Crowther Audio Hotcake

this product is sickeningly easy - volume, gain, and a presence knob. 3D clean boost until gain reaches about 1 o'clock, then Marshall-y Overdrive (like the amp, not a Marshall pedal) commences.

I run this pedal into a converted 1969 bassman - now mounted in a 2x10 combo. I use a 1969 Jazzmaster, LP copy with P-90s, or G&L ASAT Classic. great sounds from the hot cake - a really blooming sound when it operates more as a boost - very 3D and full, I don't know how better to explain it. I tend to not it use it at the highest gain settings, but they are good and gnarly as well.

this pedal is very solid. I like to think that I don't rely on my effects to sound good, so yes, I would use it without a backup. I had a problem with my pedal just recently, after owning for almost a year - but read on for how it was resolved.

Paul Crowther is fantastic. I emailed him and explained my problem, he said we need to take care of that ASAP - so I shipped it off to him in NZ. (I'm in the US). Within 2 weeks, the pedal was back in my hands as good as new. No money changed hands, he repaired the pedal for free, I only paid the shipping to NZ which was like $8. THAT is customer service - what a great way to run your business.

great product, can't recommend it enough, not for metal or anything but can come up with lots of great distortion ~ overdrive textures.

V/easy to use. This is a more recent 3 knob unit with the mid-boost.
I just use it for 1 sound.
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Fender '79 Strat (25th Anniv.) to Hotcake - Ibanez Tube King - Morley volume ped. - Fender DeVille 2x12 (hotrod) amp. In the FX loop - Boss BF3 flanger (Gate/pan and trem. modes only) and Boss multieffects unit (but only for post-EQ, chorus, delay).
This is a great pedal and I brought it to do what the o/d channels on the DeVille don't do well. It has a nice, grainy but natural sounding o/d which is ideal for rhythm and full chords.
What i do notice, however, is that the 'fuzz' sound seems to be 'detached' or 'sit on top' of the guitar sound at first, but it seems to 'key in' quite ok once the amp has warmed up. Not unusual with a cold tube amp, of course, but the 'detatched' sensation seems a little unusual to my ears.
The great thing with this pedals have been stated by others before, but I will restate:
True bypass great
I love that the drive level does not affect the overall volume of the effect...you can use this pedal as a clean level boost.
Well made - excellent components, pots and switch. Jacks very snug.
Unlike an earlier reviewer I LIKE the fact that this is a SMALL box...my gear cases are already bulging and hard to close with all the stuff I have to carry around to gigs!
Drive progresses to more of a 'fuzz' after 12 o'clock. Not very usable for me personally, but it is not un-musical. Can't quite get the 'Fuzz Face' sound, though (a la Hendrix).
The other thing I really like is that the drive sound adds really nice natural compression to my guitar sound...very nice, as I dislike the notion of using a stompbox to get compression...never liked any that I have heard or used.
The mid-boost control is a nice touch, but I personally have this back at zero.
My normal settings: Volume - 12.30; Presence: 7.00 (off); Drive: 11-12.00.

Very well made, as stated above. No back-up used, but I use a power pack...don't want to open up the nicely screwed together back panel and burr the screws.
Seems to give good battery life, though.
It is a little expensive, perhaps, but then, getting a good sound is wortth it.

No dealings. Got it through the Rock Shop, and based on the amount of gear I've brought from them over the years I would expect no problems.
I live in Auckland NZ, so am a local to Paul Crowther.

This pedal is a staple of my sound. Prefer it to the tube screamer type alternatives. It works very nicely as a tone/gain boost for the Ibanez Tube King, It has quite a different sound to the TK on it's own, but this means I have several different types of overdrive to choose from between the 2 pedals. I was worried that they wouldn't work well together, but was very pleasantly suprised.
I play blues/rock/fusion influenced styles - have been gigging plus some teaching off and on over 30 years. Other 'toys' i use are the Roland GR30 synth and the EBow Plus. Main pitch mod. sounds are chorus, but I have recently brought the Boss BF3 Flanger - I hate flanging, but love the Gate/pan effect -works well with the Hotcake, to my ears that is, anyway.
I would replace the Hotcake if lost, despite the cost. I compared it to Ibanez Tube screamers, Boss O/D and the like, but this is a great unit.
If you want to talk to me about this pedal, or any other stuff, my contact is below. Thx
Note to Paul Crowther: I brought this unit because other guys I gig with use it. I have also recommended other players I know to get one.
I think the best recommendation is when this kind of -word-of-mouth' happens.
Keep up the good work.

