CMATMODS Brownie

Very simple to use if you are familiar with overdrive/distortion pedals.

When I first heard of chads pedals I had listened to the sound samples and was very impressed, in fact I had ordered a brownie. I talked my self out of it and cancelled the order. Chad was very kind and refunded me immediatly. Since that time I bought a new amp and went through more pedal acquisition syndrome and tried Xotic BB & AC, Fulltone OCD, EHX, T.C. electronics, Toadworks and so on. Recently I went back and listened to the samples again and decided I would try one this time. I ordered the brownie and WOW! the samples do NOT do it it justice.

My current rig is Korg pitchblack tuner> Morley wah> Cmatmods signa comp deluxe>Cmatmods Butah>Cmatmods Brownie> Analogman mini chorus>Earthquaker pulse monster>Cmatmods Deelay>Fender HRD modded with celestion Gold speaker.

After I tried the brownie up close and personal I was hooked and went and bought the other pedals you see from Chad. Incrediable Sound, Incrediable Price, Incrediable Person. I am proud and priviledged to have these pedals on my board.

I use all of my pedals without back ups. I try and do my homework and buy sound products. Chads products are no exception but have gone beyond my expectations. Built for life.

Chad is one of the kindest and patient individuals I have dealt with regarding pedals. As you know we can be very fickle and anal about such things, as guitarists.

As stated by the other reviewers I have seen my set of pedals. I think like most of us the search for the "holy grail" of tone will march on. However, Chads pedals are some of my FIRM foundation of my quest and will be a permanent part of my journey. I encourage you ....NO! I dare you to try one and see if it doesn't become part of your arsenal of tone as well. Thanks Chad!

3 knobs, Gain, Level, Tone. All very effective, simple. All of the knobs are responsive and offer a wide range of sound so you can dial up almost anything you want. The instruction sheet is simple and informative.

Wow, the name says it all, Brown. If you want that old school brown tone look no further. Think ZZ Top brown or early Van Halen . Great sustain too. Notes ring with individual clarity, great harmonics, and brown. When you step on this pedal you just want to rip power chords and let them ring. Much warmer, more tube like, than other distortion pedals I've tried. Works well with my other pedals (chorus, compressor, boost), it even sounds good with an OD after it. Adds some sparkle to the high end and gives it more of a Motley Crue tone. I like it with a low, rumbling tone so I have the gain set about 9 o'clock. Turn it up to 3 o'clock and it just roars. However, this will add noise like most distortions. I don't find it any more noisy than others though. Great response when you roll back on the guitar's volume knob. It cleans up nicely and you can get some nice crunching, lower gain tones. Roll the guitar volume back up and you are pealing the wallpaper. The tone knob is also very responsive with a wide range so you can get many different sounds.

Played with a PRS 513 into a Fender Blues Jr. Great with both single coil and humbucker settings.

Seems very well built. No issues so far. When you open up the box you can tell it was made with great care and attention to detail.

Chad Matthews reputation is well deserved. I emailed him several times and he always replied very quickly. Often within an hour.

I honestly cannot say enough good things about this pedal or working with Chad. This was everything I was looking for in a warm, brown distortion pedal. Great response to my playing, settings on my guitar, etc. I try not to post perfect ratings as HC suggests, but I cannot find anything about this pedal I don't like. However, this is not a heavy metal type distortion. If you want scooped mids, metal madness you probably won't be happy with this pedal. But if you want bluesy, early Van Halen, ZZ Top tone look no further. If it were stolen I would rush to contact Chad and get another one. And at this price it is worth every penny.

Extremely easy to use. The knobs/pots seem to be tapered in a way that allows you to dial in what you want without a lot if split-hair tweaking.

I'm using it stock (without switching any of the additional chips that come with it) with the gain up all the way, the tone at about 10:30 and the level adjusted according to the room.

Even with the gain cranked I can still hear my guitar, meaning, the sound of my guitar comes through. This is a very articulate pedal and extremely quiet.

My main guitar is an '06 Clapton Strat. The effects, in chain-order, are: Telenordia TA-100 overdrive, Boss Blues Driver (which I stack on the TA-100), Brownie, DOD FX-65 chorus, Boss Tremolo, Retro-Sonic Analog Delay. The amp is a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with the HRD extension cabinet. In one application I combined the Brownie with the delay and nailed Gilmour's tone on Comfortably Numb. Through a Hot Rod Deluxe, no less?!?!

