History of Distortion Part 2
Okay, this is the second part of my dissertation** on why distortion is the greatest effect ever created for electric guitar. If you haven’t read the first part, I’d recommend getting caught up. The first half focused on distortion history from the ’40s through the ’60s, and this article is going to zoom in on distortion history from the ’70s through the present day.
**Most dissertations are several hundred pages long, and I made mine about 6 pages total. You’re welcome.
Let’s dive back in.
The ’70s
Loud amps and fuzz boxes continued to dominate the early 1970s, but around 1974, a new form of distortion entered the scene which used an operational amplifier instead of single transistors. This also introduced a method called hard clipping, which actually clipped off the signal in a very aggressive way. With this new expression of distortion on the rise, several famous stomp boxes were born in a span of just a few short years.
Around 1974 we saw the MXR Distortion+, DOD 250, Dan Armstrong Blue Clipper, Dearmond Square Wave, and more! These were all very similar designs that followed the datasheet examples given by the LM741 part manufacturer. They were (and still are) awesome, because they work so well and are beautifully simple. Just turn the distortion on where you want it to go, and then crank the volume. On an already loud amplifier, these are a dream, and coincidentally are my favorite type of drive for slide guitar.
In 1978, in Kalamazoo, Michigan (where that Maestro Fuzz Tone was made) there was a happy accident, and a guy named Scott Burnham made the Rat Pedal. The very first 12 models were basically just him goofing off and making them for friends, and then a year later he went to mass production, and we all know what happened: this thing became extremely popular. I would have to say, on a desert island, this is in my top 10 pedals ever. On certain days it might be in my top two or three. It's one of the first pedals I ever got that I really, really fell in love with, and it's hard to beat because it covers clean tones all the way to raging fuzz.
That’s what you call a versatile pedal.
Another classic that just happened to come out in 1978 is the BOSS DS-1. It literally is the distortion pedal. When you say distortion pedal, an orange box pops up into my head. It's a cultural pop icon to me. There's nothing more distortion than this box, so ’78 was a really good year. I think you've all owned this pedal. If you haven't, you need to go pick it up, because it's exceptional. It gets a lot of hate, which is dumb, because it's so amazing. It works great on loud and arty/dirty amplifiers, and it's a go-to for some of the best rock recordings ever.
The ’80s
The 1980s were all about big. Big sounds, big guitar solos, big rock, big hair, and big distortion. The JCM800 was responsible for most of that. It’s also worth mentioning the JCM900. It's really easy to understand these, and why they're different. 800 stood for the ’80s, because that's when it came out. 900 came out in the ’90s; same basic principle. This is one of the most iconic distortion sounds ever, which I like to play through a 412 Cab.
1982 gave us one of the most awesome distortion pedals ever, but it got overshadowed by the TS9. Much love to the TS9, but that’s another pedal for another article. I want to give some credit to the TS9's younger brother: the SD9 Sonic Distortion, which is honestly just really cool. Some of my favorite artists have used it, and it's a real sleeper. I really love it, I've always loved it, and I just don't see it anywhere, which breaks my heart a little bit.
This is where you can do your part as a responsible guitar-player. Go check it out, buy one, and own one of the coolest distortions ever made.
The ’90s
The 1990s had so much gear in it, I couldn't even possibly cover the bases. That’s its own separate article, maybe an entire documentary. Who knows? I'll just talk about a couple of my favorite distortions from that decade.
First of all, the BOSS Metal Zone. You know, I hear you grumbling, but until you've plugged this in to a good, clean, loud amplifier, and really spent some time with it, you have been tricked. You have been led astray. This is a great pedal, and it does the job really well. And it's actually super versatile. Don't take my word for it; you need to try it yourself.
My favorite ’90s distortion might be the Supra Distortion Extreme. These DOD pedals are super cool. There's all kinds of variations of this circuit, and the DOD line was massive in this era. This pedal's cool. I love that the enclosure literally says “extreme”, like it's not good enough just to be distorted. This was the ’90s. You needed extreme distortion. So they gave it to you.
Present Day
Then we get to the current era of distortion and fuzz. It's insane how many there are. I couldn't even scratch the surface to tell you all the things I love that are available today. Some of my favorites, though, I will toss out there.
The ZVex Fuzz Factory was a game changer when it came out. What's cool is it's really just throwing back to a Fuzz Face, but it does it in a really creative way. Look up a photo of this thing and you’ll see what I mean.
Then we've got the Big Ear Pedals Woodcutter. This is basically just an amazing Rat, probably my favorite Rat replica ever made. And it does the job. But, once again, it throws back to the vintage day of distortion, to the late ’70s.
Earthquaker’s Park Sound Fuzz is just an amazing Tone Bender, although ‘just’ really doesn’t belong in that sentence at all, because this pedal is fantastic.
I'll throw one of mine in there. It's the Angry Charlie, and it's really just a JCM800 sound that you heard earlier. It's a super pivotal and amazing sound, but really? It's tossing back to 1980, to Marshall. We still love that vintage sound in the present day, and that's why it's one of my best selling pedals. Everybody wants that classic sound. That's what’s fun about distortion. Distortion doesn't have to necessarily be new any more, it can just be new flavors of the same thing. Everyone loves a good crank tube amp; everyone loves the classic sounds. It can be new takes and new approaches to some of these classic ways to distort.
Whether you're turning up your guitar, or turning up a fuzz pedal, there's a way to distort uniquely; there's something that you can do with it with your guitar, and your amp, and your pedal. So I challenge you to sit down with your rig and practice making some new distortion sounds. Turn some knobs in a new way. Do something a little different. You might be really surprised at what happens.
Go turn your guitar up, because loud is more good. Make some distortion and annoy a few people, 'cause that's rock’n’roll. That's why you started playing guitar.