Carl Martin Quattro

even a dumb *** like me can learn this thing in 5 minutes

The best - playing for 30+ years ----------

don't even bother with boss, digitech and other crap like that.

I play blues/rock/country - not metal - I don't know what you need for metal - probably not this

just got it - looks like it's built really well

don't know

worth every penny - it's not cheap but if you want make some good sounds - go for it

Very simple design, easy to use and understand. Echo is excellent and delay time is set by Tap button, Trem is also very good, Overdrives are good and for most purposes fine, two different levels with a common tone and overall level, Compressor is very subtle but doesn't hijack your sound, can be left on all the time or use as a clean boost for solos. Blue Leds are vivid and very easy to see in any light. Stereo L+R outputs are irrelevant really as both signals are the same!!....this unit doesn't simulate any stereo enhancement. Mains powered and switched mode power supply so low weight and works off any voltage 110v or 240v...no need for step up/down transformers etc.

Sound quality is excellent on this MK1 model...no hum, hiss or unwanted noises....total compatability between the effects and all the effects are very very good even if only covering the basic requirements of the gigging guitarist. It's the simplicity that appeals.........after Vox Tonelab SE, Boss GTs, Digitech RPs and Line 6 Pod XT it's refreshing to use a unit that is so easy and sounds so good....no kneeling on the floor trying to summon up the appropiate menu/page and then trying to adjust the correct parameter and save to memory to attempt to get a sound that you're happy with....and all in the middle of performing !....this unit doesn't do a lot but it does the essentials and it does them very well both sonically and logistically.....excellent.

Carl Martin gear is properly designed and manufactured to a high standard and in my experience problems don't exist.

Carl Martin always respond promptly to emails in my experience and offer in depth technical support as well if requested....they speak and understand English so no language difficulties either.

Overall a superb product, well designed, and very good value for money compared to buying the individual boxes for the same effects.
Dead easy to transport, use, set up , take down and live with. What you see is what you get on the knobs and it's idiot proof really....total recommendation from me.

It??s a pedal board very easy to use. Delay with tap tempo, tremolo, 2 overdrives and compressor. I like simple things for playing live. The blues leds show very clearly if the effect is on or bypassed.

The Quattro is a good deal for the money it costs, BUT I sold it in order to customize my effects with single stompboxes.

Delay is one of the best things of this unit, the tap tempo allows you to change values on stage. It can go from a very subtl analog sound to a more long delay, enough for the 99% music you heard on tapes. I've played with the Delayla XXL and this one is pretty decent in comparison but, as you awaited, the Delayla sound is much warmer and better overall....I??ll purchase one of these units in the near future! 9/10

Tremolo sounds very good, I??ll give to this effect 9/10

Overdrives are the worst elements of this pedalboard. I've had a Plexitone pedal and sound much better than these ones. Artificial one, with no punch....I expected more of them I must admit. They were the main reason to sell this unit. 6/10


The compressor is in the middle category, it??s an effect I use only sometimes. 7/10

I had no problem with the unit, it seems it will last over the years with any problems.

If you are critical with the sound of your effects you'll buy single pedals. If you only need a good delay and tremolo, some overdrive (better for mixing than for using it over a clean sound) and a decent compressor, then this will be one of your first choices. Analog sounds, easy to access and to transport. If you are looking after a specific overdrive sound then get first the overdrive and maybe you'll buy single effects after for not having redundant overdrives.

This thing is very easy to use. It errors on the side so simplicity, which I like. Just plug in power, the in and out cables and go.

The sound quality of this thing is VERY VERY good. The sum of the parts is much greater than each individual. To begin, each effect is of top quality. If you were to take each of of the 4 pedals individually, they are equal or better than 95% of other like pedals. I believe that some other manufactures do make some of the individual pedals better than the Quattro, but you put it all together in this simple, worry free package and the Quattro is just great. I will break down the the four pedals like this:

The compressor is very smooth, although I mainly use it as a clean boost with just minimal compression it does that perfectly.

