Jamie MacDonald

Absolutely phenomenal pickups with tons of bite. I usually tune to Drop A# and use quite a bit of gain, and I still have tons of clarity.

Even after watching some glowing reviews, I was skeptical but I had to try it. Every one of them were right, though. Makes my stereo rig sound absolutely enormous, almost like it was a real multi-track. In a studio situation, I'd likely still do proper multi-tracking, but for gigging, jamming, and writing this little thing is amazing and worth every penny.

From what I understand, these are also very popular with blues players. I'm not a blues player, so this review will be in the context of heavier genres (metal, hardcore, extreme stuff, etc.) Solid state amps are often overlooked in heavy music. Granted, a thick and full tube amp does sound phenomenal in heavy music. That being said, there's something about the cold, tight sound of a solid state amp that lends itself very well to the more extreme subgenres. The Peavey Bandit is one of those that hits this note very well. The clean channel is great and soaks up pedals like a dream, and the dirty channel drills you right between the eyes. I also like stacking dirt sources by running pedals into the dirty channel, and it does this with ease as well. For death metal, grind, sludge, heavy hardcore etc., this thing will rip your face off. These can be had for dirt cheap as well. I got mine for $100. I also own a "modern" iteration, and that's fantastic as well. I currently run both as sort of a 2x12 stack with parallel signal chains. Very loud, very brutal, and 100% gig-able.

One of my favourite fuzz pedals of all time. Thick, very capable of saturation, but can also cut through a mix very well.

The original was a classic in the death metal, black metal, grindcore, and modern hardcore scenes for a reason. The unmistakable gravel-encrusted chainsaw is, IMO, the best tone for extreme music. Wild, heavy, violent. You can also tweak it to get some other neat tones as well, so if you branch out to other genres, don't be afraid to play with it a bit. The all-maxed chainsaw is great, but you might be surprised what else it can do.

Pretty solid for the price. I'm pretty sure it's a clone of the MXR 10-band EQ, if not it's very close. Better build quality than your typical off-brand pedal. Will definitely do the job to sculpt your tone on the cheap.

This amp sim really does only one thing well, and that's big high gain guitar. That being said, it does that VERY well, and it's free! If you need heavy guitar and can't afford a hardware setup or more pricey amp sim software, this will work perfect. I have both a hardware setup and some paid amp sims, and I'll find myself going back to the Emissary on occasion.

These things put out absolutely monstrous tone. Loud and tons of clean volume. Used to replace the speakers in two Peavey Bandit 112s, one modern Transtube and one teal-stripe solo. This sounds fantastic with both. Low end is big but not flubby, mids have tons of bite, and the treble still have a good amount of sparkle and brightness. Highly recommend.

This thing is absolutely phenomenal. Lots of control in the EQ to dial in a dark/sludgey tone, a 90s-style scooped tone, or a sharp/tight modern tone. Lots of gain on tap to do anything from blues rock to extreme metal. Works well as either a boost in front of a dirty amp, or as a primary distortion. If you have a second tubescreamer-style pedal (I used a Boss SD-1), putting that in front makes a VERY tight distortion as well. In addition to that, I've also ran it into a Boss HM-2w (no gain on the HM-2w), and it works perfectly there. That allows me to switch back and forth between tight chug and wild chainsaw as needed. Highly recommend this often overlooked pedal.

If you're looking for a reverb, this isn't it. The intended effect is more of a delay than a reverb, and it does the job well enough. However, the thing I find to be the most fun with this is the "microphone" (aka volume) dial. Once you turn it up about a third of the way, you start to get this weird, hairy distorted signal that actually ends up being a very cool fuzz that doesn't really sound like anything else. Very cool sound both on its own and stacked with other dirt pedals.

