Akai D1 Shred-O-Matic

It is so hard to get a good sound out of D-1,unless by increasing amplifier's volume.But it's easy to set.

I'm using it with a Cort x-th(Emg active pickups) and a Fender FM210r.It's not noisy,but it sounds very bad.There are too much high frequencies,and also turning down D-1's and ampli's highs,i only get out of it a sound like "Cult of personality" by living colour:chords without definition,a lack of sustain.

I always tryed to use it as i have bought,without changing the tube or other componentrs

But i play variuos style,and I own both D-1 and Big Muff by EH.I suggest D-1 for musician like me,who like a lot of distorsion without noise.Make attention,however,to the amplifier you use.Because the sound may change in an unbelieaveble way!I can get out of it a sound like Judas Priest with an amplifier,or only bad sounds with another.

Basic controls are easy as it gets, the switches and "volume type" pedal just add different distortion voicings...doesn't take long to find the one that suits you and your amp.

Use this with a Les Paul Classic and ESP H 1000 LTD into a couple of different tube amps. Isn't noisy at all...I go for a very heavy "Slayerish" early Metallica sound and this thing grinds, screams the right way, very much has that heavy chunky sound that I love.

Some people have claimed that the tube doesn't really do anything, but I have to disagree...it may not be a full-on hot plate tube set up in there, but it's a total improvement over any standard analog pedal. The tube does what a tube should, it "Warms" up the sound well.
Some people have complained about the lack of mid control...I haven't found this to be an issue...could have something to do with the amp they're running in into (you might try bypassing your amps preamp section-just run this pedal in to the loop bcz your pre-amp is probably coloring the sound). I have no complaints about the tone-it's got that METAL tone-thick bass, nice highs, the right kinda middle- thick crunchy and sinister.

Never a problem with it...different tubes seem like an improvement over stock

Never had to deal with 'em

I'll give it an "9"...not sure what a 10 is, but I'm still looking for it. For a distortion pedal though, you really can't do any better than this one. The only pedal I have ever had that comes close is a Zoom Tri-Metal which still sounds thin compared to this one. My Keeley MetalZone wasn't near as good as this one either. I've had just about every distortion pedal under the sun, and I've never been able to replace this one yet.

easy to use. bass, treble, gain nad volume control. a switch to turn it on and off a switch to select between tube, diode and two mixmodes and a pedal to control amount of distortion or volume while playing.

i use a epiphone lp studio through the d1 through an ibanez eq into a seventy's fender replica clean channel(250 watt, transistor)with a behringer bg412h 4*12 cab.
i changed the original sovtek tube first i used the preamp tube of a marshall valvestate combo, than i bought one from tubeampdoctor. now it sounds great. i normally use the tube setting when playing, only sometimes i turn it to diode when i want some mid-less pig sound.

never had problems, i have it for over a year now and never took a backup to the gigs or the rehearsal room. but i always have a spare tube with me.

don't know, but i liked it that you can download the manual from akai's homepage, because i bought it without a manual

i play hardcore with some metal influence and it fits this style. like i mentioned above i sometimes use the diode setting- thats when i tune down to c and play some sludgecore (normally i play tuned to d). i especially like the pedal to change the amount of distortion. it's like having a three channel amp: clean, semidistorted and distorted.
what i don't like about this thing is that it has no control for the mid-range, that's why i use an eq to pull up the lower-mid frequencys and pull down the "real" mids.

Pretty easy to use, the controls are not unlike any other distortion pedal, except for the expression pedal.

I love this pedal, but only through my setup. If you plug your guitar into this pedal, and then straight into an amp, it'll suck. But I run it into a Behringer sonic enhancer, and it REALLY helps. I think this pedal has too much midrange by itself, and the sonic enhancer helps me to correct that. Once I have everything dialed in perfectly, I love the sound. I use it for a 80's hard rock kinda sound, sorta like Extreme's "Get the Funk out", although it's not quite so one dimensional as that particular song. I use this pedal mostly with a Hamer Diablo loaded with Dimarzio Evolution pickups, although I'll also play my Aria 7 string through it.

I use it with a Fender Hot Rod deluxe, and I think it sounds really good. Helps bring out some of the low end that the Fender doesn't naturally have. I don't know how noisy it is, really. The sonic enhancer has noise suppresion built in, so I havn't paid attention to that.

Deffintely dependable, and I've gigged without a backup. Had it for a couple years now with no problems.

Never had the pleasure.

I play worship, prog-metal, blues, classic rock, etc. I mostly use it for 80's era classic rock, like Van Halen and the like. If you darken it up a bit, it will go metal, but that's not where it shines, I don't think. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy another, and actually did just in case that happened (it did). I don't use it as often as I used to, since I've been playing with a different band, but I still really like it. The only thing I wish it had were a mid EQ knob, because it tends to have too much mids, I think. If you could scoop them a bit more, I think it would be killer.

Before you throw it out cuz you hate the eq AND buzzsaw grind....

1. BYPASS THE EQ BY TURNING HIGH AND LOW TO ZERO
2. turn the drive to zero
3. Assign the expression pedal to Output

Now you have your guitars signal routed through either a tube filter (overdrive) or a diode circuit (compression and odd order harmonics) that will clean up with your volume knob and a BOOST using the expression pedal.

I'm using a BOSS powersupply from a small mixer and the pedal is very quiet. This pedal doesn't like my one spot, but I dont either cuz I only use one pedal now.

I've used it for about a year now in various setups with various results tonally. The settings above are now my Gibson Goldatone's 2nd channel, comes through sounding like my goldtone with a some sizzle and sustain for days.

I'ts the most frustrating pedal I've ever owned.

It is easy to operate this unit however, it is not so quickly easy to get an immediately good sound out of it. It comes nowhere even close to a Fulldrive 2 or ToneBone Hot British. I bought mine a few years back when everyone was blowing them out at $50.00 new. I feel sorry for the folks who paid the full price of these when they first came out. I laugh when I see them higher than $50 bucks on ebay. I have gigged with it but, wasn't very impressed with the sound so, I boxed and closeted it. Now, after reading some of the reviews here, I decided to experiment with it and give it a fair workout using a DOD stompbox EQ, A Rocktron Nitro tonal enhancer and a very necessary Boss NS-2 noise suppressor.

For my experiment I used a Fernandes Sustainer Monterey Elite into the Boss NS-2. I used the loop of the NS-2 like this. SEND Rocktron Nitro > Akai D1 Shred-O-Matic > DOD FX40 Graphic Equalizer > RETURN of NS-2 into a Mesa Boogie Nomad 45 1X12 combo on the clean channel #1. I dialed in the cleanest sound possible on the amp first.

Thr drive knob goes to a hard overdrive in hardly any movement at all.
At 8:00 it was already way beyond any light overdrive. I tweaked the onboard high and lows relentlessly for awhile settling for straight up 12:00 noon on both. Then I worked in the magic with the EQ pedal. I have to say that, I have read the reviews on many harder distortion pedals and have to agree with many reviewers that, an EQ just after them, makes a world of difference. I've heard this is very true of the un-modded stock Boss MT-2 metal zone pedals too.

The Boss NS-2 kept the noise down very well. I believe it was a very necessary part of the Shred's signal chain.

The Rocktron Nitro added some nice sparkle to the overall sound. I think it has some slight compression in it.

The EQ settings were somewhat "smiley faced" but tended to go higher on the bass side, mids in the center and a slight rise on the brights.
Within 20 minutes I had a very workable general purposed Bad Company
"Can't Get Enough Of Your Love" crunch going on. Once I got to 11:00 and beyond on the drive knob, things started to blur and were less defined. The pedal in DRIVE mode is kind of weird. With the drive knob setting all the way off, it causes the pedal to default to the highest gain setting the pedal has. I preferred the TUBE mode. The
other settings yielded a harder and colder response in my opinion. I guess it's all about what YOU need it for.

It's been working for me for years without a problem.

