Abbytone Gainer

Easy enough to use, I suppose. You know, you plug the guitar into it and then twist dials to taste. Very complicated, I know.

However, entirely awful sound. Golly, but I couldn't disagree more with the prior review. What I got was a subpar output married to one of the cheesiest tones this side of Limburger. Yeech! To boot, the pots were really scratchy. And this is the "top-shelf" component-loaded creation as advertised on his website? Something here is really not right. Maybe really bad dog-walking weather in Brooklyn or something. I have no idea. But for this expensive a pedal, you'd have to be pretty daft to hang with it, unless, of course, you really do like Limburger. I hear that some people do, actually.

Well, if it sounds this awful out of the starting blocks, all considerations of reliability seem beside the point.

No, I didn't contact the builder to see about getting it fixed or what have you. Since this is the only item he's building and touts individually testing each one, a really awful sonic display on first pass is more than enough by which to call it quits.

I play mostly rock and funk. My setup is pretty simple, a Chandler Strat into a Chandler Tubedriver and then into a blackfaced Fender Super Reverb. Nothing more complicated than that. I've been pretty satisfied with this setup for a long time though was looking for something in a different realm of distortion than the Tubedriver. But the Gainer really doesn't seem like the place to look.

Minimal documentation, but do you really need an instruction book for a pedal? It has four knobs. three that control the character of the overdrive and one volume. very easy to get a great sound out of. would give it a ten if it had a "tone" knob.

i play teles and LPs through a fender classic reverb. obviously, a great amp. no overdrive at neighbor friendly volumes, though. i've tried all the tube screamer derivatives, but was never satisfied. tried this pedal on a whim. sounds f-cking phenomenal. really. i play a lot of rock, so the pedal's medium grit work well for me. you'd have a hard time getting metal and it doesn't do a super clean boost, but for anything loud and straight up, it's badass.

looks like pretty solid construction. orange drop capacitors (not sure what that means, really) and durable construction. seems solid to me. wouldn't gig without a backup (who would?), but it seems really tough.

i had a few emails back and forth with jonny. very quick to answer my questions and seems like a pretty honest dude. it did take about three weeks to get the pedal after i ordered it. haven't had a warranty issue, and i hope i don't.

i'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a real rock and roll sound. it's raw and it screams. it ain't the prettiest thing to look at, but that isn't why i bought it. worth a look, for sure.