It has 3 knobs marked clearly: level, presence and drive and one on/off switch. Very simple to use.

It sounds great, it can add tons of low end if needed. It sounds very natural and has a more power tube-like overdrive. It can be a clean boost all the way to a fuzz pedal. I've tried it with my two fenders, one with single coil PU's and one with humbuckers through a blackface fender bassman and a marshall 30th anniversary both driving a marshall 1960A cab. It's not noisy at all and is very powerful.

Extremely dependable, it's a small metal box with nothing fragile or cheaply made. The only problem I ever had was when the top part of the on/off button came off but it was only minor.

I e-mailed Paul Crowther a question and he responded within 24 hours with a friendly and helpful explanation and told me to call or e-mail him if I had any more questions. He seems really nice.

I play hard rock to funk to pretty much anything else and this pedal is completely essential to my sound, It gives such a natural sounding drive and can be relly heavy and deep sounding. It gives a great blues tone when driving a clean channel, too. If it were stolen I'd buy another one immediately. I don't like overly complex equipment and I like to be able to get a good tone without tweaking things forever and this pedal is perfect for that.

this is one of the earlier models, with the midlift fearture. other than that the pedal has a level and a drive knob.
it is easy to fool around and try settings. you can get a variety of diffent distorted sounds. from a bluesy type sound to very overdriven sounds.
one thing this pedal doesen´t do is the metaltype distortion.

if there would be minus grades for products i would use it.
i play vintage guitars and do not use a lot of effects. mostly straight in the amp.
my current set up is a early sixties vox super twin.
my current guitars are a 65 non reversed firebird with p 90, `65 gibson es 330, 57 guild blues bird and 54 epiphone zephyre cutaway with an de armond pick up. as you can see i am pretty much a single coil player.
first of all the pedal, if you use it in front of the amp sucks tone.
it cuts of the highs and the tone of my guitars is not 'sparkling' any more. so it does not to have a true bypass.
the sounds produced by the pedal add a lot of color to my tone, which i particuilary do not whish.
the distortion sound harsh to me and is not touch sensitiv.

the only good thing i can say about this product, is that it is possible to use this pedal as a booster. but then especially with the vox you are too loud for the band. but even then all the other disadvatiges take place.

the unit is put in one of the usual metal boxes, which seems to be well done and sturdy. the potentiometers seem to be poor quality, because they already produce scratchy noises if you turn them.

i can´t say anything about this. inside of the pedal there is an email adress, which i haven´t tried.

i am playing for about 20 years and i play professional.
i do a lot of recording and with my own band i play mostly 50' sblues and
R'n R'. i bought this pedal to use it primarely in the studio, which did not work at all. (you should have seen the face of the soud engeneer, when i tried it the first time). i have owned in the past almaost every distotion pedal the is, ts 808, ts 9, rats etc. i found that most of the pedals do color your sound, some of them more or less, but this specific pedal does add the most color.
this pedal was a total disappointment, especially cause i have read all the rave reviews on harmony central.

who wants to buy it ??

Very easy. Three knobs (Level, Presence and Drive). I actually started out with Level dimed and Drive at zero and it sounded so good I almost just left it there! While some are better than others, every tweak of a knob is just another good sound.

