EMMA RF-1 ReezaFRATzitz

four knobs: level, tone, bias, & gain. usually four potentiometers can spell trouble for me, but not w/the FRATzitz. it took me all of a couple seconds to figure out where i liked the level & gain knobs positioned, then only a scant few more ticks o' the clock to get the tone knob dialed in. after that, i just spun the bias pot w/out care, cuz really, the entire rotation of the knob produces use-able sounds if you've got the other three dials where you want 'em. piece-a-cake.

set-up when posting this review: 1976 gibson s-1 w/lindy fralin p-90s > radial dragster > doobtone mcbuffer > emma FRATzitz > mxr m-108 10-band eq > isp technologies decimator > bbe sonic stomp > 1961 gibson ga40 tube amp. as i mentioned above, i quickly discovered that i liked the level & gain settings on the FRATzitz @ approx 1:30. and even though i found it very hard to believe at first, the tone knob sounded best to my ears when maxed out totally clockwise, i.e."full treble". i left the m-108 settings all "flat" (or "unity", if you will). the decimator i positioned @ -30db, & the sonic stomp settings sounded best w/lo contour @ 12:30 & process @ 11:30. amp volume was set at 5, amp tone set about halfway between 4 and 5. once i got all that stuff dialed in, it was time to start spinning the bias knob on the FRATzitz. at the minimum setting (or @ about 7:30 on the dial), i found the sound to be sorta like a mesa boogie or other hi-gain amp of that ilk. good for low-string riffs & power chords. at 9:00 & 10:30, the sound coming out of the amp put me in mind of a marshall, a bit like ace frehley or slash. really great for middle of the neck single-note stuff or violent-sounding diads & triads. much more to my liking. at 12:00 & 1:30, it would seem obvious that the progression would now lead to vintage fender combo amp sounds; while i definitely did hear characteristics in the sounds here of late 50s to mid 60s fenders, i'd be lying if didn't say that the sounds coming out of my amp seemed much "tougher" than even the beefiest bassman or twin. again, middle of the neck leads & riffs just rolled off the guitar at these settings. w/the bias @ 3:00 the sound is -to quote the engineers at emma electronics- IN YOUR FACE. they also claim it's emulating a vox-type sound. i don't have any experience here, so i'll just have to agree. playing up high on the neck sounded good w/the bias at 3:00. i didn't much care for the sound w/the bias knob cranked any further clockwise than that. hey, no biggie. michael jordan occasionally missed a free throw, y'know? one final thought: lest someone think that i'm DELIVERING THE WORD FROM ON HIGH, i'd just like to state that these were MY findings, the way things sounded to MY ear. i may or may not know what the hell i'm talking about. but rest assured, i'm doing my level best to be honest w/you. class dismissed.

200 clams. that's nuthin t' sneeze at. yer average lifeguard/landscaper/little-league-umpire would hafta rake in a boatload-a hours 'fore he could waltz into his local musical supply shack & say "I WANT THE FREEZARATZAZZ OR WHATEVER IT'S CALLED, DUDE". but i'm here to tell ya, once you have this pedal, your days of mowing lawns could be OVER, at least as far as distortion stompboxes are concerned. seriously, between the FRATzitz & the maxon ds-830 (another double-benjie distorto pedal worthy of your attention), i feel i have every possible distortion box angle covered. of course you still need fuzz boxes & treble boosters, but that's another matter entirely...

The Reeza (I think it's destined to become known as this if it's not already) sounds great at almost any setting and that, in my opinion, is the best compliment you can give to a piece of gear. A true testament to the designers and builders. The controls are really sensitive and interactive that tweaking this pedal is straight up fun. No matter where you have the knobs, the Reeza just sounds excellent and in that way it reminds me a bit of a Neve EQ, musical and full of character. There's no manual included and I guess a little technical data would be nice (power supply info, sample settings, etc.) but you can enjoy figuring it out just by playing and twisting the controls a bit. It seems like it would be easy to tweak on the fly too (on stage, for example) because the knobs are laid out very simply on the top of the box. (From R > L ) GAIN , BIAS , TONE , LEVEL. Nice.

I tried (and bought) the ReezaFRATzitz after testing 20 or so overdrive and distortion pedals, mostly hand built boutique stuff a la Fulltone, Nick Greer, Barber, Xotic, Home Brew, you get the idea. I was using my Suhr classic w/ Bardens in the neck and middle and a Duncan JB in the bridge through my Fulldrive 2 into a Marshall JSM half stack (clean channel only).

