DigiTech Death Metal Distortion

The Death Metal pedal is about as simple to use as distortion pedals get. It has 4 knobs - level, plus three bands of EQ. Just put your foot on it, and fiddle with the EQ until you get the sound you want. The manual is pretty basic, but then again, there's not much explaining to do.

Given that this pedal is called "Death metal", you're probably buying this if you're looking for an extreme metal sound. As such, it's pretty easy to get this kind of effect. Just scoop the mids and you'll instantly have a really heavy-sounding tone. The amp I've been using with it so far doesn't really do anything justice, because it's a crap amp (Peavey Audition). But this thing sounds great even through this amp, which is a good sign.
If you want to personalise the tone a bit more, then you're probably going to have to use this pedal along with some additional effects or EQ, or through a good amp. The pedal does what it says on the tin, but not much else. So, it's a bit of a one-trick pony. But that's what I was looking for when I bought it, so who cares? If you want something more versatile then try another product, but I personally haven't found anything that can produce as heavy a tone as this pedal can. So it gets the thumbs up from me.

It's heavy and it's metal, funnily enough. It seems very durable in terms of construction. I don't gig, I just play for fun and I record music, but I'm sure it would stand up to many years of gigging, and I can't see it causing many problems for my own personal use.

I've never had to contact DigiTech.

I play black and death metal, I have a Jackson RX10D with EMG 81/85 pickups, and this is the best single effect pedal I've come across for getting the tone I need. It beats the Boss Metal Zone by some way in terms of its sheer heaviness. I think it would benefit from a little bit of additional control in the EQ department, but if you want extreme distortion, this pedal is well worth the money.

Very easy to use. 1 volume pot and three equaliser pots (low, mid and high obviously).

I love the sound i get from this pedal. The distortion sounds very rich and heavy but keeps the definition of the notes. I play very heavy metal (see one of the boxes below for influences) My gigging setup is - Epiphone Explorer with a EMG 85 in the bridge position, Boss GT8 (with the digitech in the Boss's effects loop) and a Laney TF320. I get no hiss or hum with this setup and the overall sound is the best ive heard. When i play through my practise amp (Marchall valvestate 80V) with just this pedal in the loop it sounds awsome there too. I absolutely love it.

Ive had the pedal for about a year now and had no problems at all. It has only been used for practising and band practice as our singer left but seems sturdy enough.

Not had to deal with Digitech so cant give opinion

I play very heavy metal in the way of Graveworm, Chimera, In Flames,Slipknot and this suits me to a T. If it were lost or stolen I would certainly get another as it is one of the cheaper distortion pedals out there and great value for money.

Sorry for my bad english. Well, very easy to use, but not such easy to get good sound...

It have only one position which sounds very good to me. Only one!!! Definitely try it at store before buy. It is very very hard distortion. It includes speaker simulator output which is useless IMHO. Very strange shitty sound without lows and highs.

Build like a tank, very good!!!

N/A

I play extreme genres and there is one setting which sound very good to me and this is only reason why I still have mine.

very easy only four knobs.. level low mid high


on/off


thats it...

my set-up is:

customized guitar (BCRich beast style) digitech deathmetal behringer eq700 and 20w hotcabs amp (only in the Philippines)

this stompbox is good!!! but it will be much better if you put an equalizer... its very loud!!! you can't max the volume.. level 3 is enough.. unless you have a big amp and a noise gate for feedback...

in this stompbox, you can get the sound of metallica, megadeth, lamb of god, unearth, cannibal corpse, carcass, pantera, slipknot,system of a down and other rock/thrash/progressive/death metal bands (too many to mention)... it depends how you tweak it and if you have an equalizer, it also depends how you cut or boost the sound...

i set it like this: level3 low8 mid4 high6 ....for the equalizer, depends on the sound i play..

solid!!! built to last..

ok for a gig but much better if you have an equalizer for backup to enhance the sound and make a combination for more fx..

i 'ave no pro blems n it =)

i play guitar for about 9years.. i play metallica a lot..sometimes lamb of god,cannibal corpse,megadeth,pantera etc... depends on my mood..

i also try to play emo and screamo =P but fogettaboutit...

