Akai D1 Shred-O-Matic

It's a very easy to use pedal - five knobs, two switches and a pedal. It would be nice to be able to go from tube to diode modes without bending over to tweak a nob, but for the price I can bend over (wait....). The manual (pronounced "sheet of paper") doesn't tell you much, but it doesn't really need to. You can be up and running with a great sound in a matter of minutes. Now if you want to put in a different tube (and you want to put in a different tube), it's a bit of a pain to get to, as you have to unscrew the bottom plate and jack nuts, then unscrew a circuit board, and then unscrew a tube holder. No fun, but you only have to do that once every couple years.

I'm playing a Steinberger Spirit GU Deluxe, an Ibanez G10, and a Carvin strat-style with two humbuckers. I play through a Fender Princeton Chorus (solid state), using the chorus and reverb on it and, other than the shred pedal, no other effects. There's a little noise when the tube setting is cranked all the way up, but not like niagra falls or anything - just a little hiss, which you would expect. The diode distortion is dead quiet. The diode distortion sounds fantastic - better than just about any solid state distortion I've tried. The tube distortion also sounds fantastic, giving a very realistic overdriven tube amp sound, even through my POS amp. Note, however, it comes with a Sovtek 12AX7 tube, which, of course, blows. Shrill, harsh tone. I replaced it with a Groove Tubes 12AT7, a little bit lighter tube, and it made a world of difference. Less shrill, more warmth. You can set the drive value to the pedal, which is a wonderful feature to be able to change on the fly. I don't know how I've lived without it. The tube-diode mix settings are good - rather than transitioning from the tube to the diode distortion, it just mixes the two as you play harder. It makes for a nice, thick sound, but I would prefer transitioning from one to the other to change the tonal characteristics rather than make it sound like a guitar going through two amps. Still, great sounds all around. I'm extraordinarly pleased with this pedal.

It seems to be very ruggedly constructed, being metal or something like it. There's no "click" noise turning the unit on or off. I would gig without a backup, but since gigging for me entails moving it from my spare bedroom to my living room, I'm not risking much. I'd probably take a backup for any device dependent upon a piece of glass, although in an emergency you could probably stick with diode distortion all night.

Haven't had a need, but Akai has a good reputation.

For $50 (Zzounds) it's an incredible steal. I bought it just on a whim, figuring if it sucked it was only $50. You can't get a tube anything for $50. I can't believe how great it sounds. Note that while the name of the pedal is "Shred", this is not a death-metal or metallica sound. It's more of a good blues overdrive to van halen type distortion, which is about as much gain as I like to play around with.

Oh dear... another potentially expensive lesson learned. I tried this in the shop through a Marshall Valvestate amp and it sounded great. It was on sale so I got it. I took it home, plugged it into my Dallas Scala (6W, all valve) and it sounded pants. I tried it with my Les Paul and my Strat. Very wholly with the Les Paul, not quite as bad with the Strat. The pedal's got seperate treble & bass pots but they don't have enough range to clear up the sound. Bit disappointing....

It's quite quiet in operation - not too much hiss... I just can't get the sort of sounds I want with my home set up. From my experience in the shop, it'll probably sound better with a solid-state amp. Oh, you can't easily get in to change the valve as it's under one of the circuit boards... I tried but gave up.

It's pretty solid but you need to plug it in to the mains...

No contact with them...

I like bands like The Jayhawks, Dylan, The Stones, Ryan Adams, etc. As I said before, with a different amp this might do the job but it sounds like shite through mine! I sold it on Ebay (for #65 so I made a profit... see, not all bad) and bought a Bixonic Expandora instead. Much better for fuzzed out tones.

The "try before you buy" addage needs to be amended to "try on something as close to your own gear as possible before you buy"...

This pedal is as simple to use as any other pedal out there; if you're smart enough to play a three power-chord progression, you're smart enough to dial in a tone you'll like.