The Reeza has a lot going for it. First off, it's really quiet all around. The gain knob sounds great and gives you a really wide variety of sounds. The low gain settings, which are bluesy with a little bite, break up nicely under your pick attack and clean right up as you back your guitar down. The mid gain region brings you into the browner Plexi tones, responsive and chunky. The gain cranked from 3 o clock and up turns this pedal into an ultra high gain Marshall. It sounds really big and mean like crushed glass with gobs of low end. The BIAS knob lets you blend the overall character of the pedal between class A to class B (as I think of it...tighter and more focused or bigger and looser). This is a very powerful tone shaping device. Along with the TONE control, which is really sweet sounding, it gives you lots of tonal possibilities from an EQ standpoint. I lowered the GAIN and used the LEVEL control as a clean boost to drive the Fulldrive 2 and the input of the amp. Both sounded incredible. Can you tell that I really like this pedal?

I think what makes this pedal standout is the inherent harmonic richness and complexity present whenever the box is on. I don't know much about electronics but this stompbox is the first one to make me want to learn.

It seems well constructed but sometimes looks can be deceiving. I take good care of my stuff so I'll let you know how it holds up.

I would use it without a spare on a gig. Innocent until proven guilty.

Emma Electronic is in Denmark and distributed in the States by Godlyke so repair/upgrade issues are as of yet unknown. Europe is always a scary prospect when it comes to shipping gear back and forth so I hope it holds up.

Mainly I play R&B, Hip Hop and Jazz but I play professionally so I also play whatever style is paying the bills. The RF-1 ReezaFRATzitz is very versatile distortion pedal and I can't wait to put it the test in the real world.

I've been playing for about 22 years and have a bunch of instruments, computers and studio gear. Lately I've become stompbox junkie.

If stolen I'd replace it immediately.

I love the overall character of this pedal. It sounds good 2 me at any setting.

I hate that it's not true bypass but maybe it's a reminder from the guitar cosmos not to take all the gear too seriously. If it sounds good it is good.

The BIAS and TONE knobs are 2 of the most musical sounding circuits I've ever heard in a stompbox.

The tones I'm getting out of the RF-1 are inspiring and there's nothing like playing when you sound good.

Keep an eye out for Emma Electronic. They've earned my respect with this pedal.

Plug 'n play, like most any OD pedal. I just checked and there is indeed a one-page manual, never had a need for it though. There are some suggested settings but they're not the ones I would use, but that's ok. It's not like you're flying a 747 or anything... Oh yeah, it doesn't eat batteries too badly, so that's a good thing.

I go back and forth between the Reeza and my SIB Varidrive, they have quite a bit of similarity to my ears, with my rig (Germino Lead 55, or other similar EL34 brit-sounding amps). The Reeza is less hassle to set up on stage, so I've been bringing it lately most times. I use it almost always with its volume about 10-12:00, and gain below 9:00 (i.e., very low settings for gain). I find at this level it cleans up very well (like the Varidrive), which is good for me because I like to ride the volume knob on my guitar. Used like this it's not especially heavy metal, more old-school Marshall (Humble Pie, Free etc.) up to about Guns 'n Roses when my guitar's turned up. I don't find it overly bright, I keep its tone control from about 10:00 to 2:00, i.e. plenty of adjustment remains on either side. Compared to the Varidrive, it has a little less fur and a little more cut, harmonics are a little crisper. I tend to use the clockwise ("fixed bias") setting more than the ccw "cathode bias" setting, as the latter is a bit too fuzzy for most of my stuff, though sometimes I like it for kind of a low-fi old ZZTop sound. The Reeza works fine for me with a fairly clean amp (like I need at very small gigs) and also when the amp is cranked a bit. For me, and for the way I use it, it sounds far more natural and pleasing than the multitude of other pedals I've tried (incl. all the Barber stuff, all the Fulltone stuff including OCD, Foxrox, Menatone, Cornish, most everything except the Klon :-) There's a ton of gain available if you turn that knob up, of course, but I rarely do that unless I'm just screwing around, so you could probably do older metal just fine (Judas Priest etc.) and scooped stuff if you also used an EQ pedal, but that's kind of outside my knowledge zone.

Yep, I depend on it, and use it on a gig without a backup, sort of, since I usually have a fuzz pedal on my board too, and I can get by just fine with that. But it's built solid, so I'll give it a good grade.

never had to, I bet they're fine but I'll leave this blank.

Les Paul into Germino. Aiming for a combination of Warren Haynes, Dickie Betts, Paul Kossoff tonewise. The Reeza and the Varidrive are the two pedals that have gotten me closest, I love 'em both but usually only bring one or the other to a gig. There may be something better out there, but I haven't found it and I've tried sooooo many :-)

It's hard to get a bad sound out of it. Well, I haven't been able to do so. 4 knobs, turn'm, and you hear what they do. Easy.

