Carl Martin Crushzone

Simple. Volume, Tone, distortion.

The sound is amazig! really really nice. The sonic value is to die for. i run it on a peavey 112 with a fender US strat or jazzmaster, and the sound is really great!
if you roll the tone knob to about 3 o'clock or above, the sound gets really high-end but still contains a smoothe and deep low-end.
but the distortion doesn't do much when it's above 12 o'clock, but still you can get various distortion-amounts tha all sound fantastic.

Seems Okay

Made in Denmark, which is very nice!

I've been playng for several years now, and this is one of the best distortion pedals I've come across!! I've compared it with the proco Rat2 and the crush zone beats it totally! it has an amazing sonic perfection and combination of high, mid and low-ends!!!!
I play Noise Rock and it is amazing for that. it's not very sustainy and solo-friendly in my opinion, but for chords it is to die for. IT IS SO BRILIANT!
Fantistic Value - yes!

The tone knob is a low pass filter like a rat.

You're wondering what these sound like. It is ProCo Rat style distortion.

Great classic tones. Use it in all the same situations you would use a rat.

The beauty of the ProCo Rat is it is usable at any gain level from a almost clean to full on distortion. The same holds true for the crush zone.

It is slightly different in tone than Rat but very close. Try them both I can't say one is better. I'm just trying to demistify this box. It is based on the Rat. It is not a new unique distortion or a fuzz/overdrive hybrid. It's a Rat copy.

NOT true bypass. I can't say if it's a tone sucker.

It is as good as the other more expensive carl martin pedals, but not up to boss or proco standards.

If you're in the market for a ProCo Rat, DOD 250 or MXR Distortion+ check this out while you're at it; you might like it better.

"Standard" control layout. Level controls output volume, Tone controls treble cut and Distortion controls, well, distortion. Put everything in middle position, and you go from there. It??s almost like you can??t go wrong with any setting, but on the other hand, huge amount of control range.

I am using this pedal, mainly for slide work, with an American Standart strat and a 2x10 Peavey Delta Blues. Other pedals in the chain are EH smallclone chorus and MXR Phase 90 and home made volume booster. The crushzone replaces a MXR Distortion/Dynacomp. The sound of this setup are staggering!. The Crushzone gives this Fuzz/Distortion whithout muddy bass. Serious LOADS of gain and compression. Your guitar tone remains intact, and when you roll off guitar volume it cleans up perfect. No tone loss, still sharp and spanky. Studio quality noiseless even at highest distortion setting. Very Impressive. Tube sound, no. Transistor sound, no. A cross of both, maybe. On its own galore, definately!.

This is a cheap box, and build quality is, ahem, not military grade. The paint cracles easily, and the rubber feets are long gone now. Battery door seems very dinky. I have never had a problem with crackling potentiometers, intermittent sounds or switch faliure though. I am using this for gigs, and i don't have a backup.

I have never dealt with the company, and if it was broken, i would just buy a new one. Now for a upgrade, i wish they would make a high quality version with boost, just like their HDB series.

I play mostly 70??s hard rock, but this setup is for power blues, think Gallagher, Winter etc. I have been playing for 20+ yrs. It gives me the perfect compressed cut through sound fuzz-stortion. I have compared this to a TS-9 (forget this one for serious r??n??r??) a BOSS blues driver and EH big muff. The closest description would be the fuzz roar of the muff cloned with the distortion af a JCM800 2210. Add definition and control to this and there you are. I would buy a new one if it was stolen. Cerl Martin listen closely: make a high grade version with boost. It??s too crappy for pro touring!.

Normal layout, level, tone, distortion.
Hence easy to operate.

I bought it for its cool unique distortion, sounds like anything from a melting Marshall to a slightly breaking up one.
Gobs of gain, allthough it gets very compressed at the end of the dial, but that was fun as well.
I use it with my JMP 2203 with a 4x12 cab loaded with blackback celestions.
For the range of this dist, it is working with a pleasing level of very little noise, it does old Rat style dist and some more, cuts very well in the band without getting anemenic, a healthy amount of lowend for most.

Very solid made, diecast case, and a very cool black metallic colour.
Alpha pots and switch, looks very neat on the inside too.
Nifty little bat compartment, works like your average remotecontrol.

Had no dealings, but they have a good rep so I am not worried.

Great unique shaped pedal, has a lot of range on the distortion, it is not for those who wants a subtle overly warm od like sound, it can do VH and classic Gilmour stuff, plus a whole lot of other acid fun stuff, screamed with my ringmodulator, totally oldstyle fun.
I have a few other nice distortions, this one is easily up there with a few others that costs alot more.
I hope that they will expand this series, it is a great concept!

3 knobs (level, tone, distortion) and a switch. That's it!

This unit has a wide range of overdriven/distorted tones, from blues to crunch to heavy metal distortion.
With a good tube amp, it will blow away your ears!

This is a TANK....you could break a wall by throwing the unit against it...notwhitstanding its light weight!

Never had to call/contact them.
Carl Martin pedals are professional products, built to last very long time...so I expect I will need not to contact their Customer Support...

Well, I play Deep Purple and Whitsnake oriented music and this pedal matches my needings perfectly!
I can get a lot of distortion and sustain, preserving the vintage tone!
And I don't need to run the tone and distortion knobs much more from middle position to get a very huge, high gain and heavy sound...

Three chickenhead knobs, volume, tone, dist.

Hauled out my old DR103 1970 Hiwatt, and my old 4x12 Hiwatt cab with the old Fane speakers.
Used both my old strat and a LP Jr, I was greated with some serious Gilmoure like tones, going from slight break up to screaming tones, healthy amounts of gain, and that old kind of boingy compression old fuzz pedals makes, a funny blend of old and new, felt great playing with, very easy.
Very fat and distinctive, had some fuzz like behaviour but is smooth at the same time, and the cleaning up is simply great.
Lots of bite if you like, it sounds like a smooth fuzz/distortion.

Well everything looks very solid, great design here, very strange to see another look for the CM pedal line.
Sturdy swith, very nice jacks, and a standart ac socket.
Expect no troubles from this baby.

No dealings, but I am going to ask them about their other two pedals in this series.

I have alot of different pedals and amps that I use.
This one is both unique and familiar at the same time, I will try it with a normal LP soon, I expect it to be very bigsounding with that guitar, my strat sounded great with it, my LP Jr got that woody oldstyle distortion with some extra hair if I wanted to.
And it really liked my old Hiwatt, I also ran it through my old high power Fender Twin amp, the one with 4 output tubes..very rare.
It sounded absolutly great through that old vintage tweed.
Very dirty and earthy.
It does vintage sounds and new ones as well.
Good job from my compatriots in Grenaa.