DigiTech Death Metal Distortion

Level control, 3 band eq (low, mid, high), and to quote the DigiTech manual, "we have turned the gain up to "11" and ripped the knob off!"

I am using a Peavey g-ninety guitar with a Fender FM 100H head and 4 X 12" Cabinet. I have a Digitech RP 100 floor processor going through the effects loop on the amp.

This pedal is the rare case that I would trade up gain control for the simple fact it sounds great and the eq section is effective and makes this pedal surprisingly flexible. As the pedal is named "Death Metal," it is very high gain and best for metal sounds. For other distorted sounds, I just use the amp distortion.

You may want a noise gate with this pedal as it is gain insanity and could lead to noise, feedback and other high gain drawbacks.

The reason for the 8 rating is the fact of the missing gain knob. Its full throttle all the time.

This pedal is still new but it seems solid and should be fine.

N/A

Gain control would be nice but this is a great sounding pedal for what it is made to do.

Easy to use. Easy to set-up. Easy to tweak amp settings to gain extra oompfhh.

Good sound although a little on the fuzzy side. Not much chance to tweak sound apart from scooping out midrange but thats what this pedal is for.

UN-KILLABLE!!!!!!!!! I have thrown everything at this pedal and although i dont play in a band, i have lots of alcoholic friends and our jam sessions are wild.

Never used it, didnt know Digitech had a support centre!

I'm a metal man,(Metallica, Pantera etc) so this is the bomb. It makes the boss MK2 look like a kids toy. The boss gives you more abiltiy to tweak sounds but this pedal is sheer balls out metal! I run it through a Marshall 50 watt with the FDD feature, scoop out midrange on the pedal and crank low & high, same for the amp but with the mid a little higher than half-way and a Ibanez auto wah pedal attached to round it off and you have pretty much any metal sound from the 80's to today. I use a cheap guitar (Casino Gibson Replica) as a jamming tool and it kicks ass! BUY THIS PEDAL NOW!

This pedal is very easy to use like all other distortion pedals. The manual is very detailed - a great help for beginners, especially to those who don't know anything about basic EQ'ing. Of course, the more experienced players can do well without it.

My setup is: Schecter Hellraiser C-7 > Boss NS-2 > EMU audio interface > Vintage Amp Room White Amp (it's the best software amp sim, IMHO). Plugged on the send-return loop of the Boss NS-2 are: Maxon OD-9 > Digitech Death Metal > Blackstar HT-DISTX Tube Distortion. At first, I thought that this setup would sound muddy, but after trying it, all my doubts went away! The Death Metal pedal gave my tone that extra heaviness, dirt and harshness that it needs. The Blackstar and the OD-9 were a little bit too warm for death metal on their own. Fortunately, I got the Death Metal pedal to fix that. I am very satisfied with what this pedal did to my sound.

The bad thing about this pedal is that it's not very transparent. But it doesn't bother me too much because I never bypass it anyway! Another disadvantage is that it's a little noisy. It would be insane to chain this pedal with a high gain preamp and an overdrive without using any noise gate. A noise gate is a must if you want to unleash the full potential of this pedal.

Overall, it sounds great on my setup but to each his own. I don't think this pedal would sound very convincing as a stand-alone distortion but mixed right with an overdrive and a high gain preamp, it can work wonders...or rather it can sound like the most unholy vile extreme metal sound you could ever imagine!

Solid DigiTech design! No problem here!

Never dealt with them yet.

I play extreme metal - the type of music where the Death Metal pedal really shines. A perfect match indeed! It wouldn't be called "Death Metal" for nothing, duh?!

I've been playing for 13 years but I've been on hiatus for 4 years. I never really tried that much distortion pedal but I had a few multi-effects in the past. The Death Metal pedal slays all digital distortion, period! However, it can never compete head-to-head as a stand alone pedal to other high end distortion pedals like the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem and the Blackstar HT-DISTX. But, IMO, it's difficult to get the sound you like on a single distortion box anyway.

If there's anything I wish it had, it would be a gain knob. Other than that, I have no problem with the features.