I use this with a Barber Ltd > Emma > Fulltone OCD > Small Stone > Catalinbread SCP > Yamaha UD Stomp into a Fender Dual Showman Reverb and Pro Reverb, both Silverface.

Gets a little noisy if I turn the gain past 3'0, but I get plenty of gain at 3'0, so no problem.
Next to the very open and uncompressed OCD, I needed an modern sounding overdrive with lots of gain, and the Reeza delivers : not at all as responsive as the OCD, though the Emma can deliver similar timbres, with the bias turned low. I turn the bias high, and they complement eachother perfectly.
The OCD does sound and react more like a real tube amp, the Reeza sounds unmistakenly solid state.

Seems sturdy, can't really tell yet.

Haven't contacted them yet.

I play rock with influences from all over the place, this pedal was meant for the metal'ish bits. I've been playing for +20 years.
If it were stolen, I might try an SCOD.

Plug. And. Play. ReezaFratzitz gets great sounds across the entire spectrum of every knob. The only bad settings are the ear-splittingly loud ones past half on the volume knob. I run some pretty hot pickups, but never have to turn it up above 9:00.

Knobs for: Volume, Tone, Bias (mids), and Gain

I use a Gibson Les Paul Custom with Duncans and a Fernandes Decade Elite with Dimarzios, into a Fender Dual Showman head and a 4x12 or 2x12. This pedal sounds like a gift from the tonal heavens.

Every, I repeat, EVERY knob is useable throughout 100% of its range.

The Tone knob goes from a murky Sabbathy sound to shrill punk tones, but sounds best just shy and high of noon.

The Bias takes you from a scoopy, hi-fi EL34/6L6 type distortion to super-sweet EL-84 tones. I leave the bias at 80% - 100%.

The gain knob goes from sweet Layla-like overdrive at 8:00-9:00 (high bias) to Jimmy Page at 10:00 (medium bias), Guns 'n Roses at 11 (medium bias), Queen at noon (high bias), Van Halen at 1:00 (lowish bias), Metallica at 2:00 (low bias), and super grindy sounds from there on. I must admit that the distortion gets a little harsh past 2:00. Varying the Bias control will get you variations on these sounds.

I'm actually using this pedal for my main overdrive tone, with a Hot Cake for really thick distortion. It knocks the Blackstone MOSFET out of the water: the Blackstone's two channels either sound too bright or too fat -- they never match up. The Emma with my modded Boss Compressor/Sustainer takes me from super warm, sweet overdrive to a slightly brighter, more compressed (obviously) and grindy sound that borders on distortion. Emma reacts very, very clearly with other gain pedals, and is amazing for stacking. I bet a Timmy would just kill with this thing. Not so good for overloading into fuzz with the Hotcake -- it just makes the 'Cake sound smoother and less bassy. Most people would find this effect pleasant.

My only complaint is that the Bias knob doesn't sound as good on the lower settings, most of the best sounds, in my opinion, are above 12:00. But the others are there for flexibility. Also doesn't sound as thick as something like a Mosferatu -- very power-tube like, not fuzzy at all.

The switch looks just a little weird. I just got this thing. I'll post about it later if there's a problem.

Bought it used. No contact. They're somewhere in Scandanavia.

Best, I repeat, best overall gain pedal I've ever played. Althought it's marketed as a distortion, I use it for my main overdrive sound and have no complaints about that tone. Knocks other designated overdrives out of the ballpark, including Fulltone Fulldrive 2, modified Boss SD-1, Barber Direct Drive 2, Blackstone MOSFET (previous champ; there is still possibility of a comeback.)I would buy another if it was lost, no doubt about it. My bnndmate plans to try one if his Cold Fusion isn't what he hopes it is. We both agree - best overdrive from a pedal we've ever heard, and best tube-amp style distortion (as opposed to fuzz or metal) that we've ever heard.

I submitted a review below after buying the product. But since I'm often frustrated that many people write reviews while on the emotional high of buying a new product, I thought I'd give you a one year after review. If you don't want to read what follows, it's even better than the original review.

The pedal is not difficult to use, but the bias knob means there are very different distortion sounds available. The key is that - like a good valve amp - amost every sound is good, unlike many other pedals.

Guitars: Stock Classic 60's strat / Jap 50's strat with Stymour Duncans

Pedals: Crybaby, CS3, Mayer Octavia, original TS808, Reezafratzitz, V Twin, TR2, DD2, CE5, Ernie Ball Volume

Amps: Pro Jnr, Blues Jnr, Peavey Classic 30

Noise is very low, and sound is very good! I'd have to say that I've rarely heard a pedal which is so good at both low gain and high gain sounds.

