whats that sound?

I was curious about the sound dimebag get out of his guitar during the song walk by pantera. its like a deep sound and a very light distortion, or something. i was just couious how he gets this sound. i have a small 10 watt marshall so in not expecting to get that sound put of it but i really like the sound and was wondering how he gets it. also whats the difference between distortion and overdrive. thanks

Well, I'm not positive about the sound that you are talking about that Dime gets on "Walk". It might be a trem dive-bomb. Which is when you push the trem bar all the way to the body. It tunes the strings way down and gives a real loose, deep sound to the guitar. I'm not positive and I can't recall that song off the top of my head. Some other metalhead can help you out with that one. As for the question about distortion and overdrive.... the names basically say it all. Distortion is just that, a distortion in the sound. It uses the same basic tones but gives them a muddier sound. Distortion is a pertty versatile effect... you can use it in lead tones as well as rythm tones. Overdrive however makes the tone sound more "pushed". It gives the tone a sharper, tighter sound. When used in conjuction with each other you can get some pretty cool lead tones. Unlike distortion, overdrive can push your tones out front in a mix by running at a higher frequency... therefore overdrive is most widely known as an effect for lead tones.