Haven't a clue and for what I paid for it, it could burn up tomorrow and I wouldn't be lost without it. I'm going right in the middle with this one with a five. I really don't know about their support though.
They haven't made them for a while now so whats to support?

I play classic rock. It doesn't suit what I am currently doing. Been playing since Oct 1964. Been playing out professionally since 1993. I
am a Gear Acquistion Syndrome sufferer. I own way too much gear to list. I've tried out and, in many case bought, pretty much everything. I wouldn't buy another one. It should have had a better onboard EQ when it was designed. I bought it because I heard a very nice demo of it from a CD which came from Guitarist magazine (UK) and those guys make everything sound pretty damn good. Plus,it was only $50 bucks. I'd really love to try it with a JJ 12AU7 or JJ 12AT7 tube in it.

This is NOT a plug and play pedal. Like any decent distortion device, it requires the owner to actually spend some time learning its nuances. If you want a convenient, knob turning buzz-box, go to your nearest big box retailer and buy the latest nu-metalesque toy. This distortion unit is for the big boys.
The pedal speaks for itself. If you want to control the volume, switch to volume mode. If you want to control the gain, switch to gain mode. To bypass? Keep the switch in the middle. Enough said.

The amp, like any distortion device, when dimed out, can roar; so you'll want a good noise suppression device if you're going after the violin-shred tones. In tube mode, the changes in tone are less dramatic than with the solid state mode but I've taken a liking to the mix mode, which seems to really provide that saturated distortion sound which spoke for an entire generation of NWOBHM (if you don't know what that is...skip the rest of the review). This won't give you a Pantera or Metallica style of distortion in of itself because the two tone controls are about as useful as boobs on a bull. Rotating them full circle doesn't do much for the sound but when used with a sublimental eq pedal, holy cow! The Akai comes to life. Makes me wonder why the company didn't pay a bit more attention to the tone shaping of the unit. Think of this as simply an incredible distortion device for the money (most, can be had for 1/2 of what a new Rocktron Silver Dragon goes for and THAT 12AX7 dual-tube/solid state pedal doesn't come with it's own foot pedal which can adjust level and gain while standing).
This device can best be used through the clean channel to give you an added "lead channel" or hell...with the gain judiciously used, will even work on your own amp's lead channel if your current combo needs that extra push to get the real saturated tube-like singing sustain. It definitely will warm up a solid state, especially if run through your clean channel.
This is a distortion device, so I rate it simply based on the quality of the distortion provided.

Built like a tank. No problems ever.

Akai hardly even knows this unit existed. It must of been made by some of their rogue engineers on the sly with intentions of "let's see if we can make a great distortion pedal while the suits are on vacation."

You're on your own here.

I play 80's metal and this unit nails that era of tones. I can mirror about 75% of the Lynch, Vai, Malmsteen, etc tones with just my Strat (X2N rear humbucker), reverse headstock...yada..yada...yada, and my stock combo...a Roland VGA-3 (unbelievable amp). You'll need an eq pedal and noise gate for things to really come to life (with some control) but without a doubt, this is the best $65 distortion pedal you'll ever hear IF (and only if) you like creamy distortion and not chainsaw buzz.

Easy enough for a guitarist. A drummer, on the other hand, would find it incomprehensible.

I used my guitar, the electric one, and six Hi Watt 200 full stacks. Couldn't really tell what the D1's effect was as I get plenty of shredding sound anyway. Being partially deaf couldn't help either.

I suppose it is dependable. As for using it at a gig without a backup (?) Was I suppose to have two? Please advise.

Customer support hadn't heard of the thing. Said it wasn't in their database. Which I could vouch for because it was on my floor. They were friendly though, offered to come around and set me right.

I play electric guitar style and it is for electric guitar. So I say it is a good match.

I have been playing for about three hours and then I got online for something (forgot what) and then somehow I ended up doing this opinion poll. Will continue playing as soon as I finish here.

If it were lost or stolen I wouldn't have it anymore. But that's fine because I stole it first.

I love the foot part-pedal thingy. The glowy bits. I hate paying for equipment. I liked that my leads (cords) fit into it so I didn't have to steal special ones.

I can't compare it to anything as I have never used such a product before, it was just closest to the door at the shop.

I wish it had wheels to cart it around. It's a bit unruly.

It doesn't help me play music but it sometimes gets in the way. I once kicked it into the audience and put out some poor fecker's eye. No laughing matter. It's been months and I'm still picking out bits of eye.

How about that bloke's girlfriend?

VERY easy to use.

I set the output at 9:00 (superstition), the bass and treble at 1:00-3:00, drive JUST above zero, and set the pedal to "drive". Usually I run it on "tube", but frequently on diode (each has its unique sounds).

I use an electric singing saw of my own design [an M&W tenor saw w/ a Gibson(?) humbucker], into the Akai (set up as above), thence into a Behringer X-Vamp, and from that into a 1965 Univox U-155R.

Sometimes I use a Charlie Blacklock "bass" saw equipped with a BC Rich humbucker; and occasionally into a Univox U-305R.

(I don't believe in "10" ratings.)

Yes, and Yes...as said, solid metal, tube etc. should last forever....

I don't think that they want to know about this thing....

Yes, this pedal honks, although who knows, with a *&^%! saw? Besides, I think most musicians these days are so used to cranking the treble and bass, that a FLAT frequency response sounds like it has a huge mid-range hump. However, it also kicks a_s!! I don't get s--t out of my saw and X-Vamp w/out the S-O-M; with it, I can trade licks w/ Albert, or Luther, or whoever you like.
Originally, I bought this pedal to "warm up" my Roland (ss) amp (vain hope, of course- I took it apart too, and saw the l.e.d. under the tube), BUT I found thet I NEEDED it with my Korg multieffects pedal, or all I got was a thump and a faint wail. BTW, while I had it apart, I replaced the Sovtek that was in it (what IS the original tube, Russian or Chinese?) with a nice Mullard that I happened to have from one of my Univoxes- the improvement was dramatic, but it didn't eliminate the "honk".

In any event "de gustibus non disputandum"- i.e., "in matters of taste there is no dispute" (cause I'm always right), and like a bunch of the people below, I LIKE the sound of this pedal! In addition, my setup wouldn't work at all w/out it, so I find it ESSENTIAL! Also, the sound is UNIQUE (you won't see everybody else driving one).

BTW, I've tried Ibanez, Boss, Digitech, etc., and this pedal is the Magoo, AFAIC.

Simple purchased in 1999 many have come and gone and it still remains.

I'm using a Boss compressor-D1(peddel set to gain amount)-digitech Rp5 .I have used several different amps with this set up,I'm running it into a traynor YC40WR that is slaed out to a sound city 120 the left cannel of the RP5 feeds a Randall RH 100 all the amps are set clean (to many custom guitars to list,some inexpesive ones to ).No noise unless it is set at max gain. I don't like the tube channel of the peddel it is fairly useless.I don't care what mod anyone does it will never sound like a true tube dist.Lets face it if you don't feed a tube the proper voltage it will always be brittle. That being said the solid tate channel sounds great.This is one of the best I have used and I've had a lot to many to list ( been playing for 21 years ) I would have loved to rate it higher but unfortunaly the crapy tube channel will limit this.

Extremly reliable I have been using it for five years . It has had a tough life.Still works like new.

Never used it

I play heavy alt .I've been playing 21 years.

Pretty easy to use. Functions all seem logical. Rocker pedal isn't super smooth...

Peak in mids makes it unusable. I use a JC120 and a MUSICMAN 210 amp, with a les paul custom. The distortion sounds thin in either tube or diode mode. EQ is practically useless, and does nothing to counter the huge midrange peak. Great idea poorly exacuted. Someone mentioned its great after changing the valve. someone else said let it burn in for 30 hours first. Maybe, maybe not. I'm not going to waste my time fiddling with an ultimatly flawed design. Maybe mach 2 will be better, but from the looks of the headrush 2, I seriously doubt it.

Solid enough.