This pedal would seem to be an unsung hero of tube-based distortion. For starters, it was a great value, I paid 79.95 for it at zzounds.com. The list is 225.00. So there you go, REAL tube distortion at a killer price. But it goes way beyond that. One of the great features of this pedal is that you get not one, but TWO (count 'em) completely different distortions out of this thing. Besides the sustain-for-days, soulful tube distortion, you also have diode distortion. As someone else has said (very accurately by the way), the diode distortion is more "modern sounding", and it truly, truly is like having a Tube Driver and a Tube Screamer in one pedal, along with an expression pedal. I cannot stress enough the value of this pedal. The last tube overdrive I owned was the Ibanez Tube King TK999. While I paid twice as much for that pedal, it pretty much supplied the same tone as this Akai has in its tube setting, but with a knob for mids. But the Akai does seem to have a very SMOOTH tube distortion, really has sustain forever. A great buy if you're looking for REAL tube OD/distortion without having to spend upwards of $200 for a tube Driver and EH Hot Tubes, or even more $$$ on a Soldano GTO, Budda Phatman, or something else.

Built very solidly. VERY solid.

Don't know.

Overall, this baby is a SUPERB value for the price. I've been playing for 11 years, and am into Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, typical early 90's alt.rock. Also love psychadelic surf bands like the Mermen. This pedal is meant to provide you with distortion. Plain and simple. But it gives you two completely different-sounding tones, one based on tubes and one based on diodes. It's a beautiful thing. The Passion and the other one (can't remember the name) are also two great additons, a great way to combine the two flavors of distortion. All in all, this is a superb pedal for distortion. Extremely SMOOTH at any setting. Plus, it mixes well with other pedals, although when I add it to my Prescription Electronics Yardbox, the Akai does seem to emit some unwanted feedback, but nothing that can't be fixed with a noise suppressor. My current set up goes: Parker Nitefly-M, MXR Phase 90, Akai Shred-O-Matic, Guyatone HD-2 Harmonic Distortion, Prescription Electronics Yardbox, Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler, to a Reverend Hellhound amp. I'm loving it so far. Usually I either have the Yardbox OR the Akai going, but not very often both together because of the feedback. But again, you cannot substitute REAL tube distortion/overdrive. It's something you just can't get away from, you need the real deal to get that singing sustain. And the Akai delivers in SPADES, but the price will surely put a smile on your face. I think this pedal is an OUTSTANDING value.

It's not too bad for most types of gain (blues to bashing brutal). It's pretty easy to get a sound out, but for what it's worth I'd like to see the two-band eq upgraded to three. Editing is clean as a whistle (it's analog for god's sake!). No manual (2nd hand). Not upgraded.

Setup:
EMG-equipped Les Paul/EMG-Equipped Ibanez 670/Seymour Duncan Equipped Fender Strat USA>>Boss SD-1>>Akai D1>>Marshall Supervibe Chorus>>Marshall VS100 TOP. The effect on itself is pretty good on its Tube setting (a little noisy but not too much.) Diode (Transistor) is good for modern stuff. I don't use the other modes. I usually employ a three-stage-gain setting (SD-1 to drive the AKAI, then use those to further drive the Marshall) for pretty loud, Black Label Society, Thrashy, Metally, Speedy music. Works great. The smooth and passion modes are not for me though.

It's tube equipped, so I wouldn't use it without a backup. For the res't, it's pretty reliable.

No experience

Read the other stuff.

This unit offers great tone straight out of the box. Like Akai's super-expensive units, you get the quality you pay for. Adjusting for the exact tone you want is almost effortless....no manual...no editing...just turn each knob until you get the sound you want. I own two expensive "guitar processors" and this one even puts Boss and Fulltone to shame. And, above all, real tube tone is effortless. It's simple, a real 12AX7A tube and a Tube Screamer in one box.

As a blues player, I'm a Fender/Gibson guitar with Fender amp guy. In the past 30 years, I've tried them all, believe me. Unlike any other unit, the Akai has both *real* tube and electronic tube emulation. So, it is, to me, like a nice tube preamp, plus a Fulltone or Tube Screamer together and fully-adjustable. No hum with Marshall Valvestate or Fender tube amps. You can easily dial in almost everything from Eric Johnson, to Clapton, to Page, to SRV and Hendrix. The quality is rack mount. From subtle jazz and blues to Hendrix, the tube/non-tube/mix-of-both covers just about any style. It will Shred, but this device was misnamed. This level of quality diversity in one box is excellent. Plus, you can use the pedal on the unit to increase the intensity of the "tube amp pushed to the max" sound. I even pulled that off with a 15w practice amp. And, since I play subtle blues-to-Hendrix, it fits me perfectly. I saw Eric Johnson in Austin, Texas, and he spent half of the show on his knees re-adjusting a tube preamp and a Tube Screamer. He needed one of these units, as it covers both real-tube and electronic tube, plus you can adjust the intensity of the effect with the pedal. I run Strat to Akai to amp. This covers blues, rock and metal. Only a real 12AX7A tube sounds like a real 12AX7A. This unit has a real 12AX7A, plus a Tube Screamer, plus you can blend them....sweet.

