Crowther Audio Hotcake

The unit is a 2009 with internal switches for Bass/Guitar and Hotcake/Bluesberry options. Easy to use but you must remove the four screws from the base to access the battery, this is only a big deal if you forgot to pack a phillips head screwdriver.

I have tried this pedal with Humbuckers, Single coils, Soapbars, EMG's and an active Ibanez bass into a Boogie Mk2 C+, Carvin Legacy head into sealed 2x12 and a Blonde Bassman head into a quad.

All these combinations left me downhearted and deflated with a searing case of buyer's remorse.
The basic tone of the pedal is quite nice, it has a snappy attack up to medium gain after which it gets a bit wooly and loses definition.

My first gripe is the fizzy/spitty overtone which is present even at minimum gain and turns your smile to a frown as you trail off with a little fart. Sansamp gear does this too but to a lesser degree.

Second gripe is the strange sustain characteristic which sounds great then suddenly dies as if you've rolled back the volume pot.

Third gripe is the bypass is very noticeably a tone sucker, leaving the signal brighter than the original.

Considering that it's been around since the early 70's I can't help thinking that this pedal has survived on sheer hype, which is incredible as Mr Crowther seems to do no marketing whatsoever.

So if you are a famous drummer you should probably consider making overdrives.

I compared it to TS, Rat, Std DS1, Std SD1, Sansamp, V-twin, Bad Monkey, GSP1101, Tube Driver, Purple Plexi, everything in the box but if you want to know which one really kicked it's arse out of the park then read on.

A short while ago I was lucky enough to meet the guy who does (amongst other things) the "Purple Dot" mods to the ubiquitous Boss DS-1 pedal. I say lucky because he rarely leaves his house up in the Adelaide Hills. Only a handful of these pedals exist and I managed to borrow one from him for a week. I have owned Keeley and Allums versions of this pedal and they are very good but they are still very much DS1's so I was doubtful to say the least. This version is very different - It made my eyes grow wide. No toggle switches or flashing lights. It was smooth, dynamic and clear even at maximum gain, no fizz or fartyness; even at gig volume. I couldn't fault it at all, it cleaned up with the guitar's volume backed off and responded beautifully to light and heavy picking. True bypass with a 3P3T stomp switch and of course a purple dot LED which seemed to have an unusual calming effect when I looked at it.

The kicker is he wouldn't sell me one. His eyesight is dwindling and he makes most of his money building amplifiers and something to do with the military which he wouldn't talk about.

If you ever get your hands on one these grab it and run like hell.

N/A

I believe Mr Crowther is a great guy and will answer emails and do repairs no problems.

Lately I've been moving away from hard rock and getting a bit subtle, playing jazz, blues and fingerstyle.
Got my first Strat in 1977 and my first Boogie in 1986. The Boogie is the nicest amp I've played and is still going strong.

Like most guitarists I'm always trying different gear, particularly overdrives, and I shudder to think how much money I've wasted over my lifetime but this purchase really made me feel like an idiot. The last time I felt this way was just after I bought a V-Twin.

This is the greatest drive pedal in existence, easy to use, easy to get a great sound out of and tonally superior to anything else out there in the OD stomp box range. It is everything people say it is. My faith is restored.

This pedal will not save your crappy solid state mmm kay. This pedal is built for tube amps. With a good clean tone, something my Hot Rod Deluxe is capable of, this pedal can do anything from pure clean volume boost, to shred box. With the drive pointing north this beast will give a smooth, creamy, dreamy blues tone that makes you want to swoon, particularily with a neck pickup. For gain, this pedal can produce your typical rocky Marshall stack distortion. With my US Strat this gets fantastic Blackmore, Page or Clapton sounds with drive at 8-9, even through my pretty averidge Hot Rod Deluxe. With my Korean Epi LP Std this pedal gives balls out hard rock tone with elements of Angus through to your Nicklebacks and Creeds. If you add a Boss GE7 like I do you can further shape your drive tones to generate everything but searing metal. This pedal is my rythem distortion, and my lead drive with the help of the Boss GE7 boost and eq. Since i don't like messing with pedal settings while on stage, a TS808 reissue does the lighter OD tone and blues, but in the near future this will be removed to make room for another Hot Cake. They really are that good.

This pedal will do ANY overdrive tones you want, unless Megadeath covers are your staple. Metal searing metal sounds are not here, this pedal is built for tone. If you want blunt force trauma, buy your Metal Zone and forget about tone.

The very minor weaknesses with this pedal are...

This pedal is best used in front of an amp, and will thus tinker with your tone when not on. It is not anything drastic, but without it in line, you can notice a slight difference in your clean tone, compared to having it in line. It's minor, so it doesn't bother me, i very rarely use a purely clean tone. Any pedal in front of an amp will do this.

Secondly... No quick access battery compartment, means changing batterys requires a screw driver and about 5 minutes. Not an issue if you use a power adapter like you should.

Lastly... The power supply jack is in a stupid spot, below the input jack. It will make you retink how you get power to it on a board if you run adapters and dolly chains. But again this is a minor fault. If you really want a beautiful drive tones, or indeed just an un-touched clean boost, this pedal is a must.

Built like a tank. Solid as a rock. Will not break unless your a tool and abuse it. Ultra reliable so far, but i never gig without a back up for anything. Have the TS808 reissue or the woeful Hot Rod Deluxe OD channel should this break down. Hopefully will get another Cake in the near future so they will back each other up.

Never needed it personally so i wont rate it with a number, but Crowther audio's reputation in this area is unmatched by anyone. This little companies reputation for customer service and repairs is first class.

I have searched far and wide to find a good overdrive stomp box. I had bought a heap of pedals but been unimpressed, tried everything my friends had, from the cheap to the expensive and the multi fx units. I had given up hope of finding a good drive box. But since my Hot Rod Deluxe has a crap od channel, i decieded to try just one more OD pedal before giving up completely and saving for an expensive Vox, Orange or Marshall. Lucky for me i bought this.

For awsome OD tones this pedal is the top of the class, it renewed my faith in stomp boxes. Don't bother with other OD pedals, i bought heaps of em, got crap sounds and wasted heaps of cash. I tried everything, and this was the only drive pedal worth its salt. You need to use it with a tube amp, solid states will not work with this pedal, but hey if you love tone you'll have a tube amp already. This pedal does everything you want it to, everything we've all dreamed about from a stomp box. It craps all over the Boss stuff, the Tube Screamers and the rest of the fuzz boxes out there.

They are hard to find, and quite pricey, i had to pay $300 Australian to get a hold of one. They are worth the effort and the cost. I'm currently saving for a second one to replace the TS808 on my board. They really are that good. If you really love your tone and like a bit of drive you owe it to yourself to get hold of one of these things are try it. Brilliant stuff Crowther Audio.

Very easy. Three controls for level, presence and drive.

This is an excellent sounding pedal that for me works best with EL84 and EL34 tube type amps. Mark Knopfler uses a hotcake and it was a favorite of Ken Fischer who designed the Trainwreck amplifier. At low drive levels it maintains the original tone of the amp extremely well. The slight color it does impart is musical and full of character. Pushing the drive to 12-2 O' Clock produces some great overdriven tones with a bit of compression and good harmonics. Beyond that it gets a bit fizzy for me. I prefer the presence between 12-1 O' Clock usually. It won't really do high gain very well, but stacks well with many pedals for gainier sounds.