Don't know

I play rock music. If your after a really shrill nasal lead tone with good sustain, it may have a valid use for you. I like my distortion to sound full. This it doesnt deliver. In my live rig I use a akai headrush, which has certain design faults. I have tried the new version, and none of those faults were fixed. I guess what I mean is Akai seem to be trying, but have coped out just before the finish line.

seems easy enough. volume, gain, high eq, low eq. footpedal. switch from diodes to tubes to a mix.

if you're into mild distortion, then this unit may be for you. but if you want some over-the-top gain, no matter what this thing is called, you're not going to get it with this thing! there's little flexability in this unit. every tone you adjust sounds slightly different than the previous. to me, this thing sucks! not worth the heavily discounted price it's marked at. i played it in the store and i passed on it. however, i did a/b it in a ss amp. i can detect a slight warming up of the tone.

it seems quite sturdy. but since the tone sucks, it'll only be useful as a paperweight.

n/a

unless it has exactly the tone you're looking for (and you'll know it in 5 seconds) then avoid this paperweight like the plague.

Ok,this thing may be easy to use but you don't get a real big variety of sound.

I bought this to use with my ss jc 120 to get more of a tube sound out of it but I don't like the tube setting at all. The diode setting isn't bad.
I then tried it through a classic 30 and still am not impressed with the tube setting.
It does appear to be hissy on all settings except diode.

It seems to be reliable, made of metal. I wouldn't ever gig without a back up but you probably could.

n/a

I've been playing for about 15 years and I'm always looking for new things to try and this one just didn't do it for me.The diode setting is actually good for a heavy sound but the tube side is what I bought it for and it just didn't impress me and is a little too noisy for me. I'm being gracious and giving it a 7 only because the diode setting is decent.

Easy enough to operate. Bought it for the dual tube/diode drives and the selectable pedal features. Price was right.

Tone is quite subjective, what one might like, another might not. I consider the tone of this pedal is very opaque. As others have said, this pedal is very midrangey, rather nasal, the "high" and "low" tone controls have little effect, both in the tube and diode modes. I spent a number of hours experimenting with all kinds of different pedal settings, amp settings, pedal arrangements, etc., all with no success in achieving a the kind of round, balanced tone I want. Also have an Ibanez Tube King (real tube) and an TS7 Tubescreamer both of which I like alot, and they are each quite transparent compared to this one, no EQ issues to speak of. Tried substituting a 12AU7A which has a lower amplification factor than the stock Sovtek 12AX7; this resulted in a smoother tube overdrive, but did nothing for the EQ. If you're looking for a honking, screaming overdrive that pushes the mids, this is a good pedal, but it's not what I'm after.

This is a well constructed unit, all metal housing and pedal. The tube is not easy to change out, but that's due to the design which is intended to isolate and protect the tube. Pedal mechanism is rugged and well designed. I wouldn't worry about reliability, although I have not gigged the pedal.

So-so. I emailed Akai about a possible solution to the tone-sucking problem; I got a timely reply, but they had punted my email to 2 other non-Akai tech support outfits and the end result was "..cannot suggest a replacement tube".

Disappointed.
Pros: Great concept, nice features, well constructed. The pedal with its selectable options is pretty neat.
Cons: Too much midrange for my taste, no midrange EQ control, bass and treble controls do little.

Too many bells & whistles, The gimmicks don't add anything of value.
They just get in the way. Changing the tube is a major procedure, not
recommended for those unfamiliar with the insides of electronic devices.

Stock Sovtek 12AX7 is unmanagable, Way too much gain at lowest settings. Changed to 12AV7 RCA sounds very good with humbuckers,nice & crunchy. Dreadful sounding with single coils. Thin & nasal.

Seems to be solidly constructed,although light in weight.Would benefit from a heavier bottom plate.Switch & knobs are all smooth and solid.

n/a

No match for a REAL TUBE.

like the pedal format, easy to use, nice lay out

I used the clean channel of a Marshall JTM to check it out
It seems to have nice distortion charecteristics. The tube can be creamy and solidstate side crunchy.
Unfortunately, the EQ sucks so bad I wanted to kick somebody ass.
the midrange has a 20+ db spike or something. Even with the Bass and Treble maxed its not even close to being flat, much less good for NuMetal :)
I changed out the tube, tried tweeking the trim pots inside, which will alter the gain structure in good and bad ways,
but theres nothing that will help the tone...
I was so disappointed, that when I put it on eBay, the best I could do was "Quote" akais marketing blurb.
Reading these reviews, all I can say is thank God Somebody likes these things, so I won't feel THAT guilty for foisting it on another unsuspecting soul

mechanically, it looks pretty sturdy. Didn't keep it long enough to work the switches, (or heat up that tube)

no idea

currently use marshall jtm combos, carvin 1/2 stack, or rack.

This might be a kick ass distortion pedal, if the EQ wasn't so fouled up...
Maybe somebody with a schematic can figure out how to fix that ?
I'm pretty happy with the Digitech Hotrod I replaced it with, and am looking at more distortions to rebuild the pedal board,
but It'll be a cold day before I recommend the Shred0matic to anyone

and Putting an LED behind the tube to fool people into thinking the tubes glowing, borders on Fraud ?

Easy to use, to get the right sounds you'll need to play a little with your amp's "Clean" channel. The special thing on this effect is the "Volume"/"Drive Level" pedal, this is good to use in stage sitiuations -but be carefull: always look down when you want to bybass/unbypass the effect, sometimes I hit the pedal and ....(silence) .
The manual is short, but gives you enough information in english, french and german.

I play at first place a "Career" LP-Style guitar(very,very nice!!!) and second an Epiphon Strat-Style guitar(not so fine). These babys run through an "Ibanez WH-10" into the D1 then through an Akai P1 Phaser (SWEET!!) and a DigiTech DigiDelay then in a Carlsbro GLX 80 solitstate Combo (80 Watts/ Celestion GT12 speaker). All effects are powered paralell with a 1000mA PSU (stabilized). Until the Amp, this setup is totally noisefree, no noise, no huming ore anything. For Recording i use the same setup exept the amp(it's noisy as hell!) in run the signal through an old Yamaha FX550 unit, only using the speakeremulation an a little reverb. This gives a monstrous sound! From Clean to HighGain- everything is possible. No Noise at all!
For the D1 alone i have to say: The intresting thing about this pedal is the fact that you can switch between two distortion modes 1) You can use the 12ax7 tube sound, the sound is a gritty, dirty - blues, grunge style.Strong mids emphasis.
The 2.) Diode Mode, smooth, creamy sound. Metal, HighGain Style.
The Pedal can be used as a volume sweller, to create string-like sounds or to set the drive level (for this i use it) .
I like the Tube-Sound more than the Diode-Sound because auf the nice overtones. This box has a lot of it.
The controls are Volume, Bass, Treble, Drive Level, Drive Mode and Pedal Asign.
The tone controls are more for adjusting than sound forming. Drive Level doubles the pedal (if it it is asigned to that funktion) and sets the minmal drive level. For my propose i like it to set maximum level, so a minus on that one). The Drive Mode switches between Tube and solid state distortion or you can blend between the modes(i don't like this function, because it's too dificult to control...)
The pedal is true-bypass! So if it fails, breaks down or something, you can still play leaving this pedal in the signal way.

This box has solid metal housing, and one of these nice metal buttons to bypass the effect. The Pedal is also metal. The jacks are metal to. I use my D1 for about one year now, and ist was lot carried around in this time, it has shown no problems with that.
Only the switch, to select between the functions of the sweller, has some problems. This may be only a contact problem, but it should not happen! (even if i don't use this setting)

Never dealed with them in relation to the guitar effects. I only contacted them ones for a question on my S2000 sampler, that time they where good. (Only can tell for German support)

I play rock/punk/stoner in a live band and do some homerecording on various styles of music. For me it fit's perfect. I play for 10 years electric guitar and experimented a lot in this time. This Box is not a plug-and-play box. It gives a variety of sounds if you invest a little time playing with your equipment. You wil get great sound of it but don't expect a wonder. If you look for a distortion pedal, wich has an own sound go for it. You will not find anything for this price with this possibilities. But leave your hands of it if you look for an overdrive! It's distortion, it's a shredder!

