Overdrive pedals are massively popular with a whole range of guitar players, which is one of the reasons why there are so many of them on the market. Unlike most other effects units, overdrive pedals aren’t there to drastically change your tone - they’re there to enhance what’s already there. The best overdrive pedals add colour to your sound, as opposed to changing the picture completely. They don’t usually have as much gain as distortion or fuzz pedals - they’re a little more subtle, adding a bit more grit, sustain and, if dialled in, volume.
There are different ways to use an overdrive pedal, but they’re usually used to either push a tube amp harder which results in natural, harmonic distortion, or if using a solid state amp, mimic the sound of a driven tube amp. Some players use them to tighten up, or shape their tone a little more too.
There are so many different options available, all with different components and circuit boards affecting their tone, but what are the best overdrive pedals around right now? We’ve put together this list that covers a range of different sounds, features and price points to help find the one that’s right for you.
There's some expert buying advice at the end of this guide, so if you'd like to read more about the best overdrive pedals, click the link. If you'd rather just get straight to the products, then keep scrolling.
Best overdrive pedals: Our top picks
While there are some incredible options out there, the JHS Double Barrel does take some beating. It’s transparent enough to let your tone come through, but if dialled in, can add a lovely rich warmth that’s really musical, plus it plays well with both tube and solid-state amps.
If you’re seeking a great-sounding, reliable overdrive pedal on a budget, then the TC Electronic Mojomojo is worth checking out.
Best overdrive pedals: Product guide
The adorable TS Mini is made in Japan and packs the TS808's coveted JRC4558D IC chip. You know what to expect from a TS, and the Mini will get your mids humping and your single coils beefing up with the best of 'em. It's not the smoothest Screamer we've ever heard, but it is faithful to the '80s incarnation in that it compresses up a treat and cuts the low-end a little.
Ramp up your amp, cut the TS Mini's gain and up the volume, and it gives distorted tones extra attack – and that's possibly its greatest strength.
Read the full Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini review
The Soul Food is EHX's take on the transparent overdrive of the Klon Centaur, and an excellent complement to a valve amp. The Klon is beyond the means of most of us, but if you're looking for that type of touch-sensitive, transparent overdrive and boost that keeps your core sound intact, the Soul Food delivers it, with a small bump in the low-mids and a range of gain from clean boost up to mid-range drive.
Read the full Electro-Harmonix Soul Food review
Despite overdrive being, fundamentally, a simple concept there is infinite variation possible from a single pedal. JHS Double Barrel proves this, by packing in two of the company’s famous individual pedals to give the user a plethora of tone-shaping potential to choose from.
Simple boosting is possible from the Morning Glory V4 side, which adds a transparent push and increased dynamism to your tone without colouring it. On the Moonshine V2 side, there is tube-like saturation which responds well to your picking and guitar’s controls.
They say you get what you pay for, and with Strymon pedals that seems to ring true. Anticipating seemingly every user need, the Sunset not only has three distortion options with different topologies, but also three boost options and flexible routing that allows for either boost or drive first.
The two-stage drive cascaded into the ‘Texas’, the company’s take on a Tube Screamer, which is particularly powerful... and fun. When compared side by side with a real tube high-gain amplifier, it’s hard to tell which is real and which is the pedal – there’s certainly not even a whisker of dreaded digital ‘fizz’.
Read the full Strymon Sunset review
That Pedal Show's Mick Taylor and Daniel Steinhardt's signature pedal with Keeley Electronics is a dual-format design featuring overdrive and boost sections that can be used individually or stacked – with the option of putting the boost before or after the drive.
Extra flexibility comes from input and output jacks that will take TRS cables to allow the two circuits to be split, so each can be used in a different loop of a switching system, effectively having two standalone pedals. Stacking the two sections together offers more opportunity - both routing options have their relative merits, but we really like the way that the Boost before the Drive ups the saturation quota.