My older hotcake developed a scratchy drive pot after many years of use. I emailed Paul Crowther and he immediately sent me a new pot for free.

Excellent. I received a reply straight away when I emailed Crowther Audio and he took care of the problem. He obviously stands behind his products one hundred percent.

This pedal is a classic and the only pedal I have two of. Highly recommended for low to medium gain overdrive. I have a lot of other overdrive and distortion pedals that I like: Fulltone, Cornish, Keeley etc. This pedal more than hangs with the best of them. Furthermore, Paul Crowther provides exceptional customer support.

As Straight forward as possible

Ive had my Hotcake for 3 years, and found it hugely versatile for a variety of tones. It works well for adding subtle boost and a little distortion through to hi gain dirty tones.
I play funk with a tele (Dirtys up my sound without affecting the tone at all) and also Jazz (subtle gain boost for solos with a tiny bit of breakup on the higher louder notes)

Very usable distortion

3 years no issues at all. Im in New Zealand so could easily get Paul Crowther to sort it out if anything broke im sure. ive seen old Hotcakes around with no paint left at all, just a silver case but still working perfectly!

perfect for my uses, Adding dirt to my guitar sounds without losing any tone at all.

Im sure they're great for a whole range of genres, definitely great for funk and jazz

Easy.

I can honestly say that at first- I was turned off by the compressed sound of the drive- but I love it now. This pedal is what everybody else has said.

Dependable

I'm almost embarrassed to write this- but, I really wanted one of these because Steve Malkmus swears by it. I have never bought a piece of equipment because someone whose work I admire had it- I'm just not that guy; however, I really enjoy SM's tone and this is definitely part of what he's got going on...

The sound is Amazing- I found one on ebay for a very reasonable price. I'm glad I took the leap for this. It has paid off.

Real simple, 3 knobs. The only thing is that if you're into using batteries you will need to unscrew it to get the batteries out.

Fantastic, perfect for led zeppelin type distortion. Great if you want to add a bit more to your already distorted sound. Not much noise either.
Theres nothing else like this sound!!

Nothing wrong at all. Good metal casing. would gig without backup.

Not dealt with, heard good things though!!

I play led zeppelin type rock and also heavy rock like van halen and guns and roses. Its great by it self for a zepplin tone. but add it to a distorted sound and it will make you sound like you have active pickups at the right setting!! I'm proud it was made in NEW ZEALAND

3 knobs, and one is for volume. pretty easy to use.

cool grindy low-medium gain OD. gets more throaty as you turn up gain, still fairly quiet all the gained out.

no worries so far.

Have not had the need to contact them.

very cool OD. sensitive to pick attack. clean low end, not muddy. tight highs along with warm breakup. great for rock and blues.

Very easy to use. Mine is the Mk II version. Has a drive control, presence control and output level.

Easy to dial up a clean volume boost (drive up to about 9o'clock) right up to a thick fuzzy distortion and everything in between - including a smooth overdrive which handles chords brilliantly. Add a bit more mid-range bite by increasing the presence control.

Sound quality is great. Basically completely silent whether run on battery or adapter up to about 2 o'clock on the drive. Gets a little noisy at extreme gain settings but show me a distortion pedal that doesn't.

I've read something about this pedal leaving the undistorted portion of the sound wave intact. I'm not quite sure how that works but basically, it sounds very transparent and there is almost no loss of low end.

I play a USA standard tele into a MXR supercomp, hotcake, hotcake, FuzzieBro Overdrive #4 (NZ made), MXR phase90 and Boss DD5 into a Jansen 645 combo (NZ made version of a Fender style amp).

The first Hotcake I use as a volume boost to drive the input of the Jansen (which has no gain control). The second I use as a high gain device for gobs of sustain and distortion. The hotcake will compress quite a lot at high gain settings.

The hotcake sounds great - I've not played better - and I'm proud to fly the NZ flag with a lot of my gear.

Exceptional reliability. Never had one break down. The first I bought new years ago and has been gigged constantly - never had a problem at all.

The second I bought second hand and it is actually older than the one I got first. Also a beige brick.

Indestructible.

I've never had to use it but I believe Paul Crowther will fix any problems should you have them. I believe he also actually answers emails!

I play rock music. Originals - sorta swaying between stoner math rock and loud folk rock with a bit of alt country thrown in - that's in one band. In another I play sorta guitar driven psychedelic pop in the "Dunedin sound" tradition.

This pedal rules for what I'm trying to do. I like the sound of overdriven tubes (who doesn't?) with the option to freak out my amp should the occasion arise (and it often does).

I believe these pedals are used by Oasis, Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth and also by pretty much every NZ band that has/had any taste or style.

The only negative thing I'd have to say is that these things are a little pricey - even here in lil' ol' NZ selling for NZ$269!! at The Rockshop (NZ's biggest music retailer). But, The Rockshop is generally a complete ripoff. You can get them cheaper online. I bought mine for (I think) NZ$160 a couple of years ago - after that the price jumped massively - maybe due to overseas demand.

They're often available secondhand and due to their reliability and sonic consistency second hand is a pretty decent option.

very very easy to use great sounds

great sounds from this pedal - i agree with sir_les on this 1.ive just git this pedal today & am aiming to use it in front pof a 59 bassman ltd, as of yet only had chance to try it in the front end of a 70's fender champ

seems dependable - the knobs are quite stiff - not a bad thing !as i say only got this today & generally never take a back up with me

not hade rise to as yet

i play in a soul blues band - have tried millions of pedals - most of them dont hit the mark. ab'd this with a voodoo labs sparkle drive - the hotcake has something ekse - not quite shure what that is as yet - it seems to sustain very well indeed & has more clout than the sparkle drive- cant wait to use this in earnest !

Very easy pedal to work with, level, presence, drive. Many tones available from this pedal. I think my best result was putting in front of a clean spanky tube amp.

This is a top piece of gear definately enhanced my playing style, I like the blues, with this pedal if i wanted to sound like BB King, Clapton's early tones, Mark Knopfler early stuff, this thing can help in getting very close
Gear that I use Stock Fender Stratocaster - Hotcake - Fender Dual Showman
No noise, this thing is sweet, even when driven hard

I respect my gear and look after it, if i dropped it I think that it could handle it.
Fresh battery every gig, rely on it, yep.

The fact of the matter is I followed a link from a stombox diy site and sent an email to Crowther Audio and asked them a few thing about the pedal, all good, very helpful took the time to help me, and I respect that about Crowther Audio.

Bluesy sooped up jazzy riffs is what i try, been playing about 26 years.
Amps - Fender, Marshall, Vox. Guitars - Fender, Epiphone.
I like using this pedal, inspiring tone to it, ie enjoy playing with a nice sound.

Standard three knobs: Gain, Level, and Presence. Presence does not add or subtract highs or lows. It adds upper mids, the Marshall frequencies. It's very useful for seasoning to taste.