I've had it but a short time but it is constructed very well. I'm not worried about it's reliability at all.

Chad seems like a very nice guy. He does excellent work. I e-mailed him with questions before I purchased the unit amd he was very helpful.

I would replace it if lost. I would recommend this unit to anyone who wants an authentic Marshall fuzz/crunch/high-gain sustain but still wants the sound of their guitar to come through.

My honest opinion is that Chad could be charging up to a hundred dollars more per unit than this unit costs. It's as good or better than lots of units I've heard that cost several times as much.

Plug in and play. It doesn't get any easier.

Wow! This has got to be the clearest most articulate hi-gain pedal I've ever heard. Whatever level of gain you dial in(and it has tons of gain)every note is crystal clear with no bass loss or flabiness. I use single coils - strats, teles, and P90's - and it is not overly noisy even at max gain, amd my Boss NS-2 keeps it very quiet. It makes my 64 Vibrolux sound like a cranked Marshall. I don't normally use a lot of gain, but now I find myself steppin' on this little baby all the time. I have Chad's Signa Drive for medium gain, and it's a great pedal too.

Very clean inside. I can't forsee any problems, and I think Chad has a 5 year guarantee on all his pedals.

Chad has got to be one of the coolest guys in this business. He answers emails fast and really knows his stuff. He's emailed each time I bought a pedal and couldn't thank me enough.

I kept going back and forth between the Brownie and an MI Audio Crunch Box. After hearing a couple clips on YouTube, I bought the Brownie and love it. Just a super pedal with tons of gain and sustain, and not too compressed. I've been playing 45 years and haven't had a pedal with this much gain since I bought an original Rat too many years ago to remember. I had a Hermida Mosferatu which is pretty nice, but this blows it away and has much more gain. I found the Mos a bit harsh sounding, but the Brownie is sweet as can be. I'd get another in a minute. I think Chad's pedals are the best bang for the buck around. (Please don't raise your prices Chad 'til I buy the Butah.

As is the case with all of Chad's pedals, the Brownie is easy to use. There's no manual, and you don't need one unless the words "level", "tone", and "gain" are new concepts. It takes mere seconds to dial in SWEET tones on the Brownie with the guitar and amp you're using. It runs on the standard 9v adapter, battery, or daisy chain. I previously owned the Radial Tonebone Hot British, which is another great and versatile pedal, but I really wanted something that would bring the Marshall gain with less knobs and switches to geek around with - just a personal preference thing.

I've been running the Brownie into a Bedrock BC-52 (like a Vox AC-30), a Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker, and a custom low-power Twin clone. I've tried my CIJ '62 Tele, MIJ Strat, and '92 Les Paul Standard out with the Brownie. Every combination so far has been a winner. Plenty of warm Marshall gain and level boost is at your disposal with the Brownie, but there is still a transparency to the effect - meaning your guitar, hands, and amp still shine through. As Chad recommends, check out his Signa Drive or Butah if you want lower gain options (I've also got both and fully agree). The Brownie is pretty darn quiet, considering the amount of gain and level boost it delivers. I stacked it behind the Butah to see if the Butah would give solos a nice kick, and yes, it does bump up the noise floor, but it sounds soooo sweet. I don't miss the Tonebone Hot British, as I feel the Brownie has more "warmth" (for lack of a better word) and less knobs and switches to distract me from playing. I've A/B'ed it with my Fulltone OCD (which I also love), and I feel the Brownie has a different gain range and slightly different voicing with a creamier drive. The OCD can get low-gain tones as well, so they compliment each other nicely on a pedal board. If you are looking for the early Van Halen tones, the Brownie will keep you occupied for hours. The Brownie gets a 10 in my book, because it delivers exactly what it is designed to do.

I would depend on the Brownie without a backup without question. But when it comes to something easy to haul like a pedal, no matter what pedal you buy, you should always have an all-purpose distortion pedal available as a backup. CMATMODS stuff is well-built, and feels sturdy without being unnecessarily heavy.

Chad is easy to reach via email. He'll patiently answer questions and help you pick the right pedal for the job. His website actually has realistic and listenable sound clips, unlike others where you have no idea what you're buying. Chad stands behind his gear and will correct any problems, provided that you're not using your pedals as footballs.