The two channel overdrive is quite nice. It is a very natural and transparent crunch/distortion that comes through. Now I definitely think that there are a small handful of other more expensive overdrives that I think are a little better than this, but again, the sum of the parts is king here. I have received several complements on my tone with this thing, so we are probably splitting hairs here.

The tremolo is as good as you will find most anywhere. I have an old 60s Fender amp with trem and I think they are very comparable. I'm sure if you get one of the $200+ pedal they will be better with their tap-tempo, but for me this gets the job done.

Now the Delay is Awesome! I am a delay junky and I have been through about all of them and I just love this thing. It is warm yet firm, has its own character and really creates a great atmosphere. Even better, it has Tap-Tempo. For a warm natural delay I will personally take this over any other pedal. You still will want a cold digital delay for the times you need that sound, but this covers everything else perfectly.

it seems very dependable. no problems after 6 months of gigging and constant practice.

I have had a handful of emails with them and they have been prompt and courteous.

I have kept this longer than about any other pedal I have ever owned. It is so simple and convenient and it sounds really good. I play Jazzmasters into Fender and VOX combos. This box helps me make music, not get in the way wondering about tone.
I have decided that I am about over the whole GAS thing because of this pedal and the good musicians I have been able to play with.
It seems that so may people (including myself) chooses to chase tone instead of musicianship. Does the audience really care if you have the latest pedal or 50 pedals or whatever - no - they just want music. Just find your sound and go with it.

If you are interested in the Quatto - I hightly recommend it!

Well it is as easy as reading this line...:)

My listen to a variety of music but mostly rock, of course. And my favorite band is Whitesnake, Dream Theater, Deep Purple.

My guitar is a EBMM Steve Morse Signature. I plug it into a 100 Watts Hughes and Kettner Attax 80 Amp.

The sound I get is pure, uniqe I guess. Not too close, and not too far, to the above mentioned favourite bands; just right and unique.

Now using this multieffect nothing changed(smile).
Did great research on what to buy to preserve the sound of my axe. At least I decided to go for the quattro,all in one. It is not a digital dream machine. It is pure, just what it says it is. Nothing more and nothing less.
It has (relatively)no effect on your guitar tone and amp sound. THIS IS THE MAIN THING FOR ME. And so it does.

The only cons to me, is that the higain could be a bit more highgain.It is difficult to get modern distortion tones like Marty Friedman or metal tones.May be it is because of my guitar.

Good choice for tone hunters and the ones who want their axes and amps tone to stay firmly in the array of effects.

You can depend on it.

Well I had had it bought in the States. But use it in Europe. So there was some problem. When I get in touch with their Customer Service they tried helping me...but as far as I concern, could be better.

That's it. A 4x4 pure. If this is what you go for.

11 knobs and a blue LED for onb or off. Couldn't be simpler. No patch saving, all analogue but I've had LOADS of digital processor's and this is the best by far. Manual is i A4 sheet of paper. The manual is how it sounds.

Superb is the only way to describe how this unit has enhanced my sound and given me, at long last, the tone and versatility I need. Lat's face it, when you're gigging you neither need, or can hear, 101 digital sounds. I play a Clapton strat into fender Hot Rod deville and Laney LC 30II (Class A) so I have a vintage sound which I don't want a digital box to colour. Compressor is the best, most subtle I've heard, the overdrives are perfect, the trem is useable and the delay, again the best I've had. True bypass, no tone suck I can detect. I use both amps in clean channel and let the unit do the rest when I need crunch and lead. Santana, Moore and Clapton sounds dead easy to produce.

Only had it 9 months but seems solid as a rock. I have no backup.

I've sent emails about various things and they always answer with enthusiasm and knowledge.

I play in a covers band, rock, blues and melodic, but it's when we rock out that the unit delivers. I'd buy again. I've had BOSS. MXR, Ibanez etc and this beats the lot. I wish it had a knob for delay time as opposed to JUST a tap button. I am noew happier playing than I have been for 15 years, when I started.

