you have the liberty to add a tiny bit of grit or as much gain as the pedal can offer, means that you can do just about anything you want to. Is the pedal itself not enough for you? Simply punch that dirty channel button your amp and you should be good to go. At the end of the day, you can squeeze a lot of performance out of an overdrive pedal. It may take some time to figure out exactly how to tap into that potential, but it is definitely there. This makes it one of the pedalboard essentials.

Vintage vs. Reissue

When dealing with some of the more iconic models, you will often hear people talking about vintage pedals versus modern reissues. If this is your first overdrive pedal, this discussion shouldn’t really bother you, as the difference between these are miniscule from a practical point of view. Those who are heavily invested in their guitar tone will notice pros and cons to both. However, we are talking about guitar players who can discern nuances to a point where even the smallest difference has high impact.

Why Cheap Overdrive Pedals Can Be Good!

Another awesome thing about overdrive pedals is that they don’t have to be expensive at all. For example, Boss offers a selection of highly-rated overdrive pedals that work very well, but come in at under fifty bucks – very reasonable. Expensive models are usually boutique designs, which implies sophisticated analog circuitry and a bunch of other extras. This is great if you are in the market for a high-end tone, but it’s not necessary to spend that much.

The Final Word

The chart above should hopefully satisfy your overdrive pedal curiosity – whether you are planning to buy one or just reading up what’s on offer. We have covered some vintage masterpieces and heavily modernized pedals rich with variety. As with all our charts, the list is subject to change – expect more additions over time, adapting to the ever-improving world of guitar pedals and what they can offer.