Distortion and
overdrive are "gain"
effects used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, most commonly with the
electric guitar but also with other electric instruments.
Blues guitarists playing
electric blues originally obtained an overdrive sound by turning up their
vacuum tube-powered
guitar amplifiers to high volumes. While overdriven tube amps are still used to obtain overdrive in the 2010s, especially in genres like blues and
rockabilly, since the 1960s, a number of other ways to produce distortion have been developed, such as distortion
effect pedals.