Aphek Peanut Butter Distortion

Extremely easy to use. You can't get a bad sound out of this.

I play a few diiferent guitars. Mainly a strat through a late '70s 50 watt Super Lead Marshall. This is the quietest overdrive I have ever used. This sounds just like the Marshall on 7-8 (maybe better!!!!). It allows me to sounds just like me. The pedal is realy tranparent (if that makes any sense for an overdrive). The Peanut Butter sound, is how I've always wanted a Tube Screamer to sound.

I've only had this for a while, but I can't see why it won't last forever. It's very well made. It uses the Fulltone 3PDT switch for true bypass. That other guy who said that he thought his sound was more compressed, must be hearing the difference in tone from using 2 cables, instead of one.

I've never had a problem, but the guy who makes them Greg), answered my questions before I bought it and will refund your money if not happy. He runs a studio and only makes them when he has time. If Ibanez or Boss made these, I think that this would be the most popular pedal on the market. I don't think he sells a lot, but I think he should quit recording and just sell these, as there really is no comparison.

I usually play rock and blues. This thing is close to perfect. I've been playing for 25 years and am a real tone hound. I have owned at different times most of the major brands, including Fender, Gibson, PRS, Ibanez, Mesa Boogie, Vox, Boss and Pro CO. Since getting this, I found that my prized TS808 stays in the cupboard. Take the risk, you won't be dissapointed (and if you are return it for your money back). I'm thinking of getting another one as an investment, as I think these early ones will be very collectable one day, once the word gets out and he has to start mass producing them! No I haven't been paid for this endorsement, I'm just excited to finaly get the sound I've been after.

Almost too simple to use! Level "chicken head" knob, gain knob. If only all of life was this easy.

My setup:
Crate classic 50 1/2 stack (ALL TUBE) --> peanut butter --> Mr Mustard distortion --> a few modulation effects.

This is an excellent sounding pedal! Exactly the tone I wanted. First things first, this is NOT a distortion pedal. This is an overdrive pedal, not some tone destroying super high gain box (which have their place!). With the gain knob at the lowest setting, it sounds like my amp when it just starts to break up, in other words, really smooth, creamy and just a hint of crunch. With the gain knob up full, sounds like a fully overdriven amp.
Two things got me about this pedal:
(1). The distortion sounds beautiful. It is not too harsh, lets all notes ring out, and can clearly be heard through the mix live.
(2). Almost totally transparent. I wanted a pedal that didn't change my tone at all when I turned it on (or even when I plugged it in!). This has true bypass and barely does anything to my sound, perhaps a little compression? Not really noticeable at all though, and CERTAINLY not noticeable live.

I was looking for ages for a good OD pedal, as my amp's OD sound is not what I wanted. I tried heaps of pedals, such as bluesbreakers, boss BD-2 and SD-1, and a TS-9. While the TS-9 was the best sounding out of those, when I heard the peanut butter pedal I knew instantly that this is what I wanted. So much better than the TS-9, with no annoying mid-range hump and better tone at lower gain settings.

They are made of metal. If you put them in a furnace they will break. That is about it. Oh yeah. The paint does chip off more readily than some boss and DOD pedals I own.
I would, and regularly do, gig without a backup.

Never done this before, but when I got it I emailed Aphek to say how much I liked it and got a personal thankyou letter within 24 hours! I am sure that if I had any problems they would fix it no worries.

I have been playing guitar for about 10 years, and have been playing gigs at least once a month for 5 years. I play about 2 out of 3 weeks now. This pedal covers all distortion requirements for the Christian praise and worship and rock music I require. For heavier stuff I use the Mr Mustard distortion (higher gain) or crank the amp.
If you are thinking about the BD-2 or the TS-9, STOP. Get this instead. So much cheaper!

Simple and really effective distortion pedal.

I use Marshall valve stack with fender and gibson guitars. I've used a variety of distortion pedals- most of which are ok but all end up altering the tone of my set up. The Peanut Butter leaves my tone alone and just gives me the overdrive that i want.

So there's no "tone" control on the pedal-- but that's because it doesn't need one. The pedal produces the drive of a valve amp without mucking around with the tone of your guiter and amp. (i mean- why does anyone need tone controls on effect pedals--- there's at least one on your guitar and several on your amp).

Overdrive is smooth and not over the top. I use it for solo work and it also works well for rhythm stuff where i just want some crunch.

no probs

no probs. you can speak directly with the guy that designed and built it which is pretty helpful if you'd ever need it.

i play anthing except for funk, metal, country and western, jazz fusion, rap, girl-band pop, boy-band pop, techno, dance, love songs, ballads (except for waltzing matilda). i stick mostly to hard rock and blues. apart from disco.

pedal works really well for that--- distortion is what i'd call "natural" rather than the processed fuzz and crackle of most effects i've used.

This thing is extremely easy to use. Just two knobs. Less/more, to adjust output volume and smooth/crunchy to adjust overdrive amount.

The Peanut Butter Distortion sounds like you have turned up the output (not preamp) of your amp! If you run it through a Fender, it sounds like you've cranked up a Fender, if you run it through a Marshall, it sounds like Marshall output tube distortion. It doesn't really have a sound of it's own, it just sounds like whatever amp you're using it with. I own a few amps, but mainly use a Vox AC30, using either a Strat or a Tele. I love the sound of the Vox when cranked, but very rarely get to play anywhere at that volume. I've been searching for that tone at a usable level, for many years. I'd tried reactive load boxes and just about every distortion box ever made. The Peanut Butter is the only thing I've used that captures that tone. Every other distortion/overdrive unit I've tried, changes your basic tone. This doesn't, which makes it perfect for rhythm playing.
It is very quiet and has heaps of output. It isn't hi-gain. It has the same sort of gain as you'd get cranking a vintage amp.

I've had no problems with it. They're all hand made (and painted-each one looks slightly different) and seem to be very reliable. I've had mine for a couple of years.

I play rock, with more traditional tones (not modern hi-gain). The guitar tones I get are along the lines of Keith Richards, The Edge and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This pedal is perfect for that. I've been playing since 1979. I own 2 strats, 2 Teles, a Les Paul, an Ibanez artist semi-acoustic, Fender electric 12 and an Ibanez Talman with P90s. Apart from the Vox I own a Marshall 50 watt head and quad, a Rivera ThirtyTwelve, a Fender Pro Junior and a 1964 Fender Bassman. I own a heap of pedals, including TS808, TS9 and a Rat. If something happened to this I would get another one. I couldn't live without this. See above for what I love about it. It really is the meat and potatos of my sound. I still use other pedals for specific tones (especialy in the studio), but for live use It's the right sound for day to day playing, where as previously, I was always changing pedals.