Buy this pedal if you're looking for that extra bite to your death metal sound! But for Christ's sakes, get a noise gate or your ears will bleed from the unholy hums, buzzes and feedbacks this pedal can generate at very high levels! If you want to use it as a stand-alone pedal, just play with the level setting to avoid any noise but I doubt you will like it on its own. I think it's made to be mixed with the crunch or gain channel of a high gain tube amp.

This pedal is really easy too use , you can use the settings in the book with it or just mess around with it =D

its got a really good crunchy METAL sound =D and it can very alot of sounds and fun too use =D ,
just turn down the level or your'll get some feedback =[

i can depend on it all the time nothing has gone wrong with it ive had it for about a year and has been thrown around and only one scratch!

Amazing i guess...?

Ive had this pedal for about a year and ive used it virtually every time ive played my guitar's which is about 2-3hours everyday =D
i got a power adaptor so i dont have too change the batteries which i notice a slight increase of sound quality , and amazing for stuff like pantera, slayer, and other metal =D
so overall an amazing guitar pedal!

Plug and Play - like any pedal you just need to play around with the settings to dial in your tone. Manual....who really needs one?

My Rig: Epi LP Standard with Seymour Duncans (Screamin Demon in Bridge, and a jazz in the neck) --> Cry Baby --> Boss DS-2 --> Marshall JH-1 --> Digitech Deathmetal --> Ibanez LU-20 Tuner --> Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue 30DFX (Solid State) For those that said it sucks with a solid state amp - bullocks!! Mine sounds great. I have played on a Fender Delux Tube and it did sound a little better. This is called the Deathmetal for a reason - its not for Nirvana/Pumpkins/etc... its for Dimmu Borgir/Killswitch Engage/etc...

Gig, not a problem. Dont use with batteries, get a power adapter

never used

Overall this pedal will blister eardrums and make you bleed from the eyes. I don't reccommend scooping out the mids, but I have 2 other distortion pedals so I use each for a different tone.

This is the tone I have been trying to get from other pedals for a while now. I play a bit of death metal (Bloodbath, Morbid Angel, etc.) but could never get the right tone. Scoop the mids right out, boost low and high, crank the volume and it sounds like a big amp in a house a few doors down. Incredibly easy to get different tones out of it.
Reading another review on here caused me to write this one. "Geoff" states that you cannot use this pedal for gigging. No, he is wrong, you can. I have tried this pedal through several solid-state amps, and it doesn't cut it. I'm not sure what it is about this pedal, but I noticed a few others stated this as well. Powered by 120 watts of tube power it cuts through and annihilates your ears.

I use an 80's Kramer guitar and a Peavey Duel 212. The amp's overdrive is adequate only for classic rock. Other pedals I have are; EH Big Muff, Dunlop Crybaby, Ibanez Smashbox.
Big muff is perfect for stoner rock. This pedal is perfect for metal.
Through this guitar and amp I don't have a problem with feedback, resonance and presence settings really round out the sound, and i just leave the amp EQ set at 'normal' (everything at '5').
High frequencies get a little weird at times, but I don't think my pickups are helping in that regard.

Seems solid. Haven't had a problem yet. Also doesnt seem to really chew batteries like I kind of expected for a pedal like this.
I give a 10 because I can't take away points if nothing has gone wrong.

NA

For the money I paid, and for the music I play and the other gear I have to work with this pedal is great. It really drives my tube amp and sounds like the tone I had in my head for the last 7 years that I just couldn't find. I love the really crunchy tone you get when you cut the mid completely when you're playing alone. You don't need it loud to sound good.
10 overall and for value.

this pedal def has good distortion with in. it highly varies on your setup of the ease of getting a good sound out of it. there was a manual included with suggested settings.

this pedal sounds very good with a tube power amp. a solid state amp is not a good match with this pedal. my setup is usually a epiphone les paul standard though a dunlop crybaby, though a noise gate, though a boss chorus, and then the the digitech death metal to the power amp input on a peavey windsor with a 2x12 cabinet. the mids on this pedal should def not be scooped alot. it does sound like low quality and fuzzy distortion if you do this. basically this pedal has the potential to have a good quality distortion for cheap. on some settings it does sound somewhat like a mesa recifier but still has alot to go. it doesnt rival any high gain amps like a mesa or a krank but it has decent distortion for a low price. you can get a somewhat of a variety of sounds from it. i wish there was gain on this though. also the eq does change the sound alot.

