Distortion and Fuzz Guitar Effect Pedals: What’s the Difference?

When it comes to guitar effects, most guitarists will begin their journey with distortion or overdrive, whether it’s a setting on your amplifier, or a box you can stomp on just as the song is about to explode! The feeling of hearing yourself playing with gain and saturation for the first time is exhilarating, as you realize you sound better than you thought you did, or at least you can achieve a sound that’s a little more like some of the guitarists that made you want to play electric guitar in the first place.

As you experiment more and more with guitar effects pedals, you’ll likely do some comparative shopping, figuring out which pedals best suit your style, and figuring out what the major differences are between this pedal and that pedal. Eventually you’ll become brave enough to  venture into the world of fuzz!

That’s what we’re going to do here, pose somewhat of a Celebrity Deathmatch between a distortion pedal and a fuzz pedal. These ones are manufactured by O.C.E. Pedals of Burbank, CA.

I’ll explain their different properties, a little bit of the history, play through the pedals, and explore the different sounds. Which pedal produces sounds that feel like a Weezer song? Which pedal produces sounds that feel like a Soundgarden song? You’ll have to check out the video below to learn.

About Mark Hopkins
Mark Hopkins is a Senior Academic Advisor for Berklee Online and a gear fanatic. Mark also hosts At Home with Mark, a weekly interview show on his YouTube channel.