DigiTech HardWire Series CM-2 Tube Overdrive

Easy to use. It's got 4 knobs and a switch. What could be hard about it.

I tried this with strats and a Godin LG. I hate to say it but this a big disappointment. Not that it's all that bad but I expected a better sounding pedal. Although I haven't compared the circuits I'd be willing to bet it's a Bad Monkey with a switch that goes from ok to worse. With strats it's harsh. With hums it's decent but there are better choices.

I wouldn't expect it to last any longer than that Bad Monkey I had that broke after 12 to 14 months. It's pretty close to the same construction quality.

They are great. I got this as a freebie for buying an RP1000. I called to check on my status and they shipped it out that day.

I say go for something else like an SRB808+ or a Barber Tone Pump.

This is a very straight forward pedal. Level/High & Low EQ/ Gain/Classic or Modified toggle switch. 60 seconds and you'll know your way around.

Incredible. Absolutely fabulous with my Deluxe Strat. The SCN pickups are kind of weak and this pedal really puts some punch into my sound. I use a number of different tube amps Vox AC-30, Fender Supersonic, Fender Super Reverb ri, Dr. Z Maz 38, and this pedal sounds great with ALL of them.

I know you see "built like a tank" frequently on these reviews but the fact of the matter is.............it's built like a tank.

This is the first Digitech pedal that I didn't get rid of. (see overall rating)

BUY THIS PEDAL!! Years ago I tried a few Digitech pedals that never worked out. They were cheaply made, noisy pedals aimed at making cheap solid state amps sound better. This is NOT the case with the Hardwire series. I have had the RV-7 reverb for some time and just recently added the CM-2. It is as good as any boutique overdrive I have ever owned (and I have owned dozens, I won't bore you with the list). This is as good as any OD pedal I have ever owned.

Actually, this has a lot of nice touches for a stomp box including graduated detente pots, a settings loc, nice appearance and a rugged build quality. Obviously it's a TRUE BYPASS pedal. Very nicely done, Digitech. Has the look of a boutique pedal and the higher price to go with it.

I own lots of OD and Distortion pedals ranging from cheap-o DOD & BOSS stuff theough the S-9 / 808 / Maxxon clones to the Tonebones / Barber / Keely modded stuff. Why I thought I needed another pedal is beyond me! Call it a sickness.

Anyway, I A/B'd this with everything and found it to be most closely comparable to the (no surprise!) Digitech Bad Monkey! Yep. I paid $25 for the BM pedal-about 100 bucks less than the CM-2, but aside from the cool features the sound is about the same. Personally I LOVE my Bad Monkey and it is always on in my chain. So I love the CM-2 too but I'm not happy that I spent the extra cash for another "souped-up" version of the BM. Oh well...live and learn. And by the way...the true bypass on the CM-2 is no better than the untrue bypass of the BM to my ears. Tone controls are super effective-just as good as the BM.

I use it with a Laney LC 15, Roland Blues Cube, Fender Blues Deluxe RI and a Fender Champ. Guitars are several Les Pauls-standards, customs, ceramics and alnico pickups. Good results with SS and Tube amps-just as good as my BM, as a matter of fact.

In short: It sounds really good for smooth overdrive to crunchy overdrive. Really good-just as good as the BM...LOL!

For it's price point it is probably a score of 7-8. Compared to the boutique stuff that I own it is a 5-6. Forgetting all the comparisons to the other stuff and the price-it's a 10 for quality of the sound. I'll go with a score of 8, all things considered. It really is a nice pedal in all respects.

For rock, blues and smooth jazz this is the bomb-as good as any Bad Monkey you will ever hear, but at about 4-5 times the price. LOL

Most user friendly pedal, if you can read the labels you know what to do. Level, Low, Hi, Gain..Four knobs that are simple to tweak and turn. The pots are hiqh quality incremental sweep pots, you feel a slight click as you turn it around, it is usefull as you can count the clicks you make as you turn turn each pot, also ensure that they tone controls stay in place and dont get accidentally moved with handling it.The Stomp lock cover provided covers the pots so that you dont loose your settings while moving equipment.Fairly simple to connect, uses a standard 9 volt (+ve on sleave) powersupply, if you have a DC brick or any standarad pedal power supply used for BOSS / EH will work for this as well. The battery compartment is right under the moving part of the pedals. No screws to unwind to acess the batterty compartment, simply press the hinges on either side to unlock the lid, simple and easy mechanism. Built like a tank, actually drop tested it from 6 feet at the dealer (his heart had started rolling up his throat :) ). IMpressive mettalic green color with a bright blue LED and high quality chrome knobs- looks cool on the pedal board. Comes with a glow sticker, user manual, and pedal board velcro that can be attached to the pedal.