Easy. It is what it is. Read further as I comment on some of the above complaints.

I use this with a modified Les Paul Standard, heavily modded Tele, modded Explorer with locking tremelo, and other guitars into a 67 Deluxe Reverb, BF Bassman, Bassman 100, modded Line 6 and several amps of my own design. (The above Tiffany and I build amps and guitars. She has acquired many more amps, speakers and guitars since she wrote her review.)

This pedal has "Shred" in the name. To maintain note clarity bass is intentionally restricted to avoid fartiness and bluring when playing fast or with complex chords. The majority of distortion pedals do this including the Ibanez Tube Screamer, Boss DS-1 and most of their other distortions, etc.

It seems to like British voiced amps (Vox, Marshall, etc) and Celestions more than Fenders with Jensens. The tones in any amp I've used it in are useful, and tasty. I like a rig with several distortions, and this one is unique and very useful.

There is nothing more subjective than distortion. What you may like, I may hate and vice versa. And often, a distortion that sounds great in the bedroom alone, sounds lousy or gets lost in a band. A distortion that sounds bad soloed in the bedroom may cut and be perfect in a band setting.

I'm not interested in nailing the sound of my favorite artists, but like to get in the ballpark of specific artists, like Billy Gibbons (who uses all manner of distortion devices over the years from his simple Les Paul into a tweed Deluxe early on, to the constant use of a Rockman ((chorus and echo disconnected))nd other pedals and amps in the 80's to God-knows-what these days!)

Some of my favorite distortions sound strange and awful to some, but I love them. I have two 80's Washburn distortions that have a harsh, but excellent 70's grind that I can't find anywhere else.

The Shred-0-Matic covers a good range of mid focused distortion, with nice features. The tube is run at low voltage and although useful, a pair of germanium diodes would have worked nearly as well.

In bypass using the volume pedal, the unit CAN pass a small artifact of distortion into the clean guitar. I hunted this down and eliminated it with the addition of a jumper wire. It requires taking the bottom panel off to add this wire. It's simple. Anyone interested, please e-mail me.

Great build! I bought the schematics and service manuals for all the Akai pedals and the design is more like a stereo than an effects device. The tube is run at low voltage so it could run forever.

Akai is good, period. I had to buy a package of schematics ($35) when all I wanted was the schematic for one pedal, but I'm glad I did. Tiffany and I have found other Akai pedals and I like to have schematics for all our equipment.

This pedal will be in my rig. We play country to metal and need all the flavors we can muster. I've played since 1967 and own too much equipment to list.

If lost I'd find it. If stolen I'd hunt the skunk down. Tiffany's a good shot and I need practice~

I love the build and the sound quality. It has it's own personality. We have probably 50 distortion devices at home and this one has it's own place.

I added a switch to change the type of distortion diodes to add more versatility. I will add a midrange soon.

It's a great pedal. I wouldn't pay the original price, but for what I paid...excellent!

"Turn off the nightlight Tiffany...it's time to go to bed."

this things works itself

at first i wasn't sure about this. a few weeks later i retubed it and i was blown away. this is the distortion i've been looking for since i started playing. i play i rickenbacker through an ampeg bass cabinet and 2 twin reverbs and this thing is thunderous.

i've used this without a backup since i got it. they're easy to find and cheap on ebay so if something does happen it wouldn't be that bad. changing the tube is a bit of a hassle but it's only 5 or six screws once you get inside.

who knows

i play noisy rock and roll. the stuff that kills the neighbor's grass. i get any sound i need out of this, sometimes i use a big muff with it but not so much anymore. i love it. so far akai's pedals have all been great. too bad most of them are so hard to find

Great to use, the pedal's action is fast but you just have to remember to touch it gently on stage. Having smoothly variable drive adds sooo much to the dynamics of a gig. SOmetimes I get too loud by turning it up to fast, but thats great for going into a solo.

Electric guitar to wah to the D-1 shred to chorus to volume pedal to echo to a clean tube amp. Flawless, dynamic, and very controlable. Duh.

This is why Im writing actually. Mine Died. I need some help putting it back together. After a year and a half of faithful and daily hardcore rocking, the tube stage got all messy sounding. The diode only mode (my least favorite, the least powerful, but still ok sounding mode) was the only that still worked. THen an hour later no sound would go through. THe leds still light, and the cords and grounds inside are still fine, and there is nothing visibly wrong with the tube on close inspection. My roommate says the tube has probably just died and replacing it will make the whole thing work, but Id like some second opinions before I get my soldering iron hot.

bought the pedal direct online somewhere for like 60$ so if I can find that webpage Im inclined to buy another. Im too lazy to try to contact them when I know that YOU will tell me what to do. I imagine theyd want me to send the whole thing in anyway so I dont electrocute myself on my soldering Iron and let my parents sue them.

I give it a nine because It was my guitar and amps best friend untill it died last week. Some seriously cool tones and character. When I have the time I intend to buy another one anyway to look into making some unique modifications to one to further make it my own little secret, but in the meantime I recomend you pick up a cheap one (some places online want to rip you off for this pedal big time, trust me) and do some dynamic exploring. My biggest tip is to actually not use it fully distorted, because some of my favorite tones were somewhere in the middle of its drive spectrum.

Dialing in your choice of tones is easy, just four or five knobs and a pedal, no manual or editing patches needed. Just dial in the tone you want, that's it. The first time you use it, you'll look down and see and orange glow from the middle of the pedal......that's the tube warming up. That's why people say it makes a great nightlight....and it is easy to see it when playing on a dark stage.

I am using this pedal with a Tele and a Les Paul. After 20 years, I finally found the best pedal for rock and blues. This unit has both a real tube circuit (with a real tube) and a transitor circuit (like a Tube Screamer)...plus, you can run with one or the other...or you can mix them for your personal blend.

That right there is cool enough for me, but this unit then adds a pedal that allows you to, for example, increase the amount of overdrive without either of your hands leaving the guitar. I know of no other tube/transistor overdrive booster that will do this.

The sound is what I expected.....your choice of full, rich, creamy real tube overdrive, or the same except transistor driven for a more metal tone. So, it covers the bases from clean blues to heavy metal.

Finally, one more part contributes to the tone......no battery. You have to plug it into the wall, but it keeps any hum to a minimum. Plus, no batteries to replace.

Every square inch of this thing is solid metal. I've never felt the need to buy another as a "backup," but pro's that use them, like Eric Johnson, have other pedals all over the place for their pedalboards. Don't bring a second unit, but, for the worst case scenario, bring an extra tube (again, I've never felt the need.)

I've owned and used Akai equipment, from studio gear to more personal gear, since the 80's. Nothing has ever failed or been even slightly out of order, so I'll give them a nine.

I play rock and blues, overdriven and with a touch of distortion. After 20 years of playing, I still like my Tele and Les Paul.....they cover the areas I play. I have Marshall tube and Fender tube amps. Like most players, I turn it on and leave it on, as it doesn't get in the way.....it has 100% true by-pass.

My favorite feature is the pedal that allows you to adjust the amount of gain and growl while you play....without the use of your hands. Any lead player would love this.

If someone stole it, I'd buy another. It's a boutique pedal at a decent price. Also, no one else makes a pedal that is as fuctional as this one. For the price, compared to other real tube units, you can't beat it.

Easy.

Anyone who doesn't know how good this pedal is, doesn't know anything about electric guitar. You'll wonder how you lived without it. Give your tube about thirty hours to burn in, this tube starts out awesome, but the tube only gets creamier after a good burn in.
Diode mode is awesome too. Mix modes are superb. A great pedal at a great price. Get one before they're gone, you'll regret it if you don't. Switch is noiseless, and this pedal has true bypass circuitry.
I got one, he he. Being a guitar hero is easy with pedals like this one.

Very good build; all metal chasis. Comes with power supply.

N/A

Kicks Major Ass!!!

