Distortion Pedal Genealogy

This was a cool post by garrobos on FSB

Distortion Pedal Genealogy

Fuzz Family
Circuit type: discrete transistor gain stages.
Original design: 1962 Gibson Maestro Fuzz Tone.
Influential derivatives: 1965 Sola Sound ToneBender, 1966 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face.

Muff Family
Circuit type: discrete transistor gain stages with limiting diodes.
Original design: 1969 Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi.
Influential derivatives: 1974 Maxon D&S, 1974 Ibanez Overdrive.

Distortion Family
Circuit type: op amp gain with hard clipping diodes to ground.
Original design: 1973 MXR Distortion plus.
Influential derivatives: 1978 Boss Distortion, 1978 Pro Co Rat.

Overdrive Family
Circuit type: op amp gain with soft clipping diodes in op amp loop.
Original design: 1974 Maxon OD808.
Influential derivatives: 1977 Boss Overdrive, 1979 Ibanez Tube Screamer.

Tube Family
Circuit type: tube gain.
Original design: 1978 Butler Audio Tube Driver.
Influential derivatives: Chandler Tube Driver, Tube Works Tube Driver.

From 1978 to date, the contribution in the development of distortion pedal circuits has been iterative.