The Metal Zone has become a bit of a meme within the guitar community. Many often deride it for being a "can of bees" or being "ALL GAIN NO MIDZ", but it really is in how you use it. I think a lot of the misconceptions come from it being one of the most common "baby's first pedal", and with the very powerful parametric EQ it has quite a steep learning curve. Granted, if you want some bitey blues overdrive or crunchy alt rock distortion, there's probably better options for you. However, if you're looking for heavy tones, this little fella can give you quite a few. It's actually turned up on more records than you'd think: from being the primary distortion sound on Acid Bath's two albums, being used as a front-amp boost on Crowbar and Cannibal Corpse albums, and even as a lead tone by Prince. You can even hear it used by a handful of Rock artists like Allison Robertson from The Donnas and Larry LaLonde from Primus on the "Tales From the Punchbowl" album. You'll see these things kicking around at various yard sales, pawn shops, etc, so if you see one for cheap I definitely recommend grabbing one and having a bit of fun. If you're a beginner player looking for plug-and-play heavy tones, I'd recommend looking for something a bit more user-friendly: the Boss DS-1/DS-2, TC Electronic Dark Matter, EHX Metal Muff, or my personal favourite Ibanez Super Metal (see my review of the old SML model). If you feel comfortable yielding a parametric EQ, jump in and ignore the echo chamber. There's lots of fun to be had!

You can tell it's made for one thing (heavy music), and it does that decently enough. This was my first "real" guitar when I was a teenager, and it suits that use case just fine.

This is your standard, cheap Strat copy. I won't call it amazing by any means, but there's nothing egregiously wrong with it. With any cheap guitar, you'll likely run into some playability and hardware issues, but if you're strapped for cash and are willing to put some work in on it, you can certainly make it work.

From what I understand, these are also very popular with blues players. I'm not a blues player, so this review will be in the context of heavier genres (metal, hardcore, extreme stuff, etc.) Solid state amps are often overlooked in heavy music. Granted, a thick and full tube amp does sound phenomenal in heavy music. That being said, there's something about the cold, tight sound of a solid state amp that lends itself very well to the more extreme subgenres. The Peavey Bandit is one of those that hits this note very well. The clean channel is great and soaks up pedals like a dream, and the dirty channel drills you right between the eyes. I also like stacking dirt sources by running pedals into the dirty channel, and it does this with ease as well. For death metal, grind, sludge, heavy hardcore etc., this thing will rip your face off. These can be had for dirt cheap as well. I got mine for $100. I also own a "modern" iteration, and that's fantastic as well. I currently run both as sort of a 2x12 stack with parallel signal chains. Very loud, very brutal, and 100% gig-able.

These things put out absolutely monstrous tone. Loud and tons of clean volume. Used to replace the speakers in two Peavey Bandit 112s, one modern Transtube and one teal-stripe solo. This sounds fantastic with both. Low end is big but not flubby, mids have tons of bite, and the treble still have a good amount of sparkle and brightness. Highly recommend.

One of my favourite fuzz pedals of all time. Thick, very capable of saturation, but can also cut through a mix very well.

Pretty solid for the price. I'm pretty sure it's a clone of the MXR 10-band EQ, if not it's very close. Better build quality than your typical off-brand pedal. Will definitely do the job to sculpt your tone on the cheap.

Even after watching some glowing reviews, I was skeptical but I had to try it. Every one of them were right, though. Makes my stereo rig sound absolutely enormous, almost like it was a real multi-track. In a studio situation, I'd likely still do proper multi-tracking, but for gigging, jamming, and writing this little thing is amazing and worth every penny.

This thing is absolutely phenomenal. Lots of control in the EQ to dial in a dark/sludgey tone, a 90s-style scooped tone, or a sharp/tight modern tone. Lots of gain on tap to do anything from blues rock to extreme metal. Works well as either a boost in front of a dirty amp, or as a primary distortion. If you have a second tubescreamer-style pedal (I used a Boss SD-1), putting that in front makes a VERY tight distortion as well. In addition to that, I've also ran it into a Boss HM-2w (no gain on the HM-2w), and it works perfectly there. That allows me to switch back and forth between tight chug and wild chainsaw as needed. Highly recommend this often overlooked pedal.

If you're looking for a reverb, this isn't it. The intended effect is more of a delay than a reverb, and it does the job well enough. However, the thing I find to be the most fun with this is the "microphone" (aka volume) dial. Once you turn it up about a third of the way, you start to get this weird, hairy distorted signal that actually ends up being a very cool fuzz that doesn't really sound like anything else. Very cool sound both on its own and stacked with other dirt pedals.