CMATMODS pedals actually inspired me to finally write some Harmony Central reviews. I've been a serious semi-pro player for most of my 24 years as a guitar player and have been through loads and loads of pedals. You can't really go wrong with any of the CMATMODS pedals, and I now have 3 (Butah, SignaComp Drive, & Brownie). I'll probably get a Deeelay in the near future. The price on these is EXCEPTIONAL, and shows that it CAN be done well without leaving us feeling ripped off for what we get. If I had to dream up something extra to wish for on this pedal, I guess a little toggle that changed the voicing would be nice, but the lack of one doesn't detract from the pedal at all.

If the voicing of this "Marshall in a box" pedal isn't for you, you'll be hard pressed to find a pedal that does it any better, especially at this price. You can pay a lot more, but it surely won't get you a better quality build or better sounding product. While many pedals don't deserve the 10s they get on Harmony Central, the CMATMODS surely do. Believe me, I've been through lots and lots of pedals in 24 years and feel like I've got a decent perspective.

It is super easy to use. 3 dials. you wouldnt need a manual.

Im using this with a Fender 52 telecaster reissue through a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue.
It sounds absolutely amazing, and there are many sweet spots you can dial in with 3 knobs. I bought the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 mosfet, and the Brownie, and sold the FD2 within 3 days. I also love the Visual Sound J&H, and the Route 66-but when you mix double-stops and leads with riffs and chords, the Brownie sounds way better. I wont take my Visual Sound pedals off my board, but I really could do it all with the Brownie. It is noisy at high gain and level settings, but I set the level at 4 oclock, the gain at 7-8, and the tone at 2, and it is noiseless, and sounds ridicualously good. Tone is subjective of course, but the sound quality is very nice. With the Brownie, I have the best tone on the block, but if my favourite guitar players were using is, I would feel more secure knowing that!

I am sure it is reliable and dependable. I never gig with backup pedals because I am not a professional any longer.

Chad is an email away, and he builds them himself. Very nice in emails.

I play a style similar to current Perry/Whitford, Keith/Ronnie style blues-based riff-rock, and praise and worship. it is a good match for what I do, but I definitely dont use all the gain it offers. If lost or stolen, I'd try a Tim, or stick to my Visual Sound pedals, although I can honestly say the Browne is more responsive to my playing, and you can hear all the strings-you can actually hear my telecaster! The color, knobs, and LED are super cool looking, but I wish mine came with a script logo instead of the cheesy creeper font logo. the script logo is way cooler looking! If I were to buy again, I'd ask Chad for the script logo!

Very simple and straight forward pedal to use. Tone, volume and gain nobs.

Absolutely stunning Marshall in a box tones! Dead quite, no hissing at high gain settings. Thick, slight compression, with amazing note clarity. I am running into a Whittney JTM45 clone and this NAILS so many great tones. Low gain settings yield great blues tones, and as you increase gain the harmonics just get down right nasty. This does it all from Blues to Rock to EVH to near 80's metal in my set-up. AMAZING.

I opened the pedal and Chad's work is nothing short of fantastic. High quality in all components will assure long life I well imagine. No problems yet at all....

Not needed as I have recently recieved the pedal. I have emailed him through Ebay and was responded to nearly immediately. Has a fantastic reputation....

After spending THOUSANDS on Zendrive, Eternity, Abunai2, Small Fry, Cactus Crunch, FD2, Klon and every conceivable OD vintage or modern, THIS IS IT!!!! Blues, Rock, it does it all. I am rarely stunned by gear and this pedal has exceeded every possible expectation. WOW.

3 knobs,level ,tone, gain.level and gain interactive kinda like on a tube amp.

lots of sweet spots between level and gAin.this is a bsiab and does not use diodes and opamps to get its sound.this uses transistors in a sorta push pull set up.this was great for me because i had so many pedals that did use diodes and opamps.great marshall brown sound through clean channel of any amp

i have some of chads other pedals and have not had any problems with them.his work looks top notch on the inside,the outside is nothing fancy just clean and smooth and tastefull

Chad support is top notch and quick

i play everything and this gives me a brown sound without the hassles or volume.stock colour is 125 i got cutom orange for 135