Read the full Keeley D&M Drive review
Just about every boutique pedal maker turns out some sort of Tube Screamer clone, but EarthQuaker has taken a radical approach to the task. While the company may have based its Palisades on the classic TS808, it's built into it a larger array of options than we've so far seen in any overdrive pedal.
There's a choice of six clipping voices and five different bandwidth settings (via a pair of rotary switches): 30 variations on the character of the effect before you even start to tweak! The result is a pedal that lets you dial in a massive range of overdrive tones – not just good impersonations of TS pedals, but much gainier drives verging on distortion and fuzz, as well as transparent boost/overdrive.
Read the full EarthQuaker Devices Palisades review
An old favourite, the BD-2 is fantastic for just boosting an amplifier that’s working and giving it a little bit more edge. But it’s definitely an overdrive pedal, not a clean boost, because a certain amount of that drive tone is being created in the pedal itself. It’s very warm and very natural. Strat players often get on well with the Blues Driver, because the pedal tends to gently balance out the Strat’s toppy sound.
It takes the spirit of Boss's much-loved OD-1 and SD-1, but adds gain, edge and bite to emulate a cooking valve amplifier. The Blues Driver responds well to picking dynamics, too.
No prizes for guessing which specific genre of player the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra will appeal to. This awesome-looking pedal is essentially a Rangemaster-based treble booster, with some unique tricks of its own. Volume, presence and gain are all pretty standard, but with the additional range control you have the ability to boost either high-end frequencies or the entire spectrum.
We find it works best when paired with a detuned guitar and high gain tube amp, and we unashamedly had all the fun in the world churning out those iconic riffs laden with that dense, raucous tone we all know and love.
With the RevivalDrive, Origin Effects aimed at delivering the sound and circuit behaviour of a classic amp in a fully variable and controllable format. The resulting dual-channel pedal has one bypass footswitch and a second to toggle between the channels. Each have an identical set of controls but while one channel is based on a valve rectifier, the other has a solid-state (Silicon) rectifier for the different responses associated with each.
The two channels are sufficiently different, the Silicon channel having a tighter, more aggressive feel to the squishier sag of the Valve channel. With an ability to mimic a whole range of amps, notably Marshall and Fender models, or provide overdrive that’s perfectly tailored to be an extension of your clean amp tone, it will give you a proper cranked vintage amp sound at practical stage and home levels whatever amp you are using.
Read the full Origin Effects RevivalDrive review
This is based on the famous Paul Cochrane Timmy overdrive pedal - Paul even helped MXR with the design. These are known for being super transparent and allowing your guitar’s fundamental tone to really shine through. The originals however can be hard to come by, but this MXR version does a great job of replicating that sweet, low-gain boost, in a compact casing.
If you’re looking to drive a tube amp without colouring your sound, then this could be one of the best overdrive pedals for you. The EQ has been designed in a clever way too - the bass and treble are cut-only, so you’re not adding in frequencies but keeping your tone ‘truer’, plus the controls are wired pre- and post-overdrive to help maintain your low end, and smooth out the top.
The three-way clipping switch provides you with even more options and different headroom settings. Overall, the MXR Timmy Mini is a really good take on a classic pedal - it keeps everything that players love about the original, and houses it in a smaller casing.
Read the full MXR Timmy review
While the TC Electronic Mojomojo might sit at the more budget end, it’s still absolutely one of the best overdrive pedals out there. It’s been used by none other than virtuoso Paul Gilbert, and offers a dynamic, smooth overdrive with lots of headroom. It won’t give you massive amounts of gain on tap, but, if you’re running it through a clean amp, it does give you a very nice cranked tube amp sound.
The pedal has been designed in such a way that it increases the voltage sent into it, to increase headroom which makes it super responsive to your playing - all the nuances in your picking hand will shine through, and it will react really well to your guitar’s volume knob.