I tested the Hotcake paired with an Everman Fuzz Drive using a 1980 Gibson "The Paul" into an Ampeg VL-502 and a closed-back 2x12 cab. I tend to run the amp at the breakup point, and then use pedals take it to the next level. After years of feeling trapped by a particular Sovtek Big Muff (trapped in that I wasn't happy with its limitations, but couldn't ever really fall in love with anything else), the last few months I've gotten really serious about researching and testing out OD, Distortion and Fuzz pedals. I've found that most of them (even a lot of other Big Muffs) generally sound like they get all clogged up in the highs unless you turn the tone up so much that it hurts your ears. This isn't just through the Ampeg, either; I've also been using a Marshall JMP-800 and a Reverend Hellhound combo. ANYWAY: the two that I've found that (combined) deliver all the fuzz and drive I desire (a lot!) while still giving the chords room to breathe are the Crowther Hotcake and the Everman Fuzz Drive. To be honest, even though the Fuzz Drive is more versatile, I think I like the Hotcake just a little bit better. With the Drive at about 9 o'clock, it really does sound like the "Marshall stack in a box" that so many pedals promise, but not in a harsh, metallic way. With the Drive at 3 o'clock or higher, it's all Hendrix and Mudhoney and "Wow!" I think the sounds you get will have a lot to do with the amp you're running, as some people have mentioned finding the Hotcake a little dark, while I found it somewhat bright. Along with a good fuzz pedal for your darker, chunkier tones, I'd say that the Hotcake is indispensible. I had so much fun just playing chords and listening to them ring out and break up, and this was using a guitar with pickups in which I was previously very unimpressed. I haven't even tried it with the higher-output Seymour Duncans in my fave Electra SG yet. So... yeah. I really like it.

It's a pedal. The knobs do seems a little rinky-dink, but not any worse than those on a DOD type pedal. I guess I could see the pots getting bent if someone took a bad fall on stage, etc., but I'm not too worried about it. I would gig without a backup, but I may also get another one so I don't have to!

Bought it used on eBay, but the word is that Mr. Crowther is a gentleman.

I play heavy guitar rock, post-punk pop sorta Pixies, Mudhoney, The Who, Buzzcocks, etc. I've been playing for about 9 years now. If this was stolen, I would definitely buy another one. No question.

Easy to use

Guitar - '82 1st year 62 ri strat, custom shop strat. Amp - Bruno Underground 30. Just got it an hour ago. Playing by myself (waiting to hear with a band), the best pedal I've ever heard. Combined with a Klon Centaur after it, the tones, harmonics, are unreal. I will keep this and the centaur, maybe buy one more cake to have a crunch/overdrive setting and a lead setting- or bend over and change it every time! This and the klon are the only two overdrives i've ever tried that keep the full frequency range, and most of all the incredible springy 3 dimensionality of my amp, and add to it! In Comparison, My fulldrive 2, which i will now sell, while sounding nice, kind of flattens out my amp, and especially kills the bottom end (the bassdrive by fulltone doesn't, but still doesn't sound NEARLY as good as the Hotcake). The Cake, in comparison to the klon: the klon is much cleaner sounding, and after going back and forth, i prefer the cake for basic overdrive (and more gain) - kind of an x - factor, maybe 'soul' is the word it adds. the klon adds a beautiful warm 3 dimensionality, but not that x-factor, but the two together are a match made in heaven. One note - I haven't tried my UG30 maxed out with the cake, where a touch of centaur puts it over the top amazing. As a previous person wrote (and if you read this, great commentary!), the klon is the icing on the cake! Final note, of course, this may or may not sound good with your amp depending on the amp - an analogman ts9 sounded great through a plexi style amp i had once, and total crap through my bruno ug30.
If you're interested, other effects i use - teese rmc 3, maxon ad900 delay, analogman bypass box for: big muff, alesis q2 (big digital delay). As well as pure tone, I like psychedelic noise and ambience. Favorite Artists - no interest in getting their sounds, just the ones in my head. Effects i'd like to get in the future - lovetone doppleganger or other amazing phaser, vibrato, flange pedals

Don't know, just got it.

Don't know

Style music - psychedelic rock, jamming, improvising, ambience. I'd get it again if it were lost. For not changing really affecting your basic tone, the best overdrive i've ever heard.

An update to my orginal below...

Great, instant response and right on the money as to what was ailing my cake. Paul Reccomended I try and spray the pots with some dioxin. Took the pedal to a tech and he just sprayed some ?Dx-5? could have been cooking spray for all I know but the guy said the knobs were in dire need of some of this. And voila...My cake is back and better than ever. Thanks Paul. BTW the tech had never heard of the pedal but he and a few others were blown away by the sound. I fell in love again as well.
I know or somin sprayed

Got to increase the rating as a result!

