The guitar effect called distortion is probably the most popular. This effect comes not only from pedals but also from the way the guitar amplifier is adjusted. If the gain and volume of the amp are set high, your amp is going to break up and you'll have distortion in your sound.
There are many names for the effect called distortion: fuzz, overdrive, booster, etc. There are also many marketing names given to distortion pedals which indicate the amount of distortion the pedal will produce.
This effect is very important for the sound the comes from the guitar, and it allows the player to play in a certain manner that wouldn't otherwise be possible. For example, distortion helps with certain guitar techniques such as the hammer on and pull off.
Country, Blues, Rock, Metal. Most all types of music use a certain amount of electric guitar distortion.
Technical Details of the Distortion Effect
What's happening, in a technical sense, when the distortion effect is applied to electric guitar playing?
All amplifiers, if pushed beyond their limits will produce distortion. While often undesired in many applications, the distortion and overdrive and harmonics create a pleasant and enhancing tone, and increased sustain for the electric guitar.
Setting Up Distortion Effect Parameters
How to set up the Distortion pedal parameters? Here's a list of the settings you'll see on your gear:
Gain or Drive - this controls how much clipping is being done, and how much distortion or overdrive you'll get in your sound.
Level or Volume - how loud is the sound or how much boost is added. Use this to make the bypassed and effects levels the same.
Tone - use this control to adjust the tone usually to adjust for extra treble resulting from added distortion.
The most popular names in pedals for distortion are:
