gear giveaway

Distortion Pedals

Isolate Audio RATATATAT

Hailing from Australia, the Isolate Audio RATATATAT is a modern take on a classic distortion circuit with a similar name but fewer "A"s and "T"s, and some intriguing new features. Besides featuring a Bass and a (low-pass) Cut knob foreign to the classic Rat pedals and vaguely reminiscent of the…Click on the title for more

Isolate Audio RATATATAT

PastFX Mischief Distortion

Australian builder PastFX has gotten us used to tweakable variations of classic pedal circuits, and a RAT-style distortion couldn't be missing from its roster. The PastFX Mixchief fills in that gap through a circuit featuring the original LM308 op-amp found in the vintage RATs, with a series of useful additions.…Click on the title for more

PastFX Mischief Distortion

Updated Pedal: Airis Merciless Drive V2

The Airis Merciless Drive V2 is an updated version of the Canadian company's hybrid and metal-oriented dirt box including a clean boost, a Rat-based ultra high gain distortion, and a boosted HM-2 EQ section, which can be all combined to taste. The EQ section is particularly useful including a Low and…Click on the title for more

Updated Pedal: Airis Merciless Drive V2

New Pedal: Stoll Effects Mullet Two Channel Drive

A sturdy and transparent pedal hand-made in Germany, the Stoll Effects Mullet Drive is a two-channel overdrive offering a wide range of tones, from smooth vintage overdrive to aggressive modern sounds, designed to sound great with both single coil and humbucking guitars. The Yellow Channel leans towards the in-your-face rock'n'roll…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Stoll Effects Mullet Two Channel Drive

2024 UPDATE! The Best Distortion Pedals | A Buyer’s Guide

This regularly updated page gathers a list of what can be considered the best distortion pedals on the market according to a list of reputable online sources and reviews. Together with fuzz and overdrive, distortion stompboxes fall under what electric guitarists commonly refer to as the "dirt box" umbrella. If…Click on the title for more

2024 UPDATE! The Best Distortion Pedals | A Buyer’s Guide

4D Pedals Red Star Distortion

The brainchild of Berlin-based guitarist/producer Ed East, 4D Pedals is a new manufacturer building devices that are undoubtedly stellar: a series of affordable, star-shaped mini-pedals with only one knob and one footswitch. The 4D Pedals Red Star Distortion is their take on the classic dirt box, with the single control…Click on the title for more

4D Pedals Red Star Distortion

Updated Pedals: Dawner Prince Diktator MKII

Coming to us from the Croatian sensation Dawner Prince Effects is the Diktator MkII, a complete redesign of the original unit released over ten years prior in 2013. Presented as a Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion, this is a pedal that can put your guitar through an evolution of drive stages all the way…Click on the title for more

Updated Pedals: Dawner Prince Diktator MKII

Trap Door Electronics Dot Dot Damage Distortion

Recently featured in the JHS Show, the Trap Door Electronics Dot Dot Damage is a fuzzstortion pedal built to sound - to quote the Brooklyn-based manufacturer - "grotesquely ugly and oddly beautiful." The tone reference is the massive but broken sound a fuzz pedal can produce for a few seconds…Click on the title for more

Trap Door Electronics Dot Dot Damage Distortion

Keeley Super Rodent Ovedrive/Distortion

Dropped within a release including three pedals adopting the same form factor as the Noble Screamer (a hybrid overdrive mixing the character of a TS and a Nobles ODR-1), the Keeley Super Rodent embeds in the same pedal two circuits inspired by two other classic stompboxes: the Rat and the…Click on the title for more

Keeley Super Rodent Ovedrive/Distortion

New Pedal: Keeley Angry Orange Distortion/Fuzz

Dropped within a release including three pedals adopting the same form factor as the Noble Screamer (a hybrid overdrive mixing the character of a TS and a Nobles ODR-1), the Keeley Angry Orange embeds in the same pedal two circuits inspired by two other classic dirt boxes: the Russian Civil…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Keeley Angry Orange Distortion/Fuzz

Non-Human Audio Unclean Distortion

An original, hand-built take on the cascading distortion circuit by an Albuquerque, NM-based boutique builder, the Non-Human Audio Unclean features two distortion circuits stacked upon each other. They are both designed to deliver a wide range of gain tones (anything from clean boost to full-on distortion) while interacting by blending…Click on the title for more

Non-Human Audio Unclean Distortion

New Pedal: CGI Brutalist Distortion

God City Instruments is the brainchild of Kurt Ballou, guitarist of yesteryear's metalcore band Converge and producer and owner of a studio in Massachusetts under the same GCI namesake. While the GCI Brutalist is not his debut pedal, it proudly stands as the first creation that has undergone over a decade…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: CGI Brutalist Distortion