Easy to use...Three nob version. Lots of great tones from this thing. Full bore on the drive yields a thick dark big muff type dist/fuzz. Back off the drive to get more ac/dc-ish. To taste you can get some really great strat SRV tones if you mess around with the drive nob even more. And if you want a relatively transparent clean boost, this thing can also do a great job of that as well.

I use mine primarily through the fron of my backup amp..Fender HRDeville 4x10. I play either a 2001 AM fender strat with the tex special pupsor a PRS Mcarty. I persoanlly like the sound of single coils with this pedal when i use it as an dist pedal. The reason is that the pedal when cranked is very dark and thick so the single coils are a great compliment. Its not really noisy at all even when cranked to full drive. It does not have true bypass. This pedal as mentioned does do a great clean/semi clean boost.

Dependable...? sort of..Mine is only 1 year old and the drive nob is pretty much shot. It has alot of dead areas where it totally cuts the signal out. Turning the drive nob around enough you will eventually find a tone...hopefully it is the one you want cuz if not you are S.O.L.. It seems to work relaibly in full Clockwise or full drive mode. If you want an in between sound you have to screw with it for a while. Its been doing this for about a month or two and I just recently (6-11-03) sent Paul Crowther an email so I hope there is somin that can be done about this cuz the pedal does sound killer.

Like I said...I just sent Mr Crowther an email about my problem so I'll let you know

I play Rock. I have been playing since I was 12...Am 26 now. If it were stolen or lost I am not sure I would replace it..due to the reliability I have seen from it. I have also heard others have had similar problems with the pedal. I would easily compare this thing with the Vintage Rat. Same vibe except way more versatile...the Cake I mean. I wish it had just a bit more tone control..more treble maybe. I always have the presence nob dimed and find it still to be very dark.

Three knobs.. it's easy. No manual with it. But if you need someone to hold your hand to twiddle three knobs, you shouldn't be attempting six strings in the first place.
I wish people would build these things a little bigger though, with some man sized knobs on them. They are used on dark stages with sweaty fingers you know... I'll take a point off for this.

I'm using this with a Maton Mastersound 503 (dual humbucker) and a 1976 Vox AC30 Solid State amp. Other pedals I had tried really layed a new sound over the 'natural' sound of the guitar and amp. The beauty of this little bugger is that it keeps all the subtle tones and nuances of your set up and just breaks it up beautifully.
I haven't found it to be very noisy, but I haven't tried it with any other effects so far.
I was looking for a sound with a little crunch and a lotta bite. Think early AC/DC and Stiff Little Fingers ie. early punk and hard rock. I wasn't really looking for Hatebreed or Slayer or anything like that.
This gives me lots of 'attack' and some beautiful toneful distortion while still being able to clearly hear the bite of the treble strings. To me it sounds a bit cheesy and overdone with the gain up full, but then again with something like a Jackson/JCM800 set up, it might sound totally awesome (I suspect it would).
The gain goes from being really REALLY subtle to really crunchy, sustainy, harmonicy, easy to feedback kinda stuff.

Haven't gigged with it yet and probably wont for a while. So far it's been great. I wouldnt take a back up. Just a back up battery and a phillips head skrewdriver. The battery changing mechanism is sturdy, but quite 'agricultural'. You have to screw off the back of it to change the battery. I'll definitely be buying an AC adaptor for home. No real dramas, just test your battery before you play live, or hell, spring for a new battery...
Also, the back doesnt seem to fit 'flush' with the body', it's kinda bowed. I hope this doesn't cause any problems.
The steel body and the 'clicker' seem really strong but I'll agree with someone else who said the knobs weren't real great. They seem like they would be the weakest point on the pedal, and I might go change them sometime soon.
I'm sure it could handle some serious abuse though. It also looks very 'fixable' should anything go wrong, especially the casing.
I'm giving a nine, but it's really an 8.5