I received one from eBay, so I really can't comment on a new one. Although I did read all the other comments about it, the person who rated it a "1" can't be the only one out there that has such lousy comments about it. I agree with the one guy who says there MUST be a problem somewhere. If it was that bad, why did he even take time to discredit the pedal? I hope he got his money back. Nothing on the market can possibly sound so bad!Sounds to me like he just didn't get the sound he expected. That's why you take your equipment to the place of business to try it out.(I guess he didn't)

I use a Ibanez JS100 with a Limited Edition Hendrix Wah pedal. I am currently using a Crate amp w/custom speaker, I also use a DOD Compression/Sustainer.

Very dependable. I would use it without a backup.

I've been playing 14 years and I can say it is a very good pedal and I have no intentions of ever selling it.

its very easy!

strato,tele,lp,sg,335...i think the tele is the best for this box. the box is very very silent.i dont know whats the trouble with the other guys.i use vox ac 30 with it and there`s no trouble at all. i had a maxon b808 and it caused me trouble all of time.this sounds the same and is much more debendible...cool.

yes yes yes

i`ve been playing rock for 36 yrs now and this is my pedal. stolen?? i would move back to --------------i love that brooming sound sound it makes. i wish it has a wah pedal.

I think that for the price of this unit that the sound is quite reasonable. It's unfortunate that Akai have discontiued this product (or so I have heard). If you are looking for one and you find it; don't let it go. Mine came with a manual, doesn't really tell much of use. Just the obvious stuff.

I'm using an Ibanez SA series guitar with a DiMarzio PAF pro humbucker in the bridge (close to the strings), signal from there is pretty high level and drives the input of the Shred-o-matic. The output from there runs into my homemade 19" rack power-amp (150watts, solid state dual-class) and then on into a Marshall quad-box fit with Celestion G-12L's. I'm an electronics guru and have changed the valve in the D1 to an Ei, as I found the harmonics from the chinese tube that came with it to be less than musical. With this simple modification I find the sound quality to be equally as good as (if not beter than) that of the new Marhall AVT amps. The main difference from a valvestate pre-amp would be the addition of the internal compressor circuit that Akai have used. As someone else on this page has said, the compressor is great for sustaining notes and that instant-metal-crunch sound but if you want those sutle half-dirty blues tones you may find it difficult to grab accurately; Even at lower gain levels as the job of a compressor is too reduce the dynamic range of the signal.

I have pulled this thing to pieces, examined the circuitry, looked at the soldering and wiring etc. In any normal playing situation I would trust the D1 to be quite reliable. The only possible exception would be the pedal-assign slider switch, which is sometimes a little scratchy (a least on mine). But that is a minor problem. I would use it without a backup, but that may have something to do with my budget :oP

Never had to deal with them. Wouldn't bother either, it would be quicker and easier to fix it myself ;o)

I mainly play classic metal, hard rock/hard blues. I've been playing about 5 years or so. I would like to add that this pedal has the potential to work wonders for it's price, so long as you relace the tube that comes with it for a better one. That would be my only disapointment with this unit, considering that the rest of it is built like a tank. I think control over the compressor would allow much more versatility in the sound, but there are some trim-pots on the PCB that I am yet to fiddle with for this purpose.

For those of us who can't afford that full valve head just yet...this is a good alternative in the mean time. Just remember that without a full valve power output stage you will never get that proper power compression with the speaker.

Have fun :o)

Everything is labelled.

This is for the guy below who gave this pedal all 1's:

There is either something defective about your D-1 or the rest of your equipment. The voicing of the tube versus the diode setting
is radically different. Like it or hate it, that's a fact. They sound
like two entirely different pedals. Anybody who has actually used one
would notice this. Now, you might hate *both* sounds, and that is
your perogative, but you can't claim to have used the pedal and
gotten the same sound out of both settings.

I would suggest taking your pedal and the rest of your equipment
to a qualified technician to have it checked out. Otherwise,
your opinions about this piece of equipment might be seen as
suspect. and you wouldn't want that, would you.

I wish all pedals were this well-made.

I don't actually know if Akai still repairs these things.

The tube setting sounds like a Tubescreamer, the diode setting doesn't. The Tubescreamer is a pedal that you buy when you want
a lot of midrange. Apparently, the Shred-O-Matic is a pedal you buy
when you want to complain about too much midrange.

very easy to use very hard to get a decent sound. One page manual - totally useless.

i used this "thing" between my strat & 50W marshall on a 4X12 bottom. It gets noisy as the gain control is turned past 12 o'clock. diode & tube settings sound pretty close to each other. Tube setting is louder than diode setting. There is a certain midrange happenig all the time with thisd paedal and cannot be dialed out. That's too bad because the pedal would sound pretty good if the middle was adjustable. Very Honky pedal.

I would depend on it. It has a tube. Although, the tube doesn't really lend any particular characted to the sound of this pedal. As some have already mentioned, the tube is just a gimmick. There's a little yellow light under it which make the tube shine. But the filaments on the tube aren't even on. What the F#@k?!?!

never had to deal with them.

I play rock. This pedal is good for maybe one or two songs. it's tone is not variable. You cannot diminish those midrange frequesncies which are present at all times. Too bad. Also, I think AKAI is misleading the consumers by advertizing that the D1 is a tube driven pedal, but in reality, the tube in there is just a "filter, nothing else. In fact, the filaments don't even light up. They use a LED to make it look like it's on. What a piece of crap. Oh, one last thing, Tiffany, (bitchontheradio): please shut up & play guitar if you can.otherwise, just blow your boyfriend.

Personally, I found my little pedal extremely easy to use. I can't imagine it being any easier or anyone having trouble with it. Maybe there should be a video lesson on knob turning so that people can learn how to turn knobs. Part two could be switches cause that seems to be an area where people are lacking too. It works fine for me and I love it.

The manual doesn't say much, but I guess it really doesn't need to say much. Maybe for the airheads of the world some pictures with suggested KNOB and SWITCH settings would be good, but other than that, it's just......well.....easy to figure out on your own. It tells you right on the front of the pedal what each thing is.

I don't know of any upgrade and I don't know what a firmware revision number is so I can't say on this one. I am under the impression that this pedal, along with the other Akai pedals is discontinued and I'm really bummed about that.

Also, it doubles as a nightlight.

Let's see... I have a mid 80's Charvel body with a Stewart MacDonald Jackson style neck on it and a Jackson Model 2 bridge pickup, and recently took out the tremolo and filled in the cavity with purple heart wood and put a Stew Mac solid mount Strat style bridge in it. I have a DOD preamp squeezed into the control cavity with two 9volt batteries running it and a bypass switch to be able to use it in passive mode too. I run that into a little two EL84 amp my boyfriend made for me that rocks the socks off of everything I've heard out there on the market and has its own tone. I run my little amp on 2 Celestion Greenbacks mounted in an open back gutted combo amp cabinet that's just tempoary till I get my 2x12 closed back cabinet built. With all this my little pedal sounds AWESOME! I am shocked that there are those who would say bad things about this little pedal. It has it's OWN tone, not a copy of something else already done or a variation of a pedal already done like a lot of the pedal companies do.

It's only noisy when my computer is on and I forgot to attach the ground wire to my bridge when I was working on my guitar and putting it back together but when I change strings, I'll attach it and run it to the bridge and it should quiet up the noise I have now.

I don't think this pedal is weak by any means. Like I said, it has its own sound and I happen to love the sound it makes.

I don't know if I can get the sound of my favorite artists because I don't try to sound like them. My favorite is Randy Rhoads hands down and my second favorite is Tom Keifer of Cinderella. I also love guys like Tom Sholtz from Boston, George Lynch, CC Deville, Steve Morse, Toni Iomi Brian Forsythe from KIX. I love 70's and 80's rock and metal and 90's country. I love them and their sound and I don't want to sound like them, I want to sound like me. I like original things and things that are different.

I love distortion and I ain't afraid of solid state sounds and devices. I like pedals WAY more than multieffects cheese machines. I really love the sound of my little Shred-O-Matic and I think that's a funny silly name for it like that guy in the other post mentioned, I love it.