would gig without a backup

never had problems

this is a good pedal for post punk, hardcore, basically anything with alot of distortion that doesnt sound perfect. it sounds good but not amazing. if you run this though a tube amp i would def recommend it. if you are running it though a modelling amp and solid state amp i would def not. recommend it. though a solid state it sounds horrible, and wouldnt be suitable in a band situation. if i lost it or stole i would prob buy a new amp made for higher gain. Alot of reviews judge this pedal too heavily. It is a cheap $50 pedal so really you cant expect this pedal to sound perfect. it def would sound like a mesa, soldano,vht or other high quality amps, so dont expect it do. for the price it does fine.

The Digitech Deathmetal initially appears to be quite a simple affair in terms of operation, this is however not the case. In many amps I have found it impossible to squeeze any kind of acceptable tone from any of the knobs, low, mid and treble.

And for what its worth noting the activation is a simple step pedal analagous to BOSS pedals.

On a US Fender Strat and Ibanez RG I have not yet been able to achieve a satisfactory sound. Adjusting the knobs will give you varying degrees of a hilariously plastic-fantastic sound. Determined to get at least one good sound out of it before I threw it hard at a homeless bum I tried it on numerous guitars on numerous amps. All attempts have failed. It sounds obviously processed and poorly at that. Words can't describe the horrific, muddy sounds I get from this pedal. Its impossible, just impossible.

On another note it will buzz, whatever you do, it buzz's, not hums, buzz's like a bee on crack.

My new MT-2 does not, but this is another story.

Can I depend on it is the question I am asked here. If I was to use it to fill a hole in place of a missing brick in a house I would most certainly depend on it.

I have never tried to contact anyone from Digitech.

What annoys me about this pedal isn't just because it felt as if Digitech thought that because it sounded horrible that might be vaguely associated with metal of any sort, its the price too. It costs somewhere in the region of ??45 to ??55 in the UK. This, quite frankly disgusts me. For a sound thats comparable to Behringer pedals which you can get for ??15 and thats fine, this is disgusting.

Don't waste your time on this abomination. For ??5 more you can buy a BOSS MT-2, a pedal vastly, vastly superior, so superior I'm not even going to begin to tell you.

Avoid.

It's really easy to get a good sound of it. There are four values: Level, Low, Mid and High. It doesn't take a long time to customize the sound. The only thing is that it doesn't have a Distortion/Gain button, so that you can turn it into acoustic or whatever you want, but that's why you should have an amp: set the amp to Gain:0 (acoustic) and you will be able to switch between distorted guitar and acoustic guitar only by a push on the pedal.
The manual shows you everything you need to know including how to change battery etc, there's also a booklet with information about other Digitech pedals.

Even though it's called "Death Metal", you can make it sound like any metal-band. I play alot of Metallica, Megadeth and even Slipknot and it works well for all of them, since it's easy to use.
I'm connecting it to a Fender Champion 110 amplifier and I play it with a Gibson Epiphone FlameKat or a Washburn X General Consensus.

I've owned it for half a year now and it works as well as when I bought it.

I've never dealt with them.

I play Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal (like Metallica and Megadeth), and it works great. Sounds REALLY heavy.
I've been playing for 2-3 years. My guitars are: Gibson Epiphone FlameKat, Washburn X General Consensus and a Fender Stratocaster Sunburst. My amplifier is a Fender Champion 110.
If it were stolen or lost I would buy it again.
There's nothing I don't like about it, it's got everything I need. It's got a really heavy sound as mentioned above, but you can easily change to another kind of sound and manage it however you want, but it's built for Metal.
It would be nice with some effects built-in, but that's not necessary.

Very easy simple theres a volume level, Den Eq - Low, mid, high

Excellent Heavy sound, Using it with a peavey Valve king 212 atm. I use the settings on low about 10 oclock, mid on 3 oclock, and high on full

Yes, My brother handed it down to me when I started playing I loved the sound.. He had it for about 10 years maybe.. And he would use it for gigs and practices.. often 4 gigs in a month and 2 pracs a week. the only thing is abit of the paint has come off.. but wat do you expect.. and my brother isn't a tidy person

its a beauity.. Buy it