I aready wrote a review of this for guitar many years ago. I'm writing this now because I have stared using it with my Fender Bass, and it is fantastic, better than any bass pedal I have ever used. Because the Hotcake preserves and boosts an undistorted signal, and then adds its distorted component over that, bass cuts, rips, sustains, and compresses without fuzzing out the fat bottom. It gives a great organic "SVT working hard" rock sound. If you have one, ask your bass player to try it out.

Once it broke. Crowther fixed it for $10 and it hasn't broken again.

See above.

Rock, Blues, Country. I play Fender basses through vintage Ampeg and Traynor all tube amps. At my regular amp settings, with the guitar's volume low, it add a little punch and presence, perfect for stepping out for head riffs and solos and stepping back into the pocket. With the guitar's volume higher, it rocks out.

Right so as you've heard there are 3 knobs, level, presence and drive, pretty simple. need to play with them to get a good sound though. Also no manual, but the only thing you really have to think about is the presence, which is kinda like a tone knob, sorta.

It's got a pretty wide spectrum, but doesn't do really heavy stuff, pretty good grunge tones though. However, with the drive at about 1 o'clock and playing it through my amp on clean, it gives the most amazing bluesy, smooth tone that makes me want to cream my pants. Add it to my od on the amp and you get a bit of a boost, with more grit to make it stand out. Never really used it as a clean boost, but when i first plugged it in and set it up as one, i could get an unaltered sound.

It's fairly quite, get a bit of hum, but this might be my set up, which is; Fender mexican telecaster (modded with seymour duncan pickups)>crybaby>big muff>hotcake>boss super chorus>Deluxe memory man>orange ad30 tc.

Use it regularly at church, has never failed me. probably never will, solid construction, good switch. Only problem i've ever had was with the pots crackling.

Had to replace the pots, so i emailed paul. he got back the same day with advice and stuff. Then when it transpired i needed new pots he offered to send them out free as it was christmas :-).

This pedal doesn't do all styles, but it's amazing at what it does. Never heard a pedal like it. I would definately replace it, although its a fair amount f money its defo worth it. The pedal has become an essential part of my sound.

I must start by saying this is not your usual hotcake. This is a vintage one. Dates BEFORE 1985. It only has 2 control noobs, and 1 switch which changes from "normal" ato "midlift".

I also had to modify it with a 9volt power input, LED light, ture bybass switch and the voloume control was wired wrongly which I fixed. Also it didnt work when I first got it, and took some very cleaver solidering to get this thing working properly.

Its important to note that I own both this VINTAGE and NEW 2006 model Hotcake, and I perfer this vintage hotcake. It leave the new one for dust, for my taste.

It is not the easiest pedal to use. The volume control is very sensitive, and the switch changes tone quite dramatically. Though once you get the hang of it is much easier.

OK, this pedal has about 4 amazing tones that I love.

My favourite is when I turn the drive 5oclock and the volume at 12oclock and the swtich on normal. Play it thorugh my Gretsch White Falcon and it sounds amazing! It breaks up into drive/distortion sound with a nice crackly, and then almost sounds like its going to feedback for a second and then the tone drops away!! I have never heard anything like this before, and it is truely an amazing sounds.

It has many more awsome tones too, you can get a great boost with small amount of drive comming from it, or with the MID LIFT you can get a shallow phat sounds comming from it. Too hard to describe the tones. But this is definitly a vintage players pedal dream. I just wish I could find anther one!

I'm giving it a 10 because of the amazing, one of a kind tones you can get from it. Perfect for stuido, or someone with very high quality gear (mine goes way past the $10,000 mark).

Have had some trouble with it, especially before it was working, and fixed, and the mods done (true bypass, 9volt switch, drive pot resoliderd, LED light). Also had some trouble with it live one time. But any problem is worth it for the tone it gets. Also its considerable for a 30 year old pedal.

I rang Crowther personally to get this pedal aged and he was very helpful and no problems there. Enough said

I give it a 9. 10 for sound, but had some reasonbly trouble with it at first. Nothing a good electronic nerd cant fix tho.

My one hope though, is that no one reads this review, and finds any for themselves, because I would be very happy buying everyone that is still alive and adding them to my rig. Best pedal I own, or have ever owned, or will ever one. And on a funny note I only paid $5 for it. It is probaby worth around $400+ though, I kinda feel sorry for getting it so cheap!

This allows me to unlock the classic tone from within my JCM 900 with my classic Stratocaster (what a classic guitar).

This pedal is so classic in its tone. It allows me to rip out some face melting licks and really express my guitar with my fingers. I feel like a guitar god when I stomp this baby on and rip out a wicked Vai lick! It's like Vai is in me... putting his soul into my fingers as I pluck the strings of my axe... Hot stuff... Hot cake.

It's so reliable and gives me classic tone every time. I can rely on this baby to melt some faces every gig... Even with my rough stage antics and my big leather boots stomping this baby like I need to goto 11 with my tone. This baby is so hot.

I rung the guy up to ask for his secrets to classic tone for fat leads and ripping solos... but they didn't get my lingo... So I suppose they're not REAL guitarists... You know what I mean fellas!!! ROCK ON. This baby has some classic tone.

Classic tone in a box... or... in a cake!! This baby is hot!! Classic tone ALL the way... from your fingers to the amp baby...

Simple straight forward experimentation

I've been searching for the right smoothe fluidy distortion for some time and have used big muffs,tubescreamers, fulltone, emma, line 6. This is what I've been searching for. Unlike some reviews I'm using it mostly for long lead sustainy stuff, and a zen drive for crunch/boost. The two pedals interact well and if I need a bit more, I can switch on both. My rig is custom shop strats>buddah wah>barber tone press, dunlop univibe, zendrive (crunch/blues), hotcake, ibanez flanger, boss accoustic pedal>matchless chieftain 2x12. I'm happy with this rig - very quiet. check out www.doonicans.com

too soon to say

too soon to say

Great, glad I found it

Here's how to dial it in: Turn the presence and drive all the way off, and turn the level to about 2:00. That should be unison, the setting where, on or off, it sounds the same. If you turn the level up higher, you get a clean boost without coloration. Turn drive up and you add distortion to your clean signal. Turn up the presence, and you add upper midrange (the Marshall band of frequencies) to your output. Add is the key word here. The clean signal is always coming through, mixed with the drive and equalized by the presence, then the whole mosh is boosted or cut by the level.

The magic happens when this is put into a tube amp. First, the Hotcake is great for getting that "edge of breakup" sound out of a clean powerful amp at lower levels. Then, when you turn up your guitar, it isn't over-compressed, you do get louder, and you can push your amp into its own overdrive, adding that to the Hotcake's drive, and getting a great interaction between your guitar and amp. For hot, liquid leads, I still use a TS-9/Analog Man because that cuts the lows and lets me turn up louder without woofing out. The Hotcake is too transparent for that job

Looks solid, and I've never heard of one breaking. We all have one, we have to mark them to tell them apart.