I think that anyone who doesn't like this pedal or can't get any decent sounds out of it either aren't into the kind of music this pedal was designed for or they really don't know what good tone is (and there's TONS of people who "think" they do but don't) or is just plain stupid.

Not to mention, it doubles as a nightlight.

I would think I can depend on it. I haven't had it very long but it's built very well and I love how it's all made out of metal than plastic and I don't know about that guy who stated that the pedal on his is plastic, cause mine's metal.

Well, I WOULD use it to gig with and record, but I'm not gigging at the moment so I won't know till I get there.

And it doubles as a nightlight.

I haven't dealt with them yet on anything, but my boyfriend called them to get a schematic from them and they were very nice and helpful with it. So far so good.

No upgrade yet. Nothing repaired, it works.

It also doubles as a nightlight.

I play mostly blues based rock, but I do play a heavy metal too. This pedal is a GREAT match for both styles and I just love the sound of it to death.

I started playing when I was 14, but quit for 9 years and just got back into playing again and trying to get my equipment together.

Other gear I own: silver face Fender Champ, silver face Fender Bassman 100 that I'm modding the heck out of, Elephant practice amp, BBE 411 and 362 Sonic Maximizers, a bunch of DOD pedals (I love DOD pedals and hate boss), an Ibanez CF7 chorus/flanger pedal, a Zoom 503 amp simulator pedal, 2 Cry Babys, La Primera accoustic I got for my sweet 16, Mako TB-2 guitar (my very first electric guitar), part of a Lotus guitar I robbed the pickups out of cause they sound so great, I'm in the process of building a Tele and an Explorer and a Fender Bullet type guitar out of purple heart wood, (my gosh is it heavy....I love heavy guitars and basses) with the pickups I robbed from my Lotus guitar, Fender Jazz Bass Special (like Duff's, but metalic charcoal grey with black hardware) Peavey 4x10 bass cab and a bass amp that I won't mention because the company SUCKS so way bad and screwed me over and gave me terrible service and I would recommend ANYONE to stay away from them. Ok, I'll mention, the crappy company who screwed me over is , gosh I hate even mentioning them, gk. Screw you ** for what you did to me and my amp!!!! I should throw it off the roof like that one guy did who posted a review on his amp and how bad he got treated by **.

If my little pedal was lost or stolen, I would cry because I love it so much and it's really neat and I don't think they make them anymore so I probably wouldn't be able to get another one. But if I could, I certianly would. I sure hope they are going to continue making thes pedals and the other ones in their line cause I'd like to get and try out them. I didn't get to hear this pedal before I bought it cause no one here locally had one, I took a chance on it being good and I'm glad I did. I think it's one of the best sounding distortion pedals out there today. boss shmoss!! boss can go jump in a lake for all I care, they sound terrible in my opinion. I can't stand them. But this pedal I can stand and sit, for that matter.

What I love about it is, it has it's OWN tone and I think it really sounds awesome and lives up to it's silly name. There is no pop or any kind of stupid sound when you step on the switch, it just simply and smoothly changes between off to on or vice versa. A lot of pedals have a pop or some kind of noticable sound when it is turned on and off, not this pedal. I love the little mid rangy "honk" that everyone is talking about. I think it sounds great. I haven't had a chance to really crank my amp with it on, but at low volumes it really sounds great. Maybe someone got a bum pedal cause mine is awesome! I love the all metal case and the big area for your foot to be freely able to hit the switch and how it's wide so it won't tip over if stepped on at a weird angle. It's not crouded like a lot of pedals and the knobs are away from the switch and pedal so nothing accidentally get's hit and moved. I love the pedal feature too, but wish the action was just a hair smoother and the transition from cleaner to full on was smoother. Other than that, it's just fine. Maybe a different value pot might help fix that. I also love that it doubles as a night light. That is so funny.

The tube, I'm sure, is just run as a diode and so bassically you've got solid state diode bounding and tube diode bounding, but they both have their gifts to give to the user and I love the way they both sound. I was skeptical at first cause I'm leary of pedals these days cause most of the ones I have tried sound like crap, EXCEPT for DOD and of course, my Shred-O-Matic, and I didn't want to get something that sounded like crap. After ordering it I got butterflys in my tummy and thought I would send it back

An easy device to operate and is manual satisfactory.Gets very good sounds.

4 choices of distortion to choose from.I prefer the diode setting as it's very smooth with good sustain through my strat.No noise and the tube,smooth and passion settings are a little roougher sounding but still quite usable.Works well with other effects such as Tech 21 comptortion and Akai intelliphase.An extremely versatile pedal.

Seems well built and sturdy but would always have a backup with anything.

Akai has a good reputation and would expect good service if needed.

Been playing 35 yrs,mostly rock and blues.Has a good midrange through my Peavey Ranger and would buy another if lost.Bought this out of curiousity and price.Was surprised at how good it really is.It inspires me to play and though the engineering could have been a little better as far as the output is being controlled by the foot pedal is concerned. The drive decreases as well as the volume when the pedal is let up.The same in the drive mode,the drive as well as the volume lets up.Neither one of these are much of a problem for me as it's a fun pedal to play through.Has decent EQ and is well balanced.

Simple to use. In effect, the included one page manual is not needed.

i use this pedal between my Fender strat and a 50W plexi on a 4X12 greeback loaded cab. The tube setting is louder than the diode setting. They both sound very alike, with the diode having just a bit more gain/edge. All settings have a pronounced 1K midrange tone which cannot be dialed out unless an EQ is inserted in the chain. This pedal claims to be Tube/solid state driven but the tube really just sits there doing nothing. In fact, there's a tiny amber LED light inside the pedal under the tube, which gives the impression of a glowing tube.

Seems pretty reliable. Then again, it was made in Taiwan... The shell is pretty sturdy. The insides are a bit flimsy. Forget about changing the tube - it's buried.

never dealt with AKAI

I play blues, classic rock & metal. The pedal could be a fair match for some 80's metal, but that honking 1K midrange will tire your ears real quick. I kinda dig the pedal feature, you can assign it to the drive or volume. That's pretty good. What I really don't like about it is the lack of a midrange or a frequency contour control. When compared to an old Marshall Shredmaster, the the AKAI D1 sounds like total junk. Compared to a boss DS1, the AKAI D1 sounds constipated, harsh & sterile. I sent mine back. Bottom line: don't waste your money on this thing, it's barely a TOY.

This is very easy to use. All the settings are well-marked and logical and do exactly what they should. The pedal is incredibly rugged and professional. I give it an "8" only because it is slightlty more complex than most distortion units.

I use a Carvin into an Electar 10, then miked for recording. This combination is naturally a very good classic-rock, Hendrixy sound.

Unfortunately the shred-o-matic is the worst sounding distortion I have ever heard (and I have been hearing them since 1968).
1. It completely alters the basic tone, even with all distortion intensity at minimum. It whacks off BOTH the low end, and the high end, giving a very nasal and dull midrange sound.
2. The tube path actually sound harsher and less "tubey" than the diode path. I'm not sure how they managed that. There is really no "low-gain" setting. It starts at "ratty" and goes up to "hairy-mushball"
3. Using the pedal for adjustment to the distortion intensity is completely impractical, because it changes the volume A LOT simultaneously. Don't assume (as I did) that you can roll from clean to distortion in fine gradiations.
4. The tube and diode distortions are matched to each other in volume pretty well, so the blend and transitions do sound useable, but each one is so completely generic sounding that it still doesn't create much excitement.
5. With the higher-gain settings, the distortion is useable, but it is simply two very ordinary distortion sounds, not an infinitely variable and adjustable-on-the-fly like I had hoped. Maybe my expectations were simply too high.

It looks incredibly rugged and reliable. Maybe the most professional footpedal I have ever seen, construction-wise. I can't attest to long-term reliability.

No idea.