At the moment I am doing solo stuff of bands like AC/DC, Cocksparrer, the Saints, early Skrewdriver, the Jam... it is the most suitable effects pedal I have come across for this.. ballsy without being overdone. I've been playing for about 15/16 years on and off and have tried Boss, Marshall and other cheap and nasty pedals in order to get distortion without having a "Boss" or "Marshall" sound.
The best thing about this pedal is that you get to keep the sound of the gear that you love and paid so much for in the first place without it being bludgeoned to death by a nasty overbearing pedal sound. Even on maximum gain, you can still hear the original sounds of your guitar and amp.
I was originally going to plump for another Boss pedal until the guy at the store made me try the Hotcake. It was pretty pricey, but it's the only pedal I have tried in my life that I have really felt happy with. I figure what's the point of spending money on good gear just to have it sabotaged by a cheap pedal. Paying the extra was definitely worth it.
I'm very keen to see how this pedal sounds with different set ups now.
The wobbly knobs and the suspect fit of the backplate are pulling this pedal down from a ten for me.
Also, small point, and totally irrelevant to it's functionality, is... it's really plain looking. I loved the look of the Marshall Guv'nor but hated the sound, if I could merge it's looks with the hotcake pedal I'd be over the moon.

3 knobs, Level, Presence, Drive. It's obviously easy to use, as 99% of pedals are. Where it loses points is the difficulty of changing the battery, it's no big deal at all to me personally, but people who prefer battery to adapter might find it a little annoying. Another thing to know is that you need to turn the presence knob up together with turning up the drive knob to keep the same tonal characteristics you had at lower drive settings.

Be critical you say? Sorry, there is not the slightest flaw in the sound quality of this pedal. It is the overdrive pedal for me personally. Actually, when i first got the hotcake I didn't like it much. Weird thing, that a few days later i fell madly in love with it. And I only seem to love it more and more even months later. This is the best pedal I have ever owned!

I currently play a Fender Jaguar into: Hotcake, Zinky True Grit, DanEcho, PE Yardbox, Big Muff Pi, Boss BF-1, amp tremolo and reverb into a 1971 Traynor Mark III 2x12 tube combo (EL34's).

I use the hotcake for mild overdrive. here are some of its great qualities: it does not colour your tone, it seems to actually make your tone better, it adds a grit to chords that i cant explain very well but this is easily the best o/d i have used for rythm playing, hit a 6 string chord and no note gets lost, play a bunch of 6 string chords and you hear every little bit of definition.

My favorite thing about this pedal is when i hit a huge chord, it seems to break up when the sustain runs out. its a great breaking up sound too, i guess like a busted speaker but its not harsh at all, its very musical. i really think this is the best overdrive for indie rock type of sounds, and for classic rock feel.

It is really difficult to get a bad sound out of this pedal. There are actually several sweet spots on this thing. Turning the drive knob up to 3 oclock and beyond and you are suddenly in Big Muff Pi land, accept its that big muff ballsy smooth fuzz without any mudiness or loss of note recognition when hitting more than one string.

Anyways, i dont know how to do this pedal justice in words. Ill just say that for my style of playing it is way way better than TS9, BD-2, Keeley SD-1, Vintage Rat, MXR D+ and a few other highly coveted pedals i tried.

I tried to actually find another O/D to take the hotcake into good leads since i use it on milder settings, but every pedal i got (went through those i just mentioned) just sounded thin, coloured, and unmusical when a/b against the hotcake. This is how i came to keep loving it more and more, when i realized that i just could not beat it!

a definate 10. open this up and look inside, perfectly neat soldering and wiring, there is some sort of silicon type stuff globbed over the circuit board which basically makes it invincible, and also difficult to copy. its in a hammond box and the switch feels solid as any. the knobs are kinda cheap though i must say (i put cooler looking ones on)

i really can't comment on this but apparently mr. crowther deserves a ten according to the other 45 reviews.

I can't give it anything but a 10 overall. I mean it's the be all end all of overdrives for me, it's the best and i couldn't ask for more. I actually plan on getting rid of my Zinky True Grit that i got for a boost and extra overdrive to go with the hotcake, and although its the best besides the hotcake that i have tried, it still does not match up. I will be getting another hotcake in a few weeks so i can have it in two stages! (im not kidding) if it broke, was lost, or was stolen i would get another one absolutely as soon as possible. i wouldnt even consider another pedal for my overdrive needs, i learned my lesson trying to find something better and lost alot of money buying new and selling used when the hotcake is all i need.