I play Classic Rock, Electric Blues and Country. I have Teles, Strats, an Anderson Cobra, an Explorer and an ES-335. My amps are a Deluxe Reverb, a Twin Reverb, a Marshall Master Volume 2X12 Combo, a Traynor YRM and a Sound City Mark 3 L100. My effects are only the Hotcake and a TS-9 modified by Analog Man. Needless to say, I rely on the Hotcake every time I play.

As easy to use as it gets. 3 controls, Level, Drive and Presence, just how I like it nice and simple.

I use a Gibson Les Paul 98 Standard with SD 59 pickups into a Marshall 1962 reissue Bluesbreaker amp. Let me tell you the Hot Cake is the perfect pedal for this amp. It drives it wonderfully and doesn't colour the sound at all. Even though the amp is 30 watts, it's loud and for the times when you can't crank it to get your overdriven sound this pedal does the job.
You have to bear in mind the Hot Cake was designed to be used with a valve amp, and sounds better when at gigging volume. I first tried out the pedal when I got it at home on my Line 6 spider practice amp and it sounded pretty bad (bad amp, bad sound). So you have to have a good sounding amp in the first place, this pedal can't perform magic! But I guess at this price, most people who buy it are going to own valve amps!

Only had it about a month, but I can't see it going wrong, it's very well built.

I play Rock and Blues mainly and as I said before through my Bluesbreaker this thing sounds God-like. I have been playing for 12 years now and have had many overdive pedals in the past, admittedly not boutique pedals before, just Boss. You really do get what you pay for with this baby. I compared it to the Maxon tubescreamer pedal in the shop and the Hot cake won hands down, no contest.
If you have the money and you can find one (sounds like the A-Team)and you own a good sounding valve amp then go and buy one. If you expect it to transform your bad sounding transistor amp into a monster then think again.
I don't believe in rating products with a 10 normally, but it really is that good.

The Hot Cake is extremely easy to use. With the Drive and Presence conrols zeroed you can use it as a clean boost. The sound stays exactly the same as your clean amp sound. And I mean very exactly!!! Then you can add some drive while the character of the sound remains pretty much the same. Then add some presence to let it cut through a bit more.

I use it together with an Ernie Ball Volume Pedal between my guitar and my Koch Twintone stack. In the FX loop is a Carl Martin Red Repeat (terrific delay!!!) and a Boss CE2 chorus. I only use the clean channel of the amp and use the Hot Cake to add some drive. It is very quiet. I became interested in the Hot Cake because of Mark Knopfler using it. Together with my Fender Mark Knopfler Strat the sound is pretty much his. It's bluesy but you can use it for screaming lead also. It's very subtile and interactive while playing. It reacts very different to a Les Paul. With both guitars it generates exactly the sound I want without turning any knob!

It's simple and very well made so I think there is not much to destroy! That's good because it is very difficult to get one here in the Netherlands so a backup is not an option.

I ordered one directly from Paul Crowther himself in New Zealand. It took a couple of weeks to get it but it was worth waiting! The pedal and the box are fully loaded with warnings and handwritten serial numbers. It seems personally handbuilt and packed by mister Crowther with great attention to detail. I love these kind of things! I will treasure this pedal for the rest of my life!

I play folk rock a lot and it suits that style very much! I play for about 30 years and own some other distortions. I don't like the preset flat sound of other pedals to let them sound good with lots of gain. I like to get a good clean sound and then add some drive to it. In my opinion the Hot Cake is the only pedal that can do this. I also love the clean boost when you leave the the Drive aside. The pedal is very inspiring! I can't stop telling I love it! Great companion together with a single channel amp!

This pedal is very easy to use - 3 knobs - presence, gain and level. No issues

I use USA telecaster with a Randall RH50T head. The sound ranges from a gentle overdrive, ideal for blues stuff to crunchy hard rock. I find that using this pedal in line with another gentle overdrive or booster pedal gives a great combination, allowing me to use the hot cake for some searing solos or crunchy rhythm stuff.

Great sound

I have had no issues at all with my pedal. Appears to be well built

Never had to deal with the company

This is a versatile pedal. I am going to buy the bluesberry variety now to add to my collection and to have as a back up.

Very easy to use.. 3 knobs

I use my hot cake with a 1961 fender bassman head and a marshall 4x12 (a THD hotplate in between).. I mainly use it with my Epi Les Paul (Gibson burstbucker pickups installed).. Only othe pedal i use in the chain is a Boss digital reverb / delay..

I have been playing 30 years and on the eternal tone quest like everybody else.. to my ears i have found it. I like classic rock and some new rock.. i have always admired Angus Young's tone.. and with this setup I think i get that.. It's a full, ballsy, awesome sound.. hit your favorite power cords (A, G, D) and you'll start drooling on yourself..

I keep my bassman pretty cranked around 7, and have the hot cake at 1:00 on the level, 11:00 on the presence, and 2:00 on the drive knob..

Beautiful harmonic distortion, controlled feedback, thick growl.. hard to describe..

owned it 5 years.. no issues.. i

Never had to deal with any problems

I love it with my setup.. it is a very warm sounding overdrive pedal.. nothing harsh about it.. very full bass response.. only OD pedal I use..

I play a 78 Stratocaster to Wah to Hot cake to Analog delay Carl martin to Twin Amp.
This little baby gimme since a TS9 to Big Muff sounds...Fantastic.
Great as simply Clean Bosster too !

Mr. Paul Crowther is the guy, bro'
I needed help and imediately he solved my problem.

I play Old Rock'n'Roll and i've a Deep Purple Cover band too.
The Hot Cake is the THING man...

Easy as hell. Three knobs, great sounds! No extra tweak-pots or any of that silliness. Volume makes it louder. Presence adds some super-high mids/low highs that really pop it out in the mix. Gain is what it's all about.

Incredible gain effect! One of the best I've ever played. I use a Fernandes Decade Elite with DiMarzio pickups and a Les Paul Custom with Duncan pickups.

I originally bought the Hot Cake to serve as a medium-gain overdrive pedal, to replace my SD-1. If this is what you're after, you won't find it here. I found its gain sounds from 9:00 to 12:00 to be pretty useless. Kind of fizzy and buzzy, but very clear. Might be useful into an amp that's already in overdrive to really kick it over the edge into distortion.

The Hot Cake does three things really well. Thick, juicy distortion with lots of nice harmonics. Not as harmonically active as my original Rat Mk 1 or my older Rat II. This happens around 12:00-2:00, and the Presence knob set around 1:00.

Next is, surprisingly, clean boost. Between 7:00-9:00 you can get nice clean to dirty boosts, with the Presence knob set between 7:00 - 9:00 for a little bit of mid-boost.

Last is beastly thick fuzz. Max out the gain knob, and set the Presence anywhere. You can go from scooped-out, wooly tones (tend to get lost in the mix) or to punchy sounds that are paradoxically transparent. With the gain dimed, it sounds like a super-articulate Big Muff with a "punchiness" control. Perfect for that Dinosaur Jr. sound.

The pedal is super-transparent: it cleans up effortlessly and is very, very sensitive to different pickups. Super Distortion made it really fuzzy, JB made it really thick and clear, single coils make it clean up.

P.S. This pedal has MASSIVE bass response! It will really interact with some pedals like the Blackstone and Zakk Wylde overdrive when you put it up front!