If I had paid more for this, I would return it immediately. It's sound is simply very cliche and unexpressive (nasaly and dull). Since I bought it on closeout, and it would cost me shipping to return it, I will probably keep it for occasional "novelty" distortions. My favorite setting is "bypass" :)
I also reviewed the BOSS ME-8 a few years ago if you want to check my general review attitude. I loved the ME-8, and am generally pretty easy to please, but the Shred-o-matic is a big disappointment. I give it an overall 3 based on sound alone. I might give the unit to an electrical engineer friend at let him experiment to see if he can overcome its numerous design problems.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
Easy, Very Easy, Twist a knob, Stomp a switch, Mash a pedal, you got sound.
How about Editing patches? N/A
How is the manual for it (if there is one)?
Manual is a good one, covers basic operation.
(this is a distortion pedal for gods sake)
Do you know the firmware revision number? N/A
Has your unit been upgraded? N/A

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
Samick 29-Fret Neck, Bridge: Humbucker, Neck: Single coil (Seymour Duncan's), Bucker is a bit on the bright side no lows.
Dean, Del Sol, 2 Dean Humbuckers, This axe will get nasty,
lots of dirty low-down.
Ibanez Destroyer (2001 reissue) 2 Power Sound Humbuckers. good all around guitar, not to bright or to low. (very neck heavy, body light?)
Fender Silverface Bassman 50, through a Crate open back 2x12 cab.
Fender Silverface Bassman 70, through a Sonic Closed back 4x12 cab.

Signal Chain:
Vox Distortion Booster (Used as a Treble booster)
Danelectro 7-Band EQ
Shred-O-Matic
G-Drive (dual 6-band EQ Overdrive/Distortion, also an Akai)
MXR Phase 100
MXR Flanger
Volume Pedal

The Akai Shred-O-Matic Is what I can only call a "One Trick Pony"
It has a permently scoped mid setting, tweaking the 2 tone knobs hardly makes a difference.
If you are after "Over The Top, Shreiking White Metal Distortion"
and you don't mind the scoped mids, this is your boy.
I keep it in my line up but use it rarely.
(as a matter of fact I bought a second one and I am in the process of moding it for a more usefull tones !!!)

Is it noisy? On what settings?
I think all effects are noisy, this one is not to bad

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?
No and OK not great.

Can you depend on it?
Yes, Heavy metal case and pedal.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
Yes and No (I always have a bck up if I can afford it.)

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
By email only, seems to me the person who replyed to me did not have a clue as to what I was asking.
(I have an Akai Vari-Wah, Noisy as hell with the wall wart, useless)
(eats batteries on a daily basis)

Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired?
No, See above statement.

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
Rock and Roll !!! (50/50)

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
off and on, close to 30 years.
Danelectro Longhorn six string guitar.
Now called the "Guitar-O-Lin" Guitar-Madolin.
31 Fret neck, 2 lipstick pickups.
Washburn Woodstock, Thinline electric-accoustic.
Ovation Deacon, Whicked !!!
Silvertone Model 1482 1x12 15 watt combo (early 60's)
Breaks up real nice at 7, nothing much past 7 though.

If it were stolen, lost, buy it again or get something else?
I would get something else !!!

what do you love about it?
"Over The Top, Shreiking White Metal Distortion"
What do you hate?
"Permently Scoped Mid" setting
What is your favorite feature?
Pedal can be used to control the drive or volume (W/Slide Switch)

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
No, No place locally to try it out.
Seems there are no Akai dealers here in Minnesota,
or if there are I have not found them yet.

Anything you wish it had?
Better Tone Control !!!

Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?
This one is a 50/50 toss up
Please See: "Over The Top, Shreiking White Metal Distortion"
&
Permently "Scoped Mid" setting

Anything else you'd like to share?
Please See: (as a matter of fact I bought a second one and I am in the process of moding it for a more usefull tones !!!)
I am going to add a switch for more of an overdrive style of sound.
Another pot to tune it for a blues style.

As far as operation goes it is a "no brainer". I didn't even open the manual. However it was difficult for me to get a good sound (see sound quality).

I use humbuckers, so perhaps it is better in single coil applications. I may try it with my son's Peavey Falcon (strat copy). As far as the distortion goes it is great. Very reconizable sounds from each string. Also the drive control works good, the distortion sounds real at low and high drive settings. The problem I had was with tone. I just couldn't get the tone right. Also if you use the pedal to control the drive, pushing the pedal down changes the tone from a bad low sound to a bad high sound in addition to increasing the drive. I have currently taken this out of my chain. I was considering either a Boss OS-2 or a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde. Both of these pedals have gotten good reviews here. I decided on the J&H.

No problems, it's a tank.

Never dealt with them.

I play lots of stuff, and this would have been a perfect pedal for me if I could have gotten the tone right. I would not buy one again. Like I said before the distortion was great at all drive levels, but good tone was unobtainable for me. I think Akai should solve the tone problem with this pedal and reissue it as the D1-B or something.

This pedal is awesome! For those that have given it a bad review, they obviously have no clue how to use gear. This machine is worth at least $150 - $200. The distortion sounds you get are limitless anc this pedal is so easy to use, but incredibly diverse in it's tones.

This unit has a pedal that can either be used for output or drive. It has 4 different distortion modes, tube, diode, gradual change from tube to diode and fast change based on pick intensity. I run this rig through several multi-effect processors, and EQ pedal, and a Morley A/B switch. My amps are a Peavey VTM-60 half stack with a Laney GC 80A combo amp. I get unbelievable control of my tone. The only drawback is that I get quite a bit of feedback when I am using my Musicman Axis. With my other guitars, I have relatively no problems. In diode mode, it is pretty noisy so I would suggest a noise gate, but while this thing is cranking out the sound, it is amazing. I still give sound quality a 10

Metal case and tough construction. Use it w/o a backup on every show.

N/A

I highly encourage rhythm players to have one of these in their arsenal. I love this thing! Be sure to check our website: www.recycledsouls.com

Warning: Do not try a 12AT7. Since it is lower gain, the output drop is considerable and the tone is about the same.

Pretty simple controls--volume, low, high, & drive knobs; a continuous control pedal for adjusting the volume or the drive amount (switchable); and a mode knob with four settings: tube, diode, smooth, & passion. The smooth and passion (stupid name) settings are two different ways to blend the tube and diode distortions. The manual only states the obvious... Getting a good sound can be a bit difficult, unless you're specifically looking for "midrangey-marshall-stack-in-a-box." Although with tweaking, several good sounds (and maybe one or two great ones) can be coaxed out of this box.

Ahhhhh...where to begin? So far I'm just using it with one of my rigs: Shadow S1000H (akin to a high-end Ibanez w/hum-single-single and a Floyd)>Shure UHF wireless>A/B to tuner>Snarling Dogs Blues Bawls Wah/OD>Akai D1>Ibanez Chorus/Flange>MXR Phase 90>Danelectro Dan-Echo>Carvin VS Nomad 50. All effects are powered by a Dunlop Juice Box. In the past, I have used the channel switching on my amp almost exclusively to provide overdrive on demand, and adding the D1 gives me a little more flexibility in the distortion realm.
The tube sounds are not that bad with this pedal, especially if you're wanting really high gain rock & metal sounds. The diode sound is a harsh to my ears, but does have a lot of punch. It did take some tweaking to get a sound that I liked, but for the price I paid, it's pretty decent.
The main problem I have with this pedal is summed up easily: EQ. I bought this pedal because of the great price at Zzounds after reading most of the previous reviews here. I was hoping I'd disagree with what a couple of previous reviewers said about losing low end, but sad to say, this thing whacks off your bottom end something fierce. I'm used to a nice, rounded, full bass from my guitar and amp, and this thing sacrifices it at the altar of midrange with no regard to my lovely bass timbres. Rats! If this pedal left the low end intact and gave you a mid control knob in addition to the low and high, it would be a fantastic pedal, not just an adequate one. But for 50 bucks I'll forgive them...
This effect really changes the character of your overall sound (not necessarily a bad thing), so if you're expecting the sound of your particular guitar and amp to be unaltered other than adding some "tubey" overdrive, think about getting some other stomp box. If you dig heavily soaked distortion with a bright edge and really forceful mids (low end not included), you'll probably love this pedal. It has a bit too much crunch for me--I may take one of the previous reviewer's suggestions and replace the stock Sovtek tube with a Groove Tubes 12AT7 or something similar.
Lest I sound completely negative, I am leaving this pedal in my setup because it does have a couple of uses, mainly because of the continuous control pedal. With the drive set fairly low and the control pedal switched to drive level, I can get a nice, meaty crunch for chords (that cleans up nicely when played softly or backed off the guitar volume), and really step up the gain with the pedal for lead lines or big dynamic changes. This is the best feature the D1 has, as far as I'm concerned. When used in conjunction with my channed-switching amp and the incredible volume boost of the Blues Bawls Wah/OD pedal, I have a very broad palette of distortion and overdrive levels right at my feet. With nothing but a little playing dynamics and the control pedal of the D1, I can go from barely breaking up to raging feedback or several places in between.
I also leave the setting on passion most of the time, just so when I hit it hard it gives that little extra punch from the diode distortion. When more concerned about sound quality, stick with the tube setting.
Again, don't expect super quality to this distortion sound--if you paid anywhere near the list price of over $200, I feel sorry for you. I don't deem this one worthy to be in between my ES-335 and vintage Super Reverb, for instance. But it does have its uses, and some folks are really gonna like the sound it throws out. I happen to like the versatility and response to dynamics (something the average diode stomp box distortion won't give). It found a home in one of my rigs, and I'm satisfied with it for the price I paid.

