Who invented overdrive

It comes with no surprise that the genre known for changing the course of music would also change the blueprint for its accompanying technologies. Mistakes were made, amps intentionally destroyed, and the results? They were revolutionary. In the s, a number of blues and Western guitarists decided what they needed from their sound was simply something more. They needed their tone to be grittier and dirtier, by whatever means necessary.

He crafted his own set of humbucking pickups to create a fatter, louder tone and pushed his amp into overdrive. Legend has it that Kizart dropped his Fender amp on the way into the studio, resulting in the warped tone heard in the final mix.

Whatever the case, legendary Sun Studios producer Sam Phillips knew genius when he heard it and kept the sound in the recording. Taking the DIY approach continued to gain popularity in creative circles. It was during this decade that someone decided to put an end to the destructive madness and find a more sustainable and responsible solution. Enter: Gibson guitars. The brains trust at Gibson can see a gap in the market from a mile away.

This foresight was particularly evident in with the release of the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Tone, a fuzz pedal that aimed to produce the same distorted sound the aforementioned artists had been searching for, without the destruction of property.

While the idea behind the pedal was strong, the commercial response was lacking. Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC.

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