Carl Martin Rock Bug

The pedal is extremely easy to work with. In; out; cab switch - that's about it! The manual is a one page sheet of paper and you don't need more.

I hooked up my G&L Comanche and my Gretsch 6120 alternately, direct to Rock Bug and into sound card (TC Konnekt 8) thru the XLR out. I was looking for a nice, clean 'tube' sound with no digital side effects. The 'Bug' is extremelly silent & clean indeed. However, without additional gear (pedals) it's not really what I was looking for. It's a nice, hi-end addition to your rack of pedals - good for live or studio. But left alone, it cannot produce a real guitar sound. Said that, I hope it's understood I'm not trying to compare this to a real miked amp. I was looking for a direct-recording, 'condo-suitable' device.

Built like a tank, I've had it for a short time though.

This is where it goes to a 10+++! These are the sweetest, most responsive people I ever dealt with! Replies to mail would arrive almost instantly, with helpful info. I contacted CM way before the Bug came out. Soren (CEO) sent me a brochure with the pic of the pedal even so it wasn't out for a next few months! All the best to Carl Martin!

I play for more than 25 years. Lots of live play, studio session recording, producing etc. I've been through a lot of gear & styles of music. I always leaned towards a nice, clean natural sound of guitar - almost country-ish. This is somehow always the hardest to create and record. Lots of today's gear (analog, digital, software) fail to provide a simple but good crystal clean sound. The 'Rock Bug' is a great piece of gear but unfortunately it can't work alone. So my quest continues...

stereo aux in, guitar in, volume knob, guitar volume knob, xlr-out, phones out.
it HAS a dc9V in. closed / open back design switch.
you can play along with cd or mp3 or whatever, use headphones and have a rich sound.
very easy. but be careful with volume!

I play electric violin and I practice with headphones on.
my fuzz pedal still sounds good thanks to the rock bug.
I can play along with music on my laptop and I can play stereo when I play live without having to use two heavy amps, thanks to the xlr out which goes to the pa.
it is not noisy, only a little when it's very loud but that's bad for your ears anyway..

I hear lots of details of my pedalboard. actually I hear details I didn't notice before.
it made me improve my pedalboard a bit.
the rock bug has a rich sound that doesn't bore me like cheap digital multifx units with headphones out do.

it's great for recording too.
the only thing I can't judge is its 'tube amp sound'. because I only play with solid state amps (good ones, though).

the xlr out doesn't send the aux in signal.
at first you may think that's stupid but it's actually very clever.

all quiet on this front

nice friendly people who email back if you ask them a question

It's perfect for what I need.
the only thing is : I may want to buy another one to practice in stereo.