Unlike most others, it is heavy, very, very sturdy and has a wider pedal....I'd gig with it anytime. This was made for stage/studio. I doubt if it would malfunction, unless the tube finally wore out after a few years. But, the 12AX7A tube is the world-standard for tube preamps. There's no reason to own two...it's solid.

If you are into multi-thousand dollar units, you probably own an Akai. They specialize in studio and stage quality gear, and they will answer your questions and concerns. I've never had a problem and their web site is very well-made and useful.

I play blues, rock and a touch of metal...Strat, Tele, Jackson, etc. For almost all of my 30 years of playing, I've sought a 12AX7A preamp that I could "push" with a pedal. I've tried Ibanez, Boss, Fulltone, etc., and this one works for me. If you are searching for effortless pure, real tone, get one. If stolen, I'd replace it in a heartbeat. If you can't find the right stomp box, and you don't want to get into a $1,000 computerized plastic toy processor, you should try this solution for sure.

A foot-switch, Diode/Tube selector, Low and High controls, output control, drive (gain) control, pedal assign switch and expression pedal. Easy to use and simple to set up. Everything is clearly marked and self-eplanitory. Getting the sound I wanted took some time and experimenting.

I ended up setting this pedal as follows:
Output = 11 oclock
Low = 1 oclock
High = 9 oclock
Drive = 7 oclock (almost as low as it goes)
Pedal Assign = Drive Level
Drive Mode = Passion Mix

This config gives me a deep crunchy sound with on-the-fly drive level control (via the pedal). This is exactly what I wanted from a distortion box, and is why I bought this unit. The range of distortion I can pull is not overly impressive. Infact, I get better distortion at high levels from my Danolectro T-Bone. Still, I bought the Shred for its expression pedal and it does that niceley. Also have to say that the tube distortion is better than I expected. Its soft (almost too soft) and moody. At low levels it lends itself nicely for rock rhythm playing. I still think that I'll get an overdrive pedal to put in the chain before it to take some of the harsh bite out of the Diode distortion and maybe make it a bit "chunky".

No problems as yet. Its all metal with plastic knobs. The only piece I can see breaking is the pedal if I really wail on it. But even that looks like it would take some abuse before it gave up.

Picked this box up at a sale at a local store. Brand new in the box for $59. Best price I could find elsewhere was $109, so I think I made out ok. Anything tube distortion for under 100 seems like a good deal to me. My primary rig is Gibson Es-300 hollow -> Boss TU-2 Tuner -> Marshall Compressor -> Dunlop CryBaby -> Boss EQ -> Shred-O-Matic -> DigiTech Xp400 -> Boss Flanger -> Danolectro DanEcho -> Fender Pro Reverb Amp. I play mostly classic rock and modern alternative. Sometimes hardcore/metal (with an Epi SG-310) which also sounds good through the Shred-0-matic.

This pedal is exactly what I was looking for, as far as the pedal control of distortion level. However, I was hoping for more drive range. I have to give it an 8 overall. If lost or stolen I'd buy it again because I like the design, but I'd also get a tube screamer.

There's a switch on it which makes it go distorted...

The unit has four controls, gain, level and bass and treble. Obvious enough. This means that it is easy to dial in your sound with the thing. Only thing I reckon is that the bass and treble controls could do a bit more!

Manual is ok, nothing much to say except explain the operation of the unit. No suggested settings or anything like that.

Used primarily with a Big Apple Strat and a Mesa Boogie heartbreaker, to get a big chunky distortion from the clean channel. This setup means I essentially have three channels, a lo gain, a medium gain and a high gain from the pedal.
This little beastie is gain. This is obvious from the moment you try out the lower gain settings, when it has the bizarre soothing treble of a high gain amp played with a guitar with the volume knob turned down. I generally use the pedal to increase the drive, so you can have the drive turned down with the distortion switched out, otherwise, as someone rightly pointed out, there is a raging hi gain sound at the back of your crystal clean sound!
Also, I use the tube setting all the time, not really any of the mixes or the diode. It just sounds better to me through my amp and with my guitars. Besides, I'm going for a valve-y heavy sound, not a randall warhead effort.