The Metal Zone has become a bit of a meme within the guitar community. Many often deride it for being a "can of bees" or being "ALL GAIN NO MIDZ", but it really is in how you use it. I think a lot of the misconceptions come from it being one of the most common "baby's first pedal", and with the very powerful parametric EQ it has quite a steep learning curve. Granted, if you want some bitey blues overdrive or crunchy alt rock distortion, there's probably better options for you. However, if you're looking for heavy tones, this little fella can give you quite a few. It's actually turned up on more records than you'd think: from being the primary distortion sound on Acid Bath's two albums, being used as a front-amp boost on Crowbar and Cannibal Corpse albums, and even as a lead tone by Prince. You can even hear it used by a handful of Rock artists like Allison Robertson from The Donnas and Larry LaLonde from Primus on the "Tales From the Punchbowl" album. You'll see these things kicking around at various yard sales, pawn shops, etc, so if you see one for cheap I definitely recommend grabbing one and having a bit of fun. If you're a beginner player looking for plug-and-play heavy tones, I'd recommend looking for something a bit more user-friendly: the Boss DS-1/DS-2, TC Electronic Dark Matter, EHX Metal Muff, or my personal favourite Ibanez Super Metal (see my review of the old SML model). If you feel comfortable yielding a parametric EQ, jump in and ignore the echo chamber. There's lots of fun to be had!

You might assume the Tokai Metal Driver is a high-gain monster distortion, but it's actually an overdrive. Not in the "I'm a metal guitarist so anything below absurd gain is an overdrive" way, but legitimately a Tubescreamer-style overdrive. If you're expecting for this to do the heavy lifting for you gain-wise, it won't. However, what does make this great for metal is the tone controls. The "bright" knob functions pretty similar to the tone knob on a standard TS, but the "frequency" knob can help get some bottom-end back, something a lot of people have trouble with on a standard TS. Chuck this in front of a high-gain amp or a higher gain distortion pedal and you're all set! Just make sure to wear protective clothing for the flames that will come out of your amp.

If you want a "metal" pedal that's not a typical scooped mids pedal or an HM-2 chainsaw pedal, this is your ticket. Plenty of gain on tap, but also cleans up nicely if you wanted to get more into rock territory. Soundwise, I'm having trouble describing it, but the best I could think of is "if the HM-2 got a job and a family". It's not really a chainsaw/HM-2 style pedal, but there's tons of mid-range bite without being honky. If the HM-2 is that menace that sits at the bar waiting for someone to start a fight with him, the Skateboarding bear is that same guy after getting his life together and cleaning up his drinking habits. He cleans up well and lives a normal life, but if he needs to flick the switch and throw down he can. I know that's an oddly specific analogy, but I think it fits. EDIT: playing with it more, this is now a 5/5. Absolutely love this pedal. Original rating 4/5.

I've been using this for a bit now, and the more I use it the more I love it. It's definitely different, but that's certainly not a bad thing. I think they might get a bit of a bad rap from people misunderstanding the controls, and they certainly aren't the most intuitively named, but if you do a bit of reading on it you can start to dial it in. This works great as a standalone 90s-style distortion, paired with other dirt sources to add a bit of bite, and even to create some wacky effects such as a cocked wah. Very cool pedal that can be used in many applications. QUICK EDIT: I've seen some going on Reverb for stupid prices like $350 Canadian or higher. Don't pay that. If you look for a better deal, you can find it. Don't give price gouging dorks your money.

I use this flanger primarily with guitar. I tune quite low (drop A#), so this works great for my use case. Your mileage may vary with a standard-tuned guitar, but these can be had for quite cheap if you look for it so it's worth a shot!

These can be had for dirt cheap nowadays (I got mine for $50 Canadian at a pawn shop), and they absolutely hang in there with the best of the Mesa-in-a-Box style pedals. Lots of gain on tap, intuitive EQ controls, and the "edge" switch really helps with either cutting through a mix or chilling out the fizz depending on your needs. If you play any sort of high-gain music, you can't go wrong with this.

If you want an easy-to-use, no-nonsense interface that just works, this is it. Gain staging is super easy, monitor and headphone jacks right on the unit, and some built-in tube emulation if you're into that sort of thing. Great unit!

By no means is this a top-of-the-line mixer, but if you're a hobbyist like me that doesn't need the absolute best mixer then this will fit the bill. Gain and pan options are intuitive, low and high EQ settings to help clean up either rumble or hiss, and built in compression is decent. It also has a phantom power option if needed.