Doesn't do everything, and doesn't do quite what I wanted it for, but it's become a mainstay on my pedal board, kicking off the Rat I (despite its sweeter mids and harmonics) because of its great tone! Neat distortion pedal that may not be everyone's optimum sound, but every player can find a use for it!

Reliable as all hell. I baby it and keep it in a Boss case to keep it from getting smashed while moving amps around. Definitely would gig without a backup, but I'm not sure what quality jacks he uses. The knobs seem a little weak, but the footswitch looks durable. Not a Boss, but definitely not a wimp.

Never dealt with it. But I hear Paul Crowther's a whiz at fixing them and he's a really reliable and understanding guy!

Great sound that runs the gamut from clean boost to breakup to kind of harsh O.D. to distortion, to thick-as-mud distortion to Big Muff-style fuzz.

Great sounds, all of them useable in a band -- the Presence control is the most useful knob on just about any pedal I've ever owned. A really unique feature that's great for a live situation where you can't cut through the mix.

Compared this with my Rat, and it just had better tone. It's different than my Emma Reezafratzitz, which sounds so tubey it could fool Jim Marshall. A great sound that I prefer live - single notes sound authoritative and thick, and chords are articulate but super-fat.

3 knobs, no worries here. No manual, but no manual required, or maybe I should've been given one, oh well, didnt need one.

Only hassle is changing battery requires a screwdriver.

The sound for me is simply unbeatable. I have been giggin with it for the last 2 years and everytime I stomp on it, it impresses me. Its just so warm and full. I also have a XXL by Tech 21 and a TS-9 Ibanez, and they're good pedals too, but they don't match up to the Hotcake in my eyes and I have found myself using the hotcake in place of them (especially the XXL) a lot! With the presence control it allows for a fair variety of sounds.

Simply the best, makes me proud to be a New Zealander (like Paul Crowther)*Tear comes to the eye*

I play in a covers band and I use the hotcake for songs by:
Green Day, Good Charlotte, Franz Ferdinand, Jet, Steve Vai and heaps more.

It can be a little bit noisy, nothing dramatic enough to change its rating to anything lower than a 10 though. If you dont GOT one.... GET ONE

Like I said earlier, 2 years giggin, 2-3 a week. No problems.

It is the best there is. A must have for any rocker.

Three knobs and no brain. I give it a nine because of the fact it actually has knobs, but really. . .

I use a jazzmaster through an Ampeg Reverbrocket reissue. The hotcake goes from lovely smooth overdrive to a nice distorted growl with a hint of fuzz. It's a little bit noisy on the higher gain settings but all great sounding overdrives are. I use a Bixonic Expandora over the top of the hotcake for the really maxed out bits, but for everything else the hotcake is king. With the drive control at a low setting it makes for lovely clipping on a clean guitar sound. No matter what you use, all you need is a guitar and an amp with a hotcake in between. It will make shitty amps and guitars sound good. Oh, and a good taste in music helps.

Built like a tank. I gig without a backup every time and it has never let me down.

Paul is a very reliable and polite fellow - and something of a legend! A pleasure to deal with.

I have tried and own far too many overdrive and distortion pedals to count and this is the one I keep coming back to. My only suggestion for improvement would be a bit of added range on the tone control, but I really do just love it the way it is. A true NZ classic!

This pedal requires a bit of tinkering with both your amp and the eq /drive on pedal.But there are many usable sounds to be got with a little patience.

My set up is as follows Fender voodoo strat with custom shop 69's- Vox Clyde McCoy reissue wah-Dunlop rotovibe-custom built fuzz face clone MXR micro amp-Crowther Hotcake-Arion delay- Marshall 1987x reissue throgh Marsahll 4x12" loaded with Celestion g/backs. The Hotcake is not as noisey as some overdrives out there, and what noise there is...is minimal.

I have not had the pedal long, but it is fixed to my pedalboard and I use a power adapter, so I cannot forsee any problems. However sods law dictates that something, somewhere, sometime, will let you down! so I carry a backup pedal/

When i purchased the pedal 2nd hand, I emailed Mr. Crowther to tell him how impressed i was, to my amazement he emailed me right back,and told me if I ever had any problems with the pedal, to get right back in touch with him. I am sure you would be hard pressed to find anyone else in the business of pedal making that would be so decent and accomodating.

I play in the UK's top Hendrix tribute, and this pedal helps me to get the sounds that I am after.I have used Ts9's Ts8's,Fulltone, Barber, Aramat,Keeley, the list is ensless. If you want a pedal that will do a nice boost through to thick overdriven fuzzy sounds that still responds to your picking and guitar vol dynamics, look no further. Every guitar player will find a use for this pedal.The one thing I dislike is the color!! But Hey ho!

Compared to the other overdrive pedals I have, an original 808 Tube Screamer and an 80's Marshall Bluesbraker, is not as instinctive to use. Like other reviewers have related, if I crank the drive control up too much the sound becomes way too muddy and farty, but after about half an hour my main concern was which of the many "sweet spots" to use!

I'm mainly a Les Paul user, a customized early 90's Classic and a late 70's Pro De Luxe, even though I'm looking forward to try this Hot Cake with my Strat.
On the floor I generally only have an overdrive and my Cry Baby, customized by Roger Mayer himself, after which I plug straight into the amp: so far since I've bought this little Kiwy beauty I've plugged into my usual Behringer Vintager as well as various Marshalls, combo's and half stacks, and this baby always sounded great!
What's interesting is that no matter what amp I use I never have to change the setting on the pedal, always a good sign, like I never have to change guitar!
I keep the Level almost all the way up, presence at 3 and Drive at 2 o'clock and the rest, dynamics, attack and all, I let my hands and volume knob on the guitar take care of.
Very rarely I use this pedal for rythm as the amp is set for a good crunchy tone and then I step on the pedal for the solo's.
Used this way I think it's very hard to beat!

I've only had it for 4 months so it's a little early, still it's built like a tank and if my 808 never had a problem, and it's 23 years old and looks extremely flimsy in comparison, this thing will probably outlast us all, says I!

Can't really say but I'm sure Paul is a top guy!