So, it has chunky bass and a fairly smooth treble response. Hairier than a nice overdrive channel, like the lust channel on the heartbreaker, but nothing like so fiercely raspy as the rectum frier's harsher moments. I tend to have the bass all the way up to get some real low end filth into the sound. The treble stays at about two thirds to prevent my head being ripped off. This is my high gain sound, and it stands up reasonably well against the lower gain chunk of the heartbreaker. It doesn't colour the tone as much as some high gain equipment, particularly SS distortion units, but this is no clean boost. Perhaps the EQ range and effect is suited to my amp, unlike those on both the DOD Grunge and the Danelectro Fabtone.

Overall, though, I would say this is a good cheap alternative to a V-Twin, since it has all the gain of a rectifier without so much hairy top end fuzz. Loads of sustain, and great at creating massive feedback assaults: toe down, the guitar squeals and squeaks, sometimes sings and occasionally growls, but with a judicious bit of fingering, you can always get that big ringing feedback. Almost infinite sustain, since that is also effective as a feedback trigger. Great for focused high gain leads, since the gain is glued to the note. Not warm or open, but searing and nasal in tonality on the higher registers. Not for the bluesers out there.

No idea. Not broken yet, has been thrown around a bit. Doesn't run on batteries, but if you can't find the relevant plug, that's a bit painful. Never had the spare cash for a backup.

Again, no idea.

They shouldn't say that stuff about true bypass. It isn't right. If they hadn't claimed it, I wouldn't have expected it, but it's definitely there!

Have owned a variety of effects, but this is one of the few that works with the heartbreaker in front of the amp. Important part of my setup.

This thing gets some great tones but not without some problems. Transitions form Lite-Distortion to Heavy are not vaste enough.

Not totally clean when bypassed. Had it a month and it started squealing horribly one night. I think its probably the tube going bad. They don't provide easy access to change the tube out.

I would depend on it about the same as anything with a tube. Akai needs to provide info on user servicing for this little beast

I play Hard Rock and Metal and this pedal does a pretty good job of getting the tones I need. But, I will probably sell it and get a more basic pedal that is a little more bulletproof

Not so hard to adjust your sound. But the response is sometimes a bit late.... if you know what I mean

Do not even use it on a clean sound!!!!!!!!! the sound you create is so damn awfull, you have to use an overdrive or distortion. When you use it with other effects the results vary from excellent to shitty. I think everyone should make up his own mind about the use of it with other effects. I usually use it in my solo's, it gives just the boost you need for sologuitar. Since I got it, it has become very easy for me to create feedback where-ever and what kind of sound.

One night I didn't put it back in the box. Somehow dust or sand got in it and from that time it didn't had the sound it used to had. I've tried cleaning it and sprayed some contact-oil in it; nothing worked. When I got back to the shop I explained my problem, the people there tried it out and gave me a new one. Well, I guess the one year garantee covers that....

see above

There's not much difference between the four channels you can select. That's my only real problem, next to the shitty sound it produces when heard clean

Generally easy to use. No degree required.

I purchased this unit because of the great review in G.P. and since my Ibanez Tube King was in the shop I figured I'd give something else a try.

Well, I'm going to assume you've done some reading about this so I won't list all the features... Here's what found:

Pros - 1. The high gain distortion sounds were definitely over the top with headroom to spare.
2. There are different combinations of tube/diode and pedal assignment available.

Cons - 1. The unit loads your signal when bypassed.
2. When the pedal is assigned to "drive" control and the unit is in bypass mode, if the pedal happens to be in the toe down position you will have a faint distortion "bleed through" into your signal. I worked with 2 different units and it happened with both of them.
3. Overdrive tone is a bit too compressed sounding and if you're trying to get just a slightly overdriven sound, you might as well just use your amps own drive channel.

These units seem to be built pretty tough: metal housing & pedal.

When I called Akai about my concerns, I talked with one of their techs, "Buddy". He was very helpful and tested one of their units to see if they experienced similar problems with signal leak. He pretty much went above-and-beyond to help me out and after I experienced problems with a second unit, he said that they would even do a more in depth investigation to see if there might be a design flaw. Excellent support!!

I play anywhere from light to progressive to hard crunch rock & pretty much everything in between.

I think that once a few bugs have been worked out by Akai, the Shred-o-Matic could be a major contender in the overdrive/distortion market. But until then the unit lacks the tonal versatility I'm used to. For now I'll stick with my Tube King.