i like the style, color and the lettering.. its really for metal music!!! lets ROTTTTT!!!!!

i can say that this stombox is really great!! ok for metal musics..



if this were stolen or lost,

i will KILL you.. if i die, you are forgiven

very easy..
only four knobs pedal on/off

i used this stompbox with my customize guitar (bcrich beast style) and 20w hotcabs amp (only in the Philippines).. i set the knobs like this: Level3 Low8 Mid4 High6.. i also have an equalizer behringer eq700 when i mix it with an eq, it adds more evil sound!! in this stompbox, you can get the sound of metallica,megadeth,testament,slipknot,cannibal corpse,pantera,unearth,lamb of god,system of a down,carcass and other death/heavy/thrash metal band (too many to mention)...the sound is great but much better if you mix an equalizer on it..

the sound is depends upon how you tweak the knobs and if you have an equalizer, it also depends how you cut or boost the sound...
my guitar,pick ups and amp is good but nothing special.. when i try this stompbox is gives a nice quality sound..

remember not to use this stompbox in a small amp you can't max the level its very loud.. unless you have a noise gate for feedback...

very reliable... pure metal.. good for a gig.. for back up? i think behringer eq700 can help to enhance more sounds...

I haven't had any trouble with it..

i play mostly metallica for about 9years and this pedal helps me to improve my metal musics.. now i play lamb of god, cannibal corpse and other deathmetal and thrash metal and some progressive rock like symphony-x,dream theater etc...this pedal really ROTTT!!!!..i also have a mxr distortion+ and a behringer eq700.. i like the lettering of this pedalbox its really good for metal musics!!

if this pedal lost, i will KILL you.. if i die, you are forgiven.. >)

Yeah I guess it's easy enough. Run it into a clean amp, set the level and EQ.

Well it certainly is a fun sound. Have you ever heard Cannibal Corpse's "Butchered at Birth"? It sounds a lot like that. A lot of people are stupid enough to make this their sound, and that's dumb. I see this pedal as a fun novelty; a toy... because sometimes it's fun to sound like this. But realistically, if you're playing gigs this tone is useless. Like another reviewer who is on the brink of realising this stated ("it sounds weird at higher volumes") the overbearing fizz and chug of this pedal will not suffice. As an actual part of your rig this item lacks the midrange, the body of your tone that you need. But it certainly is fun sometimes so I give it a seven.

Well you can definitely rely on it to do as it was intended. It's a tough, heavy hunk of hardware. But don't rely on it to make you sound like anything more than indecipherable fizz when there's a bassist and drummer behind you.

Eh I dunno.

It's a fun unit to whip out every once in a while and sound like total death. But as if I havn't said this enough, this will not cut it as a serious pedal. I really like the mixer out function... I've used it just as a sort of DI box to run guitars to the computer.

very easy to use. low @ 3 oclock mid on 12 oclock highs on 10 oclock. use volume only as unity between your clean and dirty.

use above settings with a clean tube amp ONLY ! solid state will make this sound bad. also use your amp volume to set loudness when pedal is off. then engage your pedeal bring up volume to ballance out with clean channal. note people turn these pedals up this creates noise and clouds funtion of what the pedal is intended for. use a good wax potted humbucker like dunkin sh4 (JB) in bridge with a good marshall 4x12. e vintage 30s.lastly with any distortionoverdrive pedal noise is always there get a boss NS2 and this will make it work much better. also use a delay after the NS2 so when its gated the delay will ring out clearer and more definded.

bulilt like a tank just dont beat it death because it has death in the name.

dont know dont care if it breaks buy a new one there cheap!!

this is not a messa boggie or marshall amp shred monster but a great heavy rock box. i use a les paul with custom lollar paf pickups. moster cables, peavy classic 50 all tube head with NOS tubes, a marshall top cab with vintage 30s on top and emmenace swamp things on bottom.Note swamp things are 150 watt All bottom end NO top at all! thats were the vintage 30s come in. this set up does sabbath zepp acdc drop D and much more.

Ok, I bought it back in 2005. This thing is heavy, but intended for durability and so it won't slide around when you go to try and stomp it. 4 knobs: level, low, mid, and high. 2 outputs for a mixer and amp. As said before, it lacks a gain knob, but I could care less cause I like the tone I get from this thing. And I'm somewhat of audiophile... so yeah.