I use two different guitars for my kind of music, a PRS custom SE and a Ibanez RG2550Z. All stock PUPs. Straight out of the box all knobs at 12 o-clock gives a good warm crunchy tone on a humbucker and a SRV like twang is you are using a single coil. A Classic /Modified switch (essentially a 2-3 DB boost) allows you to set the out put to classic (warm) or Modified (more bite in the highs) with the same settings settings. On classic humbuckers the Modified option gives you rich harmonics with that added boost. If the pedal is driven into a clean channel of an amp, then you will get a good tube distortion (un-saturated) at around 3 O clock position of the gain knob. For this pedal to really shine you need to drive it into a dirty channel with the gain on the channel set to a light crunch setting. I tested it on a Laney LV300 (pre-amp tubes) with the follow settings. AMP: Gain at 1 o Clock,BASS,MID,TREBLE - at 12 o clock, Master volume on 2..ON the CM-2 I set level to 9, Low and Hi to 12:30, and Gain to 9 o clock. The guitar tone jumps out at you when the CM-2 kicks in. I couldnt be happier with the out of the box tone. I played this puppy on a Laney LV300 , Line6 spider II 120, Laney GH100L half stack, VOX AC/15, Marshal MGX-120 and it performs remarkably well in getting you that tube tone. I used two tube amps to check out the saturation and two transistor amps to check out how the pedals performs normally as a tube emulation. The EQ is fantastic, the LOW frequency control really lets you get that LOW end compression and tight bass for those growls while dive bombing or sliding on the 6th string. The HI freq control adds a nice rich feel to the harmonics with out going into a cat moan if played with the bridge pickup. The added boost with the modified switch works great if you want to sound like a metal head, but I prefer the classic voicing that is smoother and more rounded. Roll off your pick up volume to around 40% and you will go warm and clean on any pickup combination, the dynamic range of this overdrive pedal is really amazing, I could only achieve it with my guitar plugged into the AMP directly.

Built like a tank. I own a RP250 and Digitech quality has been appreciable. I am happy with my RP250 and I presume I will be equally happy with this one as well. I dont gig much and I care a lot for my gear, hence i am sure it will give me many years of reliable use.

My RP250 crashed due to a software malfunction that was caused due to repeated power failure, Digitech tech support responded within 1 business day and guided me on how to update the firm ware. Even the factory reset was not working and the unit was not getting recognized by my laptop. They provided me with secret key strokes on the unit to get it USB enabled and finally I updated my firm ware. The pedal works fine after than. I am happy with the support provided.

I play classic rock and metal and it suits the tones I am looking for. I can get a Tommi Iommi to a Metallica tone if I really try hard. I have a simple setup and I use my RP 250 only as a noise gate and tuner (grossly under utilized now that the CM-2 came in), I am convinced going the old school way of simple over drive (saturated further with my AMPs pre-amp gain) and switched for lead tone with a Boss DD-3 in the FX loop for delay. I paid $145 In India (Includes a 36% import duty plus handling charges). So well worth the price. My choice was between CM-2 and T-REX Dr Swamp, although T-REX was equally good and gives two different overdrive settings in one pedal , it was 2.5 times the price and out of my budget. I would still recommend CM-2 for one feature which a huge advantage over the TREX Dr Swamp - You have two adjustable EQ knobs in the CM-2, where as the TREX has a single high cut knob for each channel. AND yes the CM-2 has true bypass just like the Dr Swamp. BTW I had almost invoiced a Bad Monkey at the counter when I saw this pedal and tested it and finally was blown over by it :) .

Pretty straight forward. Great EQ allows you to taper the tone to your taste.

I have a number of guitars and amps. I bought it to put in front of my Mesa Lone Star Special, which has a great class "A" growl but needed a little additional push. It adds seasoning to my tone, sustain, additional gain, but doesn't tweak the overall tone of the amp, which is amazing.

Digitech makes great products. They are built to last and guaranteed for six years. They are absolutely dependable and I would have no problem gigging without a back-up.

I e-mailed them for a some bolts for another pedal. They responded immediately and sent me the bolts at no cost. I had them days later. Nice people, great products.

I play post hardcore, alt/indie, whatever that is? I have been playing for 20+ years . I've played professionally in the past, but currently more of a hobby player. I own a slew of guitars, a couple of Mesa Amps and a Marshall half.

This pedal is exactly what I was looking for, basically a souped up tube screamer. I went through a couple of distortion boxes before, but prefer the overdrive since it doen't tweak my tone.