I play Classic Rock and this pedal is probably the most appropriate to this type of music, expressive and fun to use I've ever plugged into, so much that now I only carry the 808 as a spare, same as screwdrivers, batteries and fuses!
I'm a big fan of creamy overdrivers and if this were to be stolen I'd probably go around and try some more, Klon, Pete Cornish, HAO,...but I honestly think I'd end up buying another Hot Cake as I don't think anything can beat it plus, when I bought, it I did try other pedals and it won the first time around anyway!
I definitely think it's an inspiring little devil, freeing the user from UNWANTED feedback, at almost any volume, and letting the player concentrate on the most important thing; to let the music do the talking!
If Paul Crowther could find a way to retain the drive but get rid of the muddiness, specially on the lower registers, that comes into it once the drive is past 3 o'clock, that sounds intriguing but as I said before this pedal gives me everything I need as it is.
And it's not even expensive, go figure!

easy to use, since there's 3 knobs. oddly enough though, these knobs do more in comparison to other dirt units- especially the gain knob. it goes from slight overdrive to nasty, broken speaker gain.

i use this between my gibson non reverse firebird and my fender blues junior. i have a couple other gibsons that i use, but i use the bird the most. as said in some previous reviews, its almost as though this pedal has three distinct gain levels. when the gain is low, its a very transparent, light overdrive. when you get a bit past halfway (about noon - 2 o'clock) its more of a very musical overdrive crunch. when you get a bit past 2 oclock (especially after 3 oclock) it gets very distorted, fuzzy, and, disappointingly, muddy.

when used as a transparent overdrive, this thing is absolutely amazing. its very clear and very responsive to your picking. lovely boost as well. i dont use it as a light overdrive pedal (i use my maxon od808 for that), but this is amazing in this category.

when its at about 1 o'clock (which is where i use it), its a great rock crunch. it nails the current Oasis tone, spot on. this is my most natural sounding drive pedal i have. i love it. it responds like a tube amp's gain. it responds to your attack and cleans up nicely when you roll back on your guitar volume's knob.

when the gain level is quite high, it gets muddy and fuzzy. dont get me wrong, it can be used for some stuff. if you want your guitar to drop in the background a bit (which i do sometimes), its amazing. if you want your guitar to really stick out, just turn the gain level down a bit.

my only complaint is that i have to keep the presence knob on this maxed at all times, but in all reality, it doesnt matter cos i get great tone. i do wish the pedal didnt muddy up when the gain is high. that's my only complaint.

he's awesome. that's all i can say. he's been a great help. much better than mike fuller, who i find to be a hack.

I really like british music. Oasis and the Beatles are my favorite bands. This is my main drive box. Others i have are: hao rust driver, maxon od808, maxon d&s, and mjm london fuzz II. i use this for most of my rhythm tones. not much i can say except that i really dig this box.

its not for metal so if you're into that stuff, stay away. its great for 90s rock, blues rock, brit-rock, and indie rock.

Very simple to use

Very quiet,used with various Fender amps.At unity gain,it is so transparent you can't tell its there till you dig in.It retains your clean with a very sweet drive and increasing the drive gives a violin sustain.For me its the best drive tone,great with single coils and humbuckers.

I have two,the orignal from 1995 and the new Blueberry.The original is still as trouble free as the day I got it.

You cannot find a more helpful, friendlier person than Paul Crowther,No problem to have your Hotcake repaired.

Slight Jazz and Country,blues,rock,this pedal works great for all these styles that I play.I just recieved a backup,the Bluesberry from Paul,which is a slight variation from the original,its a little smoother on the release,but just as toneful and sweet as the original.

3 knobs, not so difficult, level, presence, drive.
I keep level around 1 o'clock, presence around 12 o'clock and gain around 11 o'clock for a little gain boost.


One thing I dislike is the position of the powercord....Why is it there next to the input on the lower right side? Just put it where most of them put it, and wouldn't it be a good time for all brands to start using the same powerconnectors?

I already had a really good sound, using a custombuilt Korina tele with 2 p-90's (seymour duncan) in either a Rivera Fandango 212 combo or a Rivera Knucklehead reverb.
I actually was blown away by a Klon Centaur (still a must have!!) wich I used in a studio that had one, and started looking for one on the internet. When looking for Klon, you always stumble over the Hot Cake, because everyone seems to comare them to each other.
I found a Hot Cake real soon so I tried it out. I loved it right from the start, just like the Klon.
The good thing about it is that you can also use it as a standalone unit on your clean channel, a thing not a lot of pedals pull off in my opinion.

I hope I can depend on it. Till now it seems okay, although the Klon made a far better impression on me, built-wise.
I would gig without backup.

Havent dealt with them..

I play rock with my band. Soundwise I like the Black Crows classic rock style, and for this style it is very good, I can keep the gain on my amp a little lower and boost it with the Hot Cake. It blends with the sound of my gear as if it was a part of the amp, just like the Klon.
I have been playing for 20 years now and have owned a lot of gear.
A have 2 tele's, both handbuilt by Sjak Zwier, a Patrick Eggle Berlin and a Music Man EVH signature. Amp-wise Rivera Fandango and Knucklehead.
Pedals I have are Ibanez TS-808, Visual Sound Jeckyll & Hide, wich are both very good in what they do.
I might replace it when it was stolen, altough my other pedals do a really good job and I still would like a Klon, but they're so dam'n expensive.

Still, 8 out of 10 is really, really good, but there is always room for improvement. Nobody takes al those 10's over here serious.

Very Easy to get a good sound with this thing. Level between 1-2 O clock presence at noon and drive at 11 O clock
The best thing about this is the harder you play the more drive the pedal gives. Its like some one tuning up the drive when you player harder. Love it

Now I got this one from the man himself. #85 with postage to London England.
I use a Laney VC30 class A and its very clean so I needed some dirt for it. The Crowther Hotcake gives me a nice crunchy tone, and more if I want, but I keep it on a very soft drive and use other pedals for harder sounds.
When I first got it I was not as impressed as I had hoped it would sound. Now 4 months later I realize this is the ONLY pedal I really need. Most pedals, in fact, all Pedals I have ever tried other than the hot cake seem to trim a little off the bottom end. But not the Hotcake, this little guy enhances the bottom end making the sound FULL and FAT and WIDE and sharp too with the presence knob All amps I have used with this sound better in every way!
A/B pedals will it will prove this to be far superior in every way with anything else.
If you want a clean boost this is it, and if you want BEEF this will do that too, I would love to hear this through a massive 4x12 Marshall cab, must sound like a monster. My Laney is now well in the VOX sounding ball park, totally Pro sound. Mr Crowther is a great guy too!

Im sure this will go on an and on and if if i was to brake Paul will happly sort it from what i know.

Seems like a great guy good advice and very friendly

I play British alt rock, verve U2 Coldplay, Travis.
I have been playing for over 10 years and I am a sound engineer too.
I would not let this get stolen. I would buy again for 2 in a row.
I like the look and feel and size, DC port is in the wrong place but no problem really. This pedal will improve you life as well as your playing. Get one if you can. Also its an investment too. Handmade one at a time and all!!!!

Very easy to use. Set the level to 2:00 o'clock and the Presence and Drive knobs to "off". Bring up the Drive and Presence. I dig mine set to Drive: 9:00, Level: 3:00, Presence: 12:00.

Excellent sound from this pedal. It lets the guitar sound come through. It enhances your guitar's sound by making it fuller with more character. The Presence knob adds bite if you need it. It has a wide adjustment range and can get very distorted at high Drive settings (over 3:00 o'clock). But its strength is in its wide range of mild to medium overdrive settings.

Very well made. Metal housing and quality switch - should last.

Paul Crowther has a pristine reputation in the guitar effect field of customer service. I haven't had to speak to him but he has a reputation of standing behind his made-at-home pedals.

I play heavy blues, up to AC/DC style rock. I hate buzzy distorted crappy sounding guitar. I love full, open, and thick sounding power chords that can knock you down. I play Les Pauls through old Marshall four input non-master volume amps. The Hot Cake delivers this clean, powerful overdrive. It has nothing to do with the Tube Screamers and their clones. The Hot Cake is a pure, simple overdrive enhancer that is capable of a wide range of useable settings that don't get buzzy and retain the character of you setup.

