Carvin Ultra Distortion

easy as pie..it has a tone knob, volume and gain. the tone knob actually varies the frequency quite a bit and is very linear

this is a great sounding pedal that yields a pretty thick but not fuzzy hard rock distortion. the gain knob goes from fairly light distortion(not overdrive) to real thick heavy but somewhat trebly distortion. it might remind me a tad of Michael Schenker's tone during his UFO days. my setup is a tokai tele played stereo through a boss rv-3 into a Laney Vc-30 1x12 and Blues Junior

I'd probably gig w/o a backup as I have a number of dirt pedal that sound close enough to each other to render the differences in tone non-existent to an audience who can never tell if you trainwrecked a song or set anyways. It looks like it won't break although not bullet proof like a master lock boss pedal

Level, Color(Tone), Distortion, what more can I say?
Has been reliably built externally, with nice knobs, and the switch is easy to push on.

I'm using a MIJ Strat(very, very good guitar by the way) with stock pickups, Peavey 15W practise amp, the pedal of course and nothing else in between. When switched on it produces a slight hum(could be the amp though), thats about the only weakness I can see on this pedal becuase I don't know what the others on this page say, but its a great pedal that I will probably use for the rest of my guitaring life. It creates a great sound from practically any position, IMO it makes me sound like Eric Johnson in Cliffs of Dover :) I used to use it at extremely high settings, and didnt notice the amount of low-end this pedal could produce, makes my built in overdrive sound like absolute S**T

If this thing were to drop from a 5 storey building, then get run over by a construction vehicle, then finally have a hammer hit it a couple of times, I'm confident it would still work!! :) There is this eerie problem where i set the knobs, play for an hour, look at the knobs again and they have changed position!! It sucks to have casper as a neighbour.

One word: Carvin

Though i've only tested a few pedals in my years of using effects pedals, i'll have to say this currently sits at the top of my list. I have confidence I will use it for the rest of my life, and i'm sure it will stay intact for that length of time.

Very simple... three knobs.

When I first received this pedal I was 100% disappointed. I thought it was the worst sounding pedal ever. I tried it through my clean channel and it sounded like @#$%^. I tried it on my distortion channel and it still sounded horrible. However, I was using an old Crate G212 from 1988(solid state) and that was the problem.

I have recently purchased the Peavey ValveKing 112(tube amp) and let me tell you... this pedal has taken on a whole new attitude. I use it as an overdrive pedal on my distortion channel with the built in O/D on...

Here's what I did. I have my third channel(high high gain) on and the gain around 6, then I hit it with the ultra distortion and have the vol. all the way up, the drive at 10, and the color about 10-11, then I roll the volume off on my guitar(Gibson SG) and darken the tone a little on my guitar.

Let me just say this... I have found that heavy dark Sabbath sounds (for a minimal priceat that). Even with a darker sound this pedal and amp combo still allows single notes to ring clear and not muddy up.

Believe me! I was suprised I felt this way about a pedal that sat in the closet for the last year.

built like a tank.

Have not needed to call them.

Overall I think this pedal is extremely good and I am glad I gave it another spin.

Very easy- 3 knobs- Level, Color, Distortion- foot swith is easy to stomp on- very reliable and has metal casing

I love this pedal- Play various electrics and both humbuckers and single coils sound great on it- distortion is really cool- the color knob gets great tones for solos ala Santana, Robbie Kreiger (Doors) as well as heavier Tony Iomni/Jimmy Page riffing sounds- not noisy when hooked up in my chain of effects- use it with various amps- Fender and Marshall- helps bring out the power in the speakers

Very dependable- metal casing- like a tank- has not let me down at gigs or in the studio- main pedal on stage

I've had other Carvin products and they were always there to answer any questions I had

Like I said- a great pedal- play all kinds of music alternative- The Cure, Mode, Smiths to old metal- Sabbath, Purple, Led to rock-n-roll ala Bob Seger, ZZ- Top. This box fits with all of the styles I play. If I lost this box, I would feel bad and try to find a new one, though they are getting harder to find as they don't make them anymore. Would have to check on e-bay

It's very simple to use,basic instructions are on the box.Don't lose the little screw on the battery cover-it's not attached.

I at first thought that this pedal was malfunctioning so I sent it back for another.When I heard the second one sound the same I knew it was for real.When I hit a powerchord with moderate settings{all at 12 O'clock}the sound would suck in and then sponge back out again sounding as mushy as Hey hey, my my by Neil Young.This was the worst sounding distortion I've ever heard-and I've been playing for 20 years.I'm extremely supprised because the OD1 from the same series sounds tremendous!. Somehow this mistake slipped past Carvin's quality control dept. That's what they get for slipping up and having these made over seas. I have many Carvin guitars and amps and I'm VERY happy with them all. One small mistake once and a while aint too bad in my book.

I sent it back, but it seemed to be built well.

Carvin has always been there for me to answer all my questions, assist with returns, and to follow through on their warranty promises. This is a great company, as long as they continue to make their own things.

I think I said it all. This pedal was un-useable in my oppinion.But for a strange special effect sound, it could probably fit in somewhere. Check out the OD1 overdrive though. I love it!

Volume, Contour, Gain... pretty easy to use.

It sounds terrible. I can't stand it. Unfortunatley it was gift so I can't return it because it's past the 10 day trial period or whatever it is. It sounds un focused and very very rough. There's just something about it that almost makes me think it's brojen. There is this background noise that just makes me think something is wrong with it. I'm not real sure why they called it "Ultra Distortion" either. It has very little gain. My DS-1 has more gain than this thing does. I ordered it thinking I was going to get a Smashbox or Metalzone -ish type pedal. Boy was I wrong. The really weird thing is that it sounds worst though tube amps. I don't get it at all.

Hard to say. It seems solid but if it broke while being shipped here then I don't know....

Carvin has always been the best in Customer Support. I've got a Carvin A/B pedal, MTS Half stack, and a PA system and they're all solid and sound great. But I haven't bothered with them cause I really don't think it's fair that I have to pay to ship it back. It was a gift and I don't wanna lose money on it. I'll keep using my DS-1.

I bought it hoping for a great sound pedal for metal, but instead I got a pedal with a harsh grainy sound and a flabby low end. All I can say is that I'm very disappointed in Carvin. I can't believe they would put something out that sounded this bad.