Makes me wanna play more. Great pedal that I would definately replace if lost or destroyed.

Very easy to use and very easy to get a great sound out of. Hard wire bypass is also cool, battery changes are very easy although I am using a One Spot 9 volt adapter on mine. I really like the seperate bass and treble controls and the silent switching is nice.. no pops when kicking it on near a condenser mic. I think they did just about everything right on this one including the voicing switch which can kick in a bit more hair and punch to the sound. I felt that One hundred dollars was pushing it for a Digitech drive pedal but when I got it home and really checked it out all the buyers remorse fadded away. I bought this not because I needed another drive pedal but because of owning the Digitech Bad Monkey and knowing what a great pedal it is I just wanted to see if Digitech could do it again. The Hardwire Tube Overdrive now has a place on my pedalboard, I rest my case!

I am running the Hardwire into the clean channel of a Genz Benz El'Diablo EL34 tube combo and the pedal is on a pedalboard with a few other drive pedals. I have a lot of other drive pedals to compare this with and I have had them all for a long time (years.) The other drive pedals on my board are a Fulltone GT500, Barber LTD Silver, Fulltone OCD and an Xotic BB preamp. Other pedals not on my board are a Boss DS1 and SD1, Boss OD3, Xotic RC booster, Digitech Bad Monkey, Dan Electro Fab overdrive and a Barber Direct Drive. This Hardwire pedal hangs with the best of them and what is best about the pedal for me is that it does not sound like ane of my other drive pedals, it does have it's own sound and I like that sound a lot. It gets real close to the OCD and the Xotic BB with the voicing switch to the right and thats some nice competition for this mass produced pedal to be up aginst. Notes in chords retain clarity and the pedal is very articulate and pick sensitive, I rarely use my volume knob to turn down so I do not know or care if it farts out it that way.

Afted owning the Bad Monkey for years I do not know why this pedal would be any different as both seem quite bullet proof. Very sturdy!

Have never needed them

I feel Digitech really has a good one here, should be just as popular as the Bad Monkey. These pedals are creeping very close to botique territory and I think this is a good thing as not everyone can or even wants to spend over 200 bills on a drive pedal. As for my creds., I have been playing for over 40 years and produce my own cd's at home I play mostly instrumental rock and some wacked out stuff too. I hope my review helps some of you.

Plug and play. It's also very easy to change the battery. Digitech really got that one right. If the battery dies, it's true bypass, so your guitar doesn't just suddenly disapear on you either. The battery life is very good as well, unlike their "X-series" pedals that came out a few years back. My only beef is that $100 dollars is really pushing it, but for the quality, I would repurchase this if I had to.

Excellent tonal quality and versatility. I play blues and Black/Death metal with some of my favorite bands being Nile, Behemoth, Nevermore, Cannibal Corpse, and Immortal. As far as distortion/overdrive tones go, this pedal delivers everything I was looking for. I play a Fender Blues Deluxe through a Behringer BG412 cabinet. Fender tweed tube amps are the reference for clean (I don't like the blackface sound; too scooped) and really work great with pedals. The BG412 speakers, on the other hand, are exactly the opposite of Vintage 30's; they are darker and very scooped in the upper mids, but they have a very deep dark resonance in the lower mids which is exactly the sound I like.
The Tube overdrive can be very Tube screamer-like, or it can also be very much like a great over-driven stack. I prefer the lows and highs maxed for a less Midrangey or boxy tone. The classic mode works well as a boost or to fatten up your tone because it is very bass heavy and the pick-attack is very warm and natural. Modified mode mode has a really saturated yet clear attack with more gain and less bass. This pedal has all the gain you'll ever need. I play Death Metal with the gain at about 5/8 up and passive pickups. I can do this though because my amp/speaker setup is very deep and scooped on it's own. If your amp and speakers are brighter or more midrangy, this pedal isn't going to scoop your sound out by itself; it's more like an extension of your amp. Compared to the Digitech Valve Distortion, this pedal is more even-toned, whereas the Valve Distortion is very scooped and has more "fizz", so that just may be your ticket if the Tube Overdrive is too "boxy" for you. Oddly enough, I'd actually recomend the Valve distortion for more SRV style tones, because the scooped mids and extended highs really give a good blackface feel.

It doesn't matter what style of music you play; If you are looking for a distortion/overdrive pedal that ranges from subtle to heavily over-driven, this pedal is the one for you. If the sound of this pedal doesn't work out for you, the problem isn't the pedal. This pedal basically reveals the true sound and feel of your Rig; it's like an extension of your amp.

