Question:
ok, i know what distortion sounds like. but i dont know what it is.
or a better way to put it, what causes it?
Answer:
Originally Posted by demon_hunter ok, i know what distortion sounds like. but i dont know what it is.

or a better way to put it, what causes it? distortion is exactly what it is. to distort something means to alter or change something (in this case, the signal of your guitar). distortion is just that. at least i think.
Answer:
distortion is the sound caused from pushing something beyond what it should be pushed. rock_guitar1990 has the right concept but not the right idea, to distort something is to manipulate or change something. but in the sense of an amp distorting, it's the input being given too much sound. and that causes that almost ripping paper sound that some distortions sound like.
Answer:
Originally Posted by guitarfreak217 distortion is the sound caused from pushing something beyond what it should be pushed. rock_guitar1990 has the right concept but not the right idea, to distort something is to manipulate or change something. but in the sense of an amp distorting, it's the input being given too much sound. and that causes that almost ripping paper sound that some distortions sound like. i was describing a pedal. but amp-wise, then yeah thats what it is.
Answer:
actually... Those are not good desciptions. What it is is this.
When a sound wave is traveling it repeats in a syn wave ~~~~~~~~
oscilating in smooth rounded waves, when an amp drives, the rounded crests of those waves are lopped off and the sound is a squared off sound wave. It is clipped. find a wave editing software and compare the two signals of a clean electric playing a single note, and a distorted one. You will have to zoom way in to see this. but it is quite evident, Whole present on a chord, it will be easier to see with a single note.
Answer:
Aren't sin waves unnatural though? I thought most natural sound waves were complex, and to get something with sin waves, you'd have to use a synthesizer of some sort or do it with a computer.
Answer:
Originally Posted by ApparentlyNothing Aren't sin waves unnatural though? I thought most natural sound waves were complex, and to get something with sin waves, you'd have to use a synthesizer of some sort or do it with a computer. nope. Most wave forms are complex, but a single note is a single frequency, so thus produces a wave. All sound waves are sinusoidal, but if you get chords, you are going to be seeing multiple frequencies cycling, and overlapping and it will be difficult to see.
example: This is a high e.
note the modified sinusoidal pattern, no distortion
Answer:
Well, good distortion, or distortion that sounds pleasing with an electric guitar was originally from vacuum tubes - they distort as they are pushed beyond their hi-fidelity capabilities, and players discovered that they liked that. Any solid state amp, distortion pedal, modelling device, etc. for elec guitar that has distortion capabilities was designed to mimic that particular type of pleasing distortion that is produced by over-driven tubes. That's why many of us will usually recommend a tube amp for any half-way serious application, since it is the real thing and not a simulation.
Answer:
This is my basic diagram of what distortion is. It's really more complex then this, but this gives a basic understanding...
Answer:
A very simple way of looking at it (preston is 100% correct in his scientific explanation) is to think of someone who is sprinting. When someone is running as fast as he/she can the rate of their foot motion is equal to their velocity. Now what would happen if someon in a car or on a bike came up behind them and pushed them a little bit harder? Their steady running would become an unstable fumbling and their rythim (signal) would break up.
Now, as Maj. Tom said, the original distortion "sound" came from tubes being pushed harder then they were "supposed" to be pushed and were unable to process the power so they would clip.
That probably wasn't helpful but I tried.
Answer:
Preston nailed the science behind it. people seem to get confused and say it has to do with input and what not. actually distortion is very easy to attain with an amp, where as other affects are not. however this overworks the amp. a distortion pedal, creates the same thing, with out pushing the amp so hard.
there are various kinds of distortion. to understand this scientifically, the syn wave is going to be altered in slightly different forms with each one.
to hear these just go to your local music shop and ask to plug in a metal distortion, a blues driver, if they have fulltone, play on a '69 or '70,
the non technical terms for things you'll hear in your listening: fuzz, ring, growl. like i said non technical, but you'll get the idea.
Answer:
Preston nailed the science behind it. people seem to get confused and say it has to do with input and what not. actually distortion is very easy to attain with an amp, where as other affects are not. however this overworks the amp. a distortion pedal, creates the same thing, with out pushing the amp so hard.
Overworks the amp? That's what an amps supposed to do...WORK, and that's how you get great distortion and overdrive. No pedal today (short of some of the tube powerd distortion stomp boxes) can match the distortion and overdrive of natural tube distortion.
*gets out of the way of oncomming tube snobs*
Answer:
Originally Posted by BlessedNinja Overworks the amp? That's what an amps supposed to do...WORK, and that's how you get great distortion and overdrive. No pedal today (short of some of the tube powerd distortion stomp boxes) can match the distortion and overdrive of natural tube distortion.
*gets out of the way of oncomming tube snobs*
You are a bit wrong.
My tube amp is not designed to be driven, hence to drive it would damage it. Not all amps should be driven!
Answer:
Some older tube amps, vintage-styled, and hi-fi tube amps are not meant to be driven, however many amp manufacturers today take into account that many of their amp users will overdrive it and design it to work like that. With that in mind, it's generally not a good idea to run all an amp with all the knobs set to 10 all the time. So it really just depends on the amp.
Answer:
mine is a very hi-fi tube amp designed for a studio. You just don't drive such an amp.
But I have seen idiots drive tube bass amps to speaker explosion with guitars. You always have to be careful to do what it was designed for, or at least what others who know the electronics well, would say is sane. Ive just seen good tube amps, like mine ruined by idiocy.