Case is metal--looks pretty tough. Control pedal is plastic, may turn into problems down the road. So far, so good.

Never had to mess with the company.

Cons: it hacks off certain low-end frequencies, it's not easy to control the midrange, the diode sound is harsh, it has a peculiar voicing that not everybody's gonna like, the plastic control pedal looks like it will give way eventually, the tube it comes with isn't the greatest

Pros: tons of saturation, when you bypass it doesn't load your signal, excellent dynamic response, very versatile with control pedal, can take you from "sweet and clean" to "raging rock monster"

Bottom line: bang for the buck! For $50, it's a great deal if you want a versatile distortion with the dynamic qualities you can only get from a tube; if you paid upwards of $100 and expected pristine audio quality, I'm sorry, you should've bought an Ibanez Tube King...

Couldn't be any simpler. Put it this way: The manual is still in the unopened plastic it came in, and will probably stay there. It's as simple as (or simpler than) any other OD/Distortion pedal out there- except this thing gives way more control. More like a mini- amp, really.

PRS Standard or various strat styles into "Shredomatic"- that name cracks me up- into Boss TU 2, into Pod Pro powered by a Mesa/Boogie 20/20. I honestly can't understand why anyone would not like this thing. I couldn't get a BAD sound out of it. Oh well, tone is subjective I guess. I don't remember what the settings were when I took it out of the box- I think everything was at 12:00. And on those settings, they could have called this " Brian May in a box". It compresses really nicely, and I stay with the tube settings. Sustain? Well, "you could go an 'ave a bite, come back an you'll still be 'earin' that one..." One of my favorite tones, along with Brian May, is David Gilmours'. I like how I can hold a note, and it will "move" with me as I change position, vibrato, etc. Only tubes do that. Smooth and quiet, but I set the drive at about 9-10 o'clock. Low: 2-3 o'clock,high: noon - 3 o' clock, and out put almost maxed. To my ears, it sounds very natural at these settings- tube- mode, BTW.

It seems pretty solid but I NEVER gig without a backup. I try to have a backup of as many elements of my sound as possible, because no matter how well built something is, if gigged regularly, eventualy, it WILL fail. ANYTHING. I'll probably get a spare one.

No experience with them- I haven't had this thing that long.

I play blues, classic rock, a bit of fusion ( As I improve my technique and knowledge of theory, I'll be playing a bit *more* fusion)I've been playing for 27 years. Not constanly, though. I have to eat and sleep too, you know. My favorite pedal before this one was my trusty old beat up Boss SD1. I'll always keep that- but this definitely has a place in my rig. I've tried or owned TONS of OD/Dist. boxes over the years, including most of the tube based ones. This is the best sounding TUBE based pedal I've heard- INCLUDING Real tube, Blue tube, and the Mesa V twin-yes, I said " V twin. I'd definitely replace this if stolen or lost- and like I said, I already want a second one. I can't believe the price on this thing. I can see these things becoming highly sought after years down the road, like old tubescreamers are today. I'm very pleasantly surprised by the sound quality. It would be even better if they had seperate level controls so you could have the diode, AND the tube mode going at the same time. That would be nice- but it's still a damn cool pedal. I bought it on a lark- a new toy, a joke- but it's becoming an important element of my tone- very versatile, I'll probably end up using this on everything except ultra- clean stuff.

Once again, I see another fine product being bashed by inexperienced players. This thing is very easy to use.

There is nothing wrong with the sound on this baby. Those who say it's nasal, buzzy have a crappy gig setup or do not know how to use it. There are many different combinations of sounds you can get out of it; That tells me right there that those who bashed this pedal are morons. If you can't tell the difference or what affects the sounds with the EASY settings you are co-op for expecting out-of-the-box tweaked pedal. This blows the Boss MT away. Less noise. Ever hear of a EQ before and after or adjusting your amp's eq? Nope.. Sorry for you morons. You can't be it especially for $50 and TRUE bypass. Too bad it's not tailored for posers/kids.

No problems.. Built like a rock that should be used to bash the morons who despise this pedal. I give it a 9 since there is a tube in it that could break from a fall or shock trama to some posers head.

didnt need to contact

If you hate this pedal then you need to go to tone deaf school for the guitar posers group that meets on Sunday nights across from the AA meetings.

A little different.... Switch between this and that and then another
switch between this and the other thingee. There are many variations
in function. Sad there is no real variation in the shitty NASAL tone.

Like a metalzone without the mid eq. I HATE the NASAL HONK of this
and the metal zone. What were they thinking? I've never heard these
NASAL PINCH YOUR NOSE tones on any recordings. When you turn down the gain things get worse, all you hear is that damn 1K honk.

The G drive was as strong as a brick. This is as strong as the piggies stick house not the brick house.

The box looks cool the switches are cool the concept is cool the sound is not. Also, there is VERY LITTLE difference between the
suposedly different distortion modes. One has slightly more bass
but still that same midrange HONK. I've got 25 distortion pedals to compare this with.

No really good sounds, all are nasal and buzzy. But it's easy to get an inferior sound.

Nasal and/or buzzy, fairly useless.

Looks EXTREMELY well built. Metal case!!!

????

Short version: Not that great.
Pull quote: "Sounds like Guitar Center on Saturday"

It's very nasally, and *completely* lacking in bass. Just chops
bass right out. I like a distortion that doesn't perform any EQ,
and this one does. Funny thing is that it's midrange boosted
(esp. in the tube mode) instead of midrange scooped.

I still need to try it at high volume, where I generally drop a
little bass off anyway, and it might be more suitable.

The diode fuzz is buzzy, and doesn't clean up at all when you
back off on the guitar volume. The tube fuzz only cleans up a
little, and does not have good dynamics when you do. Kinda flat
on the dynamics.

The distortion has a lot of range, unfortunately none of it is in
the subtle or mild range. It goes from lots of distortion to way
out there.

The "true bypass" (if it really is) seems to work OK. Wonder of
wonders.

I may try to mod the voicing, but there sure is a lot of
circuitry in there to trace through (two pc boards).

I did try EQing. "Before the box" did nothing. "After the box"
fixed some of the bass lack, but I couldn't dial out that
obnoxious mid-range with only a six-band MXR.

I may keep it for the parts. If you add up the value of the
*metal* enclosure, sturdy wah-pedal-like mechanism, the 7025
tube, DPDT stomp switch, the pots, jacks, the 9V adapter, etc. it
may be *worth* the $50. Strange that the excellent enclosure is
the best thing about it!

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.