This is about as easy as it gets - like having four analog stomp boxes stuck together...no messy patch cords to deal with - very nice! Manual is a sheet of paper with basic operation instructions - if you need a manual to figure this out than you have some real issues. Simple to use old school knobs and on/off switches plus tap tempo for the echo effect.

My setup is as follows: Fender highway1 US strat into a Matchless SC-30 combo with the quattro in the effects loop on channel 1 - thats it. Its the perfect setup that gives me all the effects and tone I could wish for - perfect! The compressor is sweet, it doesn't choke your tone and seems very transparent - classic CM compressor! next the OD is very nice - sounds tight and full it has a second gain stage thats great for heaier sounds and soloing - very flexible and sounds killer and fat - reminds me of my old Fulltone FD2 od pedal - Sweet! the tremolo has a speed and intensity setting much like an old Vox - sounds very smooth and warm - pulsates like an old tube vox trem - awsome! The echo delay is my favorite - sounds vintage and has upto 1000ms of delay time available - best of both worlds - fat warm delay!

seems to be built very well - like a penzer tank - Hand made in Denmark

no dealings - dont expect any issues here.

Overall this pedal is fantastic! it has everything you will ever need to accomplish rock, blues, jazz and country styles and possibly some heavy stuff - you can always add a heavier pedal in the effects loop on the Quattro - This pedal is brilliant - provo Carl Martin!

11 knobs, 5 on/off switches plus a single taptemposwitch.
1 input, two out plus a loop located between the drives and the tremolo.
A wallsocket, no 9v.
All analouge interface, all very easy to operate.

Fender 1965 Concertamp with two G12H Celestions, 1966 Marshall JTM45 top with a brown tolex Marshall cab, 4 25 watts Greenbacks.
1957 LP jr modded with an old PAF humbucker, relocated the P90 at the neck instead, Tyler strat with a APH-1b and two SSL-1 Duncan singlecoils.
This is one pristine clean multiunit, no added noise, the buffers used where of very good quality, and the result was very pleasing as well as being useful. I use more than 10m of cable, and that takes out all the freshness of the signal in a hurry, and I have nice cables, that is just the nature of the beast.
The pedal has a healthy amount of signal through the effects, everything is very present and clear, not flatsounding by any means, a very 3D experience.
The compressor is very nice and quiet, they shaved it down to to volume and comp only, but it still works great, never too boomy or too transparent, suits the frequncies of the guitars well.
Then comes the drive, one for less gain, and the next for more, after 1 o'clock it becomes very fat and chunky, has a commanding voice and presence, it really comes out of the speakers, none of the sometimes behind the blanket feel, sweet overtones and plenty of juicy squeals,
on lowergain it very crisp and maintains a good clarity as it does at higher gainsettings, it has no preffered frequency, a very evensounding drive, and there is alot of it all in a good pleasing way.
The tremolo, well it is great, the amplitude goes both up and down, lots of depth, and the sound reminds of one of my old Vox amps, very very good indeed.
The delay, it does not sound like any of their other delays, the toneknob is blessing, lots of sonic variation in that application, good firm and fat delay, even with no rolling off the top it is very nice, the taptempo is accurate and works great, a real good machine to work with.
And the did I mention that the switching is silent?
This thing is stealthy at best.
The loop is a nice extra feature, used a chorus and some other dirtpedals, performed without any flaws, it even seemed to improve on some of my other drives?
This is a great unit, it can cover alot ground and still keep its feet
solid on the ground.

Built very well, the insides looked clean and neat.
Solid Alpha switches.

Had no dealings, but by making this product, and in general they have a solid and good reputation, so I am nowhere worried about a thing with this unit.

I play alot of diffent music, ranging from rock to fusion, some gospel and pop as well.
It is simply made right, would not change a thing about it.
I will get one more, for my studio jobs.
And for that price it is actually alot of goodies to get, I think they have hit a previous empty market with this thing, and they have nailed just right.