Very easy to use and can be set up to boost a clean sound to thumping fuzz

I use a custom strat/80's mij strat/brandoni telecaster. Through a peavey classic 50 410 with a rocktron austin gold to boost my clean settings/jd wah/.This pedal is simply awesome at gig level volumes.I tend to use the Hotcake with more level than drive just to tip the amp into overdrive for solos and boy is it smooth!! I have noticed the more drive you use the more the tone fattens up, so making use of the presence is wise if you need to treble it up a bit. I play Blues/Rock/Funk and tend not to use to many effects but this is one that i shall definately be keeping,I might even buy another to take place of the Rocktron.This is a true bypass pedal so it doesnt steal away or effect your guitars tone when in the off position.Pure tone heaven at 3 0clock (drive)and 2 0clock (level)with my custom strat with the amp at half volume

To new to have an opnion yet but built solidly enough

emailed Paul to ask a few questions on this pedal and he answered same day....I would imagine if there was a problem and you need a quick solution he will be in touch quickly

I have been playing 24 years and have owned some nice pedals in my time: original ts9/ts10/jekyll and Hyde/boutique (to many to metion)and all the digital crazy stuff that floods the market and this is about the best overdrive/distortion tone i have ever had.....Thank you Paul you ended my search.

This box is so simple to use you'd have to be stupid not to b able to figure it out! its easy to get it to sound great too

3 knobs and a true bypass switch (on/off) level, drive, and presence. sound is like wow. can get nearly any distortion sound you want. very throaty distortion and sounds great when you crank it up loud.

i use 3 pedals. this is my main distortion due to its great tone and yeah. i use an ibanez DS-7 for sound boost when playing guitar solos.

i don't think i'll ever need to deal with paul crowther because this thing is just so great! thank you paul you're a legend!

compared to boss, ibanez and every other distortion pedal made since electricity was discovered this is the greatest sounding but its quite loose therefore i use this + an ibanez DS7 for guitar solos because it seems to make a nice medium gain medium distortion that makes even simple solos sound like they are played by jimi hendrix!!

How easy can you get. This thing is so versatile I can't fault it. You can get anything from Jazz to out and out filth. There is no manual cause we all have different amps and gats and styles.

I hate giving 10's but this little baby diserves it. My set up is strat/LPC - Zoom 707 II - Hotcake - Fender "The Twin" Red Knob. I dont need anything else. I dont use any distortion patches on the 707 and just add a bit more verb,chorus or compression when required.SRV<HENDRIX<CLAPTON<SANTANA<SATRIANI<GILMORE<MAYALL<PAGE<BECK<YOU NAME IT!!!! It will nail it!! I find the fuzz can be a bit harsh at times but its all easily adjustable man!! Its that fucking good!!

Its built man. Unlike the Zoom(although there are no problems except its plastic)I would gig it without back up. This thing is the bomb!

I haven't had to deal with the manufacturer but Guitar gallery in Wellington NZ were very helpful. I hear Paul who makes the things is very helpful so again I have no complaints!

I have 3 axes and three amps. Laney320 Tubefusion>The Twin>Ashton 40watt Solid state practice amp.I Play a Ibanez SG vintage,a Fender 62 reissue strat and a LPC Hondo deluxe 748. They all have different character but again all tweakable. I love the sounds it makes through The Twin (clean) and the strat.It smashes the DS1 - DS2 and to a less extent the Zoom distortions which I used up to getting the cake.Its got such versatility!Ive been playing on and off for years and if lost or stolen I would be very unforgiving lets put it that way!!!:>}

just three knobs, folks.. it's not a big deal
to tweak up multiple great overdriven tones..

there is definitely a "sweet spot" with any setup
one might be using.. very little effort is needed
to find it, either.

used with a variety of guitars (Fender/Gibson) and amps (Vox/Orange
Fender/Marshall/Magnatone) this sounds really nice with every single
combination that I've tried to date.. tried it out in varied spots
in the signal chain and as usual there are minute differences as to how the pedals all work together, depending on the order - I like to use the Hotcake as a mildly-crunchy boost and leave the extreme distorto/fuzz work to other pedals - but the Hotcake ~definitely~ plays well with the other kids!
really shines with P90s and single-coil pups IMHO.

backup, schmackup! I've been using this thing for 4 years now
with NOT ONE SINGLE PROBLEM! I can't give it a 10 'cuz "ya never
know" but I'm totally not even worried.. battery change is fairly
infrequent using a quality alkaline type, so that's nice as well.

Paul Crowther is without a doubt one of the nicest and truly helpful
people that I've ever had the pleasure to deal with.

I play blues & rock - and as such; this pedal is right up my alley.. I've been playing for 25 years and I'd replace this box in a second
without hesitation if it were lost or stolen.. as much as the eternal
quest for tone is entirely subjective, I'd reckon that - for me - this
pedal is entirely perfect.. doesn't really change the overall sound of
yer rig, merely adds the nice overdrive just as want it.

I've got the later Hotcake - the creamy one with the Presence control, which I've found to be good on some amps, more redundant on others. You know the other controls, Drive and Level. Single-switch with red LED indicator, one input, one output and AC-adator jack.

I got a really nice mix of overdrive/distortion out of this pedal in the store where I tried it on an Epiphone 335 copy running into a Peavey Classic 30 tube combo. I'm a fan of that half-half sound - smooth, but punchy and this pedal did the trick in store. However, it was a bit harder at home with my rather fussy old 50w tube amp which was made for a different age.

I found the Hotcake, for my needs, works much better run with other pedals as a booster - I have it running into a Boss BD-2 and DS-1, the first for a crunch tone, the second for hard-out distortion. It's pretty easy, like most distortion/overdrive pedals, to get a good sound out.

I have no gripes with the ease of use with this pedal, save one - the placement of the AC jack - it's right below the input socket and to me, looks obtrusive and in the way. Maybe it's just asthetics and I'm used to having it on top, like Boss and most other brands.

Overall, the Hotcake is amazingly simple to operate and comes with no manual, quite simply because it doesn't require one. I have had trouble getting the tone I liked out of it, it just can't seem to emulate that sound I got when I tried it, but I think it comes down to my amp.

I run a setup like this:

50w tube amp & 2x12" cab -> Ibanez Phase Tone -> Hotcake -> BD-2 -> DS-1 -> 335 Replica/Squire Bullet.

This pedal doesn't make any noise at all, I've found that overall, the Level knob is quiet quiet, but that's easily comensated - cranking the Drive tends to beef it up. As previously specified, I'm using it as booster/slight gain. I never play clean-clean, I just leave the Hotcake on to grain the sound out a bit, gives a nice blues tone, which can go into smooth crunch or nasty distortion by using either the BD-2 or DS-1.

I don't really use this to sound like anyone I listen to - I play a mix of rhythm and lead in an indie/alt-rock band and am influenced by artists like Interpol, At The Drive In, Incubus, Nirvana, QOTSA, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead and The Strokes. I can kinda get a mixture of those tones, but I prefer to find my own.