Easy if you know how to tweak your sound and EQ's. Even if you don't, it doesn't take much to figure out what you want.

Ok my setup is:

Ibanez RG120 > Death Metal > Kustom Tube 12

I have used different amps and different guitars with this pedal, and I like sound it produces all around. It can make crappy amps or pickups sound a lot better, the reason why I got it. I like the fact that this has a 3-band EQ. I have my pedal usually set at: Low-all the way up, mid-either at 9 o' clock or one line past it, high-all the way up, and level at 9 o' clock. This thing sounds great, but the only problem I have with it is when you start playing loud. Your sound sounds weird, don't know how to explain it. Just takes some tweaking. If you just play in your room not too loudly as I do, it sounds great, but just takes time to adjust at higher volumes

Ok, I had a scare with this a little while ago. Either the AC adapter input stopped working, or it was the AC adapter itself, I have no clue. But other than that, it works with a battery. This pedal as tough as hell. I like the sturdy weight so it doesn't slide around when you go to stomp it on.

Bought it at Sam Ash, and I haven't had a complaint or anything

This is a great pedal if you have low end stuff. Even with EMG's, the sound is enhanced. I love the fact that it adds low end to your amp, but it might make your speaker sound like crap if your amp speakers suck. This pedal is great for metal, but I just wish it didn't get all weird when you get it at higher levels... >.<

Real easy to use -- LEVEL & a 3-BAND EQ: even a 5-year-old can use it IF he plays metal. Hasn't been upgraded yet, though...

Hmmmmm... Let's see: I like Yng Mal, Stevie Vai, C O B, Iced EARTH, Trivium & other METAL. Can be noisy if Level's all the way up, but I keep it on the "Low" -- still killer distortion; mostly the blue jackson with A E T C & squier strat thru crate XT10 @ times...

Reliable -- that's all I can say for now...

Bought it @ Guitar Center, where I shopped A LOT, & they were real helpful

DAMN! I have 2 jacksons -- black & blue, a squier strat & ibanez rg21 & crate XT10 Amp & tested ALL 4 6-strings thru this pedal. Have 1 word: WOW! Shut off GAIN on the Amp, & it sounds METAL (by the way the blue jackson has Active EMG TurboCharger) -- THAT's what I like about this thang... Haven't been playing for long (getting ready to do this), but trying to make a combo of "Yng Mal meets Iced EARTH" type of thang -- stink @ it
If it were lost, I'd go get the same pedal again -- NO DOUBT...

There are 4 knobs on this Pedal, how difficult could it be???

Ok, well I play in a Brutal Death Metal Band, (think Vital Remains), I used this pedal for about a week before smashing it with a sledgehammer.
This pedal is very deceptive. When i tryed it at the store I thought it sounded awsome, but as everyone knows you cant turn the volume up at the store. That where everything went wrong. I got back to the studio pluged it in and when i turned up the volume, this pedal just about blew my speakers. It loses EVERYTHING when it's turned up.

Ok, my setup goes as this:: Jackson SL1 soloist, to crate blue voodoo, I also have a BBE sonic maximizer and a boss GE7 inthe effects loop.

I have found that with the setup i'm currently using, when i stand in front of my amp, my balls start shaking, when I turned this pedal on all I got was the sound of speakers farting and getting ready to blow. So after much deliberation, I decided it wasn't worth using the pedal. And like i said, It got the sledgehammer

I gave it a 4 cause cause it would be a good distortion at lower volumes, but thats not what death metal is.

It's very reliable, I have to beat the hell out of it before it broke.

NA

I've been playing close to 10 years. I have had my share of amps and distortion boxes and all that crap. Out of experience, using a distortion box is not the way, I use my amps distortion and BEEF it up(GE7 and Sonic Maximizer), But to be honest, when it come to musical equipment, you get what you pay for. That crate was the best deal i've ever seen, it sound almost exacly like a JCM2000, just not as much low end.

DO yourself a favor, go out and buy a GOOD amp instead of buying cheap distortion pedals to make a $%^&@! one sound good, it just doesn't work.