Danelectro Cool Cat Series CM-2 Metal II Distortion Pedal

Not a complicated pedal at all. 3 knobs: volume, distortion, and a 3-position mid scoop.
I keep the mid scoop at the HI position because it sounds the best. When in the off position I found the pedal to sound rather weak. This pedal is true bypass, which is a very useful. I haven't had this pedal for very long, but from what I can tell, this enables you to adjust the clean volume on your amp separate from the pedal's volume. This eliminates the problem of balancing your amp's clean volume and the distortion pedal volume.

Here's the setup I use with this pedal:

Epiphone LP Junior Custom-->Behringer Noise Reducer-->Cool Cat Metal II-->Maestro Phaser-->Crate combo amp

I used to use the Danelectro FAB Metal pedal, but wanted to upgrade since this is one is made of all metal instead of plastic. The tone of this pedal is way better than that of the FAB. It sounds the same if not better than metal pedals that cost over $100. I play anything from pop punk to screamo and metalcore. This pedal is provides perfect, heavy distortion that I need for everything I play. It isn't a very noisy pedal, but a noise reducer definitely helps out.This pedal is worth more than $30 for sure.

Very durable. All metal. The only piece that might break is the battery cover because it's the only thing made of plastic other than the control knobs. Not a big deal tho, cuz you're better off using an adapter for this pedal like I do. The pedal came with a 9=volt battery tho, which is nice.

havne't dealt with company. I like their affordable pedals tho!

Don't let the name fool you. You can use this pedal for almost any kind of music that requires a little or a lot of distortion. For $30 u will definitely enjoy this pedal.

Only three knobs... one of which is only a three position 'mid scoop' filter... very easy to use.

The sounds on this pedal are pretty good, if somewhat limited. I very seldom use any type of 'metal' distortion, but for those few times that I have wanted it, I have had a hard time finding it. This pedal comes very close. The distortion is pretty saturated on the heavy end. The lack of an eq stack makes this pedal a little less than ideal. I did find a good tone with it, but the high end is almost fizzy... tone controls would help this alot. The midscoop control goes from moderately scooped, to little scoopage, to no scoop at all (very midrangy). But for all that, for the pricepoint, this pedal sounds very good.

Danelectro pedals have always seemed to stand up to gigging well.

The music that I play will require me to use this pedal maybe once a night or less, and for that, it is perfect for me. An eq pedal after this one in the chain will probably be used. If you are wanting tonal versatility, check out the other Cool Cat metal pedal because it has tone controls for $10 more. For what it does... it does well.

Quite easy to use:
Level - controls the volume
Switch - controls the Hi to Low
Dist - Controls the amount of distortion

My setup is a Jackson DK2M running into my Boss CS3 modded then into my Danelectro CM2 then into my Vox Valvetronix Vt50Xl Amp.
I got it staight out of the box and I was able to get a good sound out of it. The sound ranges from very light distortion to very heavy crunch. I love Iron Maiden (The best band in the world.) I can get some of there newer sounds and older sounds. For the price range which was ??40 I was very surprised with the sound quality it defintly beats some pedals what are over ??100.

Metal chasis it is rock solid.
I would definlty use this without a backup.

Never dealt with Danelectro before never have to.

I play Rock to Metal and this pedal covers them all. I have been playing for 5 years and it is the best distortion pedal i have ever owned. If you like Rock or metal or anything with distortion in it you should get one for only ??40.