It's certainly not the most versatile pedal in the world, and it's not particularly adept at it's namesake, but if you want a lot of high-gain beef this will do the job. Don't expect to get a crunch sound out of it (even with the gain on min it's still VERY high gain), but it's a fair bit of fun for that big, scoopy, high-gain sound. Wouldn't necessarily go for it with a tight metal sound either, even when paired with an EQ or overdrive. Definitely a one-trick pony, but it's one trick is pretty fun if you give it a chance.

The original was a classic in the death metal, black metal, grindcore, and modern hardcore scenes for a reason. The unmistakable gravel-encrusted chainsaw is, IMO, the best tone for extreme music. Wild, heavy, violent. You can also tweak it to get some other neat tones as well, so if you branch out to other genres, don't be afraid to play with it a bit. The all-maxed chainsaw is great, but you might be surprised what else it can do.

First thing: as other reviewers have stated, this is NOT an overdrive pedal how most people think of it (TS, Klon, Bluesbreaker, etc). Eddie Van Halen referred to guitar dirt in general as "overdrive", hence the name. This is a full-blown high gain beast that can function as both a distortion pedal and a pre-amp. The aim of this pedal is to emulate the 5150's blue channel, and this puppy does what it does very well. Tight with throaty mids and plenty of gain on tap. The built in noise gate is also very helpful. I haven't found much used for the boost as a rhythm player, but you can likely get use out of it for leads. Will it sound exactly like a real 5150 tube amp? Of course not, but it certainly gets as close as a guitar pedal using JFETs can get. If you need something compact that will get you in modern metal or hardcore territory, or if you want a pedal to help with the classic Eddie "brown sound", this will definitely do the job.

I'm not a big wah user, so this works just fine for me. The biggest thing to be aware of is that it's not particularly responsive, especially under high gain. If you moderate the amount of distortion you're using, you can get some nice sounds out of this. The other nit-pick I have for this is that the switch is on the side of the pedal, rather than just pressing down like a Cry Baby. Some may like this to avoid accidentally switching the wah effect off, but I personally find it cumbersome. Overall, it's a nice sounding wah. There's just a couple of things to keep in mind. I found this for cheap at a pawn shop, and if you find a similar deal then don't be afraid to try it out! EDIT: quick amendment. Leaving the score at 3 stars, but wanted to make a quick note. If you turn the level down to minimum, the wah effect actually becomes much more responsive. If you're having trouble getting the wah effect to cut through, try dialing the level back.

To confirm the rating, it's only 4/5 instead of 5/5 because of the lack of range. This pedal will do death metal and death metal. If you want to get real ambitious you can even use it for grindcore! There's also the harsh noise applications, but I'm nowhere near qualified to talk about that. For the heavy music side of the fence, this guy only has the speed for extreme metal. I wouldn't use it for thrash, classic doom, trad metal, most hardcore/metalcore, etc. What you see is what you get with this, and the most prominent thing you see is the words "DEATH METAL". With that out of the way, this thing is an absolute extreme metal monster. No gain knob. Where we're going, we don't need gain knobs. You get a volume and a full BMT tone stack, which is more than enough for this. The EQ section is VERY powerful, so make adjustments with caution. The mid knob is really what makes this pedal surpass it's Grunge cousin. Where the Grunge had a gain knob (that truthfully didn't do much), the mid control helps you shape the tone into a variety of different extreme metal use cases. Want a classic 90s North American scooped sound? Turn everything up til it sounds good, back the mids off a bit, done. Want a chainsaw-y sound that gets somewhere in the ball park of the HM-2? Crank those mid and volume knobs, then set the bass and treble to taste. Want something a little more "trve"? Turn the bass down, and maybe put the gasoline away because you're scaring the children. I mentioned "pre-amp" in the title as that's how I'm currently using mine. It was designed as a standard distortion pedal for the front of the amp, of course, but as a pre-amp directly into an effects loop return is where this puppy really shines. You can get some truly brutal tones by using this as a pre-amp, so if you haven't tried this I highly recommend it! In conclusion, this is a phenomenal pedal that will serve any extreme metal player well. The DOD models are also great, but can be expensive if you don't actively hunt for a deal. The Digitech model here sounds just as good and can be had for dirt cheap.