It's a typical foot pedal set up. You got the level knob, low knob, high knob and gain knob. What makes the knobs different is that when you turn them they aren't smooth. It's like they have little micro clicks. What's cool about this pedal is the switch that allows you to choose either classic tone or modified, which just gives you extra boost for solos. This pedal is easy to get a great sound out of it.

I'd give it a 10, but to be honest I haven't tried every overdrive/distortion pedal out there and I'm sure there are better ones (I've heard good things about the original Chandler Tube Driver pedals). All I can say is, from my experience, this is one kick ass overdrive pedal. I have an original early 1960's Epiphone Galaxie amp I'm in love with and this pedal compliments it like peanut butter to chocolate. I play a lot of old rock and blues so now the amp screams! I can say with this pedal you'll be rockin' early Eric Clapton like no other. Not too much noise, which seems to be a problem with some overdrive pedals because of all the gain.

I just got it so time will tell. It's built like a tank. Everything on it seems to be super durable.

I tried a bunch of overdrive pedals out (mostly the Boss overdrives) and I narrowed it down to this one and an Ibanez Tube Screamer. The HardWire has better tone control and a cool switch on it. Call me shallow, but cosmetically, the pedal just looks cool. Instead of a red LED it has a blue one, which I think is a nice change. Along with this pedal Digitech through in some neat stuff. You get what they call a "stomplock" which is this piece of rubber that you place over the knobs so you don't accidentally hit the knobs with your foot. You also get a glow-in-the-dark decal to put on the stomp part of the pedal in case you're on a dark stage. Lastly, you get a form fitting piece of velcro for the bottom if you want to put the pedal in a pedal board.

Plug in and adjust the the level, bass, treble, gain and have fun. Toggle switch from classic sound(break-up) to modified sound(saturated,more gain)

Overdrive is NOT distortion. When I read that guys say "The pedal, it needs more. I'm playing Metallica", I feel like saying "Dude, why get a overdrive pedal if you want a metal sound?". You have to understand that you need to have a sound that fits in the mix of the players your playing with and what your trying to get for the genre of music your playing.

Turning up any knob to full on any pedal, nor ANYTHING is NOT going to help. LESS IS MORE!!! The only guy who made that work, dimeing all the controls... was Dimebag!! That's why any cover song Dimebag played still had the PANTERA color. If Dime played EVH's rig, he would sound like Dime but with the EVH color

I have many different set-ups but I have 2 amps for pedals 1) Roland Bolt 60 2) Mesa Boogie Simlu-Satelite. Fender American Ash strats. 1)w/ Fender Atomic humbucker(VERY UNDERRATED PICK-UP!!!) and 2)w/SD Pearly Gates Plus.

The pedal IS what I always thought every other overdrive pedal LACKS...it's 3-Dimensional! It sounds wide and every note pops out. Rich harmonics that are clear, warm and smooth tone. THIS IS A MUST TO HAVE!!

The pedal is in front of the amp where it should. Both amps sound different. Yes, the Boogie can make anything sound good and have the Boogie sound to it but the Roland gives the pedal's tone and nothing else.

Noise??....not really unless you turn it up all the way in the Modified mode. If you do that, then don't say the pedal sucks. YOU'RE USING IT WRONG!

For me, I got this overdriving juice sound from it that a MXR Distortion III almost had. I think that MXR pedal needed to have it's potentiometer w/ a larger value. I tried to get MXR to do a mod to it but they stuck to their guns on how it was made. Hopefully, they take criticism because the III is a real GOOD pedal.

There is a slight pop, really not audable, when engaging. THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. True Bypass baby. If it was buffered, it wouldn't happen.

Also, I put this pedal in a mixing board and got the same results and tone. Very Nice!!

If you don't abuse ANYTHING you spent money on, it will last. So I'm not worried. I have to say, THIS IS BUILD SOLID AND IT'S HEAVY!

I have my same guitar cables since 91', so treat your gear right and your gear will treat you right.

Every company is the same. If you sound like you don't know what your talking about on the phone when talking to them, Then that person on the other end will treat you accordingly.

They have to deal with EVERYBODY EVERYDAY. I would start hating my job too. If you need it repaired, just ask for RA and it should be painless.

This is great pedal and I'm not a Digitech fan at all. It get that break up sound and that juicey, smooth sound. I bought this pedal w/ the Ibanez Jemini. I returned the Jemini because it sounds like every other pedal.

Get it, Try it. I don't think you'll return it.

I'm a soundman/guitar player for 20 yrs. Hopefully, every manufacture will start making pedals like this that Boutique Guys have doing for years. Tired of playing $300 for 1 pedal