cool! That'd be via a mechanical means!

Tube based guitar amplifiers make harmonics via miniature particle accelerators (and the supporting circuitry) ;) Multiple ways to produce the same effect!

> There is absolutely nothing special or mysterious about a distorted electric guitar except that it sounds cool.

That's not correct at all in fact! Even a simple google search reveals this :) How about this? Type "what harmonics does a 5150 amplifier produce vs a single ended EL34 amplifier?" into chatgpt

I suggest reading the following:

* https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Tube-Preamps-Guitar-Bass/dp...

* https://www.amazon.com/dp/0750656948

Edit: I linked the wrong morgan book

I designed and created my own single-ended EL34 based guitar amp. This thing sounds bloody incredible when the output tube is in full tilt. It used a solid state power supply to decrease weight (from AliExpress), but ultimate bit the dust because the switching module was so unreliable.