There are bass and treble controls for tone sculpting, as well as gain and volume knobs so you can dial in exactly what you want it to do. There’s even a voicing switch that eases off on some of the bass frequencies - ideal for using with darker sounding guitars.
Read the full TC Electronic Mojomojo review
The guitar is a midrange instrument so why not embrace that? KMA Machines understand this and its Logan goes as far as to introduce footswitchable mids alongside parametric control for the Mid Cut/Boost and Mid Frequency, effectively offering two overdrive pedals to use at once.
The ability to place mid-EQ before or after the gain stage elevates the Logan as distinctive and versatile drive in a crowded market. You can even plug in an expression pedal and use the Logan as an auxiliary wah. The overdrive tones here cover everything from a clean boost to cranked crunch and even cocked wah. Transcendental indeed.
Read the full KMA Machines Logan Transcend Drive review
There are very few pedals that go on to reach mythical status, and while most players would instantly think of Bill Finnegan's Klon Centaur, we count the Analogman King Of Tone and, of course, by extension, its heir, the Prince Of Tone among this very exclusive list.
Anyone who has tried to get their hands on one of these pedals knows that it's pretty much impossible - unless you fancy joining a three-year waiting list or paying an astronomical amount over the asking price for one. Luckily, MXR has the answer - the Duke Of Tone.
Partnering with Analogman's Mike Piera, MXR is making the regal tone of this prized pedal accessible to millions of players - and in a smaller, more pedalboard-friendly format! Delivering a warm, amp-like drive that brings out the best of your playing, the Duke Of Tone is ideal for those seeking the sound of this once unobtainable pedal.
Best overdrive pedals: Buying advice
What to know when buying the best overdrive pedals
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If you’re looking for the best overdrive pedal for you, then there are a few things to consider beforehand. Firstly, what are you looking to get out of it? Are you looking to use it as a boost for solos? Do you want one as the basis of your main sound? Are you using it to push an already driven amp? Thinking about the application will help you figure out what you need in an overdrive pedal.
What's the difference between overdrive and distortion?
Overdrive and distortion are terms that are (often wrongly) used interchangeably. Granted, they're essentially versions of the same effect - with distortion being overdrive's extreme big brother - but they provide vastly different playing experiences depending on what you go for.
The main difference is that, while a distortion pedal provides the same (or a similar) amount of distortion at any volume, an overdrive pedal reacts more like an old school tube amp - with the amount of gain and grit being dictated not only by the amount of gain you choose, but also by the input and output volume.
What do you want to get from an overdrive?
Whilst overdrives aren’t there to completely change your sound, many do add some tonal qualities that players love, so the inherent sound of it should be considered. Others really let the sound of your guitar and amp shine, so if you’re happy with your tone as it is, but want a bit of extra attitude, then you’ll want to look for an overdrive pedal that’s more transparent.
Some feature more tone-shaping controls than others too. If you have a specific sound in mind, then look for something with more EQ controls, as these will give you more ability to fine-tune your sound. You can also use these to combat troublesome frequencies within your amp, for example, many metal players use a Tube Screamer, or something similar, to push the front end of an already distorted amp a little more, and to tighten up the bottom end. If you’re using an overdrive pedal for solos, then dialling in more high-mids and top-end can help you cut through a live mix better.
Can I use multiple gain stages or overdrive pedals?
Some of the best overdrive pedals even have different foot-switchable gain stages. These can be really handy if you’re playing live, as they can act almost like extra channels on your amp. Stick it through a clean amp, then have one section of the pedal set to a mild crunch, and the other with more gain - hey presto; you’ve got yourself a three-channel amp that retains your fundamental tone.
Whichever one you opt for, and however you’re using it, an overdrive pedal will give you a bit more of what you’ve already got, with some added grit and volume that can help you play with more feeling and expression.
Stacking multiple overdrive pedals is also a very common move, so if you've got two pedals you love the sound of, or two which tonally compliment each other, then it's worth experimenting with them and seeing what they offer up.
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