Overall, I have to say the sound quality is very good, it's quite warm and smooth on lower settings and although it gets fuzzier on higher gain, the Hotcake manages to retain a tube-tone of sorts - it's a nice mixture of vintage tones and modern gain.

I've played a couple of better overdriving/distorting effects, but this one is by far one of the best in its class. There's no brittleness or flakey tones, just crisp and smooth gain the whole way through.

It's very solid looking and though I am not too hard on my gear, I can honestly say it'd take a thrashing - I tried a used one in a second-hand store a few months back that had obviously been very, very abused in a gigging situation (missing paint, scratches, general messy condition) and it sounded almost the same as my Hotcake. Definitely built to last.

I wouldn't gig without a backup, but that's what my other pedals are for anyway. Nothing is every deserving of a 10 because everything man-made is fallible, but this is up there with the stuff of excellence.

As I live in Auckland, New Zealand and Paul Crowther is located there, I don't foresee it being an issue to get hold of him considering there's a mailing address on the bottom of the Hotcake. I haven't had any issues that would require service and doubt I would but it's good to know that Mr Crowther is very thorough with his products - I have read glowing reviews below about him from others and know one person who has dealt with him personally and raves about how good he was.

Been playing about seven years, only seriously for the last two. I've had more pedals, amps and guitars in the last 12 months than I can shake a stick at. I'm one of those types who's always on the quest for the perfect tone.

The Hotcake is a very vintage, old-school sounding pedal and those who love that warm, tubish sound will enjoy it. Probably not for all the nu-metallers and thrasher pop-punks who are into the scooped mid and drop-D noise, which isn't me. I got it because I wanted to get rid of my DS-1 which I wasn't getting a nice sound out of and the Hotcake did the job in the shop.

However, I haven't been able to simulate the same tones I got before and that probably due to the fact my current amp, an old 50w all-vavle head was made over 30 years ago and not meant to be used a rock-guitar amp. I have recently bought a Marshall JCM900 and quad and I believe the Hotcake will shine through on this, but time will tell.

It stands out as quite a unique pedal pedal as it has a different sound to any other pedal of the overdrive/distortion variety I've ever tried. It's also solid, reliable and kitsch looking. If you're a New Zealand guitarist, I urge you to try this over other overseas pedals - it's a lot better than most of the ranger under $250 and on par with many other big-name famous effects like the Rat and Big Muff. I'm going to try the Prunes and Custard this weekend as well, I hear that is another gem from Crowther Audio.

Just dial in what you require.
Best settings for me are, drive at 11 to 12 oclock. Midrange 12 oclock
Level to suit.....usually around 1 oclock.
Mid dial make huge difference tone.

Of all the guitars i`ve tried with this pedal, i would have to say the p90 and p100 gibson style pick ups suit this pedal perfectly.
A marrige made in heaven!
Clarity,smooth, fat but not muddy, and driven tones are to die for.
Single lead lines sustain with clarity and are fat and chords sustain well without mushing out at all.
You can hear all the strings and notes in the chords, but the Drive level is crucial to find this sweet spot.
Seems to suit a fender tube amp with this set up.
Also seems to go well with an AC30 from what i read below.
A different animal to a ts9. this unit produces a clearer and cleaner tone even with the gain up. The ts9 and 808 are great for their own kinda thing.
It seems to have the singing quality of an early boogie, but with a more refined tone.
The p90 p/ups just seem to have the right output and tone character to
go with this pedal.
Try it yourself.....The p90`s really do amazing things.

so far....no worries

Well worth looking at.
I wonder if Eric Johnson has tried one out.Everyone knows Eric is
a man of good taste when it comes to tone.
It has always baffeled me that guitarists who use p90 equipped guitars are few.
Exellent tone results... and with this little pedal, sonic results are huge.
One writer on this pedal in this colum, states that he plugged a single p90 guitar into the H/cake then into a Super Reverb with amazing results.....Try for yourself!!

KISS principal used here. Mine has two knobs and a switch for mids or normal. Doesn't need clutter, all business.

I tried it with a strat, a tele, and a 52 Les Paul. It can sound good with all three depending on your ear, your fingers and your brain. I used it with an original 59 Bassman and a solid state Peavey. To my ear, it sounded best with the bassman, warmer and smoother. I like a nice violin-like sustaining overdrive, with little or no break-up. I could dial in this sound hands down. Too many guitarists think they can buy a little box and they should be able to sound like E.C. or EVH. There is just too many factors involved. Not just your equipment but, the acoustics of the place you're playing. How many have dialed in their sound one night and the next night without touching a knob, will sound completely different. The mood your in, the dryness of your hands, how many people are in the place etc. are some of the factors that will affect your sound.

A solid cast aluminum housing. Just like my old MXR dyna Comp. Seems very solid and reliable.

I've been playing for over 30 years, all kinds of music. For my style of playing, this is the best little overdrive pedal I've ever used, and I've tried most. I especially like it for blues and southern rock. It makes my guitar sing, which makes me smile and thats what its all about. I'd rate this a 10 but that leaves no room for improvement. I gotta say it, "I love this pedal."

Bonehead simple, a good thing.

After about a year, I thought it got noisy. See customer support below. I use it now with single coils through a Supro, Victoria, and a Hellhound.

Yes and I have.

I submitted an anonymous review on 11/21/02--about a year ago. Two weeks ago, I emailed Paul Crowther with questions about noise and he told me to send the pedal to him. As another reviewer here wrote, it cost me $8 to ship it to New Zealand where Paul checked it over, put some mojo on it (don't know but it works it works it works great), and sent it back all free of charge. Man, this guy lives on the other side of the world, and I got better support and service from him than my local Ford dealer.

This one I would replace ASAP. This thing puts some special sauce on overall tone that has to be heard. Transparent with full bass. All the drive you need if you want it, but it really excells at giving a clean boost that can take you right to the breakup point by driving the front end of your amp wherever you want to go. Forget the Klon and find one if you can.

piece of cake!

in my humble opinion this is the best tone pedal you can get. what i mean by this is it sounds awful when using it to make a clean sound distorted as it is too thick when you crank the drive, and i think as a solo boost its ok but does sap tone when disengaged as it isnt true bypass. now where this pedal comes into its own is when you use it with an already cranked amp not a modern hi gain amp but a cranked power tube amp tone. the hot cake in my opinion has one good setting, level 3o clock, mid to suit and drive at 9 o clock

ive read a few reports of broken switches but thats the same with any pedal my only critism is the foot switch! as i cant see why anyone would ever turn it off! tuck it in the back of your amp and always leave it on if you want a booster or a distortion add it as well.i think the hotcake should be thought of as an tone enhancer instead

i play all styles apart from metal, and ive been playing for 25 years im 31 now so started early! i use a fender pro reverb bf that i run flat out and the hot cake just drives it even harder yet it still cleans up enough for me when i back off on my volume control. to start off with i didnt like it as didnt give the distortion that i was after but after hours of messing around with amp settings this is my most important piece of outboard that i have ever owned bar none and would not be happy gigging without it

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.
`

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&#180;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&#180;t say anything about this. inside of the pedal there is an email adress, which i haven&#180;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.