I'd have to say that through my set up the sound is very like Joe Bonamassa's sound on Reconsider Baby (Had to Cry Today album) and I Know where I belong (New Day Yesterday).

My V Twin is sill very fat for the odd heally high gain solo, but the EMMA is much better for biting sounds which cut through, and for rhythm sounds.

The EMMA also wins hands down on any of my other pedals because it cleans up really well from the guitar volume pedal.

If there was a higher number than 10 - that would be my vote on this.

After a year it's been totally dependable. Yes I'd gig without a back up. Frankly, if I needed to I could use this pedal in place of my tubescreamers and my VTwin, but none of those could replace the EMMA.

I play bluesy rock in a covers band, and also play in worship teams in various churches playing quite rocky contemporary music, so I need a wide variety of sounds.

I wnet though several pedals in the search for a new dist pedal, and this one won hands down. I tried all the Boss pedals, and had a DS1 for eyars, which I thought was good at the time. I tried all the HAO pedals, the Blackstone pedal and the Sansamp pedals, and none matched the authentic marshall in a box of this baby.

The key to any musical equipment is that they should free you and inspire you to play - the Reezafratzitz has that in abundance.

Pretty easy to use. As mentioned below, the bias knob takes the most getting used to. I had it left-of-center for the first week of playing with it before turning it to 3 o'clock...I instantly liked this better. The bias knob is subtle, but when your ear catches the difference, it is nice to have. The rest of the controls are normal for distortion pedals and provide a wide range of sounds.

I use a Music Man Sub-1 with Jon Moore custom pups (check his reviews out in the pickup section...AWESOME!!!) > Boss Super Chorus > ReezaFratZitz > Keeley modded Boss Tremolo > Keeley modded Sparkle Drive > Line 6 DL-4 > Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4 x 10.

This pedal sounds so good. Best distortion box I've ever played. It is my primary distortion for the heavy stuff I play with my band. I disagree with the folks who say this pedal can't cover Metallica-style dirt. When we end a song with an open drop-D, it levels the trees around the house. Chords sound alive and smooth and yet so gnarly at the same time. Tack on some delay or reverb or...well...pretty much any other effect and it sounds great. It plays with others very well ;O)

If you are tired of effing around with distortion boxes and being disappointed, give this one serious consideration. Distortion tones you can scoop up and eat.

Totally solid construction. I have little doubt it will live up to EMMA's reputation for indestructible, high-quality boxes.

Haven't dealt with them. Don't think I will ever have to though.

I play garage rock with many ecclectic genres tossed in. Surf rock, 50's crooner pop, punk, blues, etc. I've been playing around 14 years now. This is a creamy, hard-hitting, versatile, delicious pedal. What more can I say? How about buy it...?

This pedal is incredibly responsive to pick attack/guitar volume. I leave the tone control at 12o'clock, put the bias at 4o'clock (for nice fast attack) and put the gain control at 3o'clock. Live I can get many different sounds out of it by altering my guitars volume, and my playing style. Ease of use is about as good as you can get.

I play a modified american strat, with a coil-tapped 'lil 59 humbucker in the bridge, into a vintage Twin (silverface)
This pedal is almost silent with this setup. I bought this when my old jeckyll and hyde pedal broke, because it sounded simply incredible. It also sounds good with my lexicon LXP-5 which I mostly use for reverb, and my boss chorus pedal. It's hard to describe exactly what this pedal sounds like but it's exactly what I've always wanted a distortion pedal to do. The sound is fat and ballsy, but not muddy at all. It cuts through the mix but isn't harsh.
Best (solid state) distortion pedal I've ever used.

This actually is my backup distortion pedal, one of the reasons I bought it is it's construction. The thing is a solid metal box with rounded edges, the knobs have a low profile and seem very solid. I can't imagine anything breaking on this pedal but I'll probably keep my old boss overdrive in my gig bag just in case.

I've never dealt with them

I play modern rhythm guitar, and more vintage style lead guitar. This pedal makes everything I do sound great. Also on my pedalboard, I have a lexicon LXP-5, maxon compressor (solo boost), and boss chorus. These effects are hooked up through a loooper 1-loop, so when I'm not using them the signal isn't effected by the LXP which has a bypass from hell.
If it were lost I'd probably buy another, I tried almost every pedal in the store last time and this is the best. It sounds a lot like the OCD but with more MOJO to my ears. Plus the bias control is great.
This is the best solid state distortion pedal I have used, and I've tried many. for $70 more than a terrible boss distortion, I consider this an excellent value.

I agree with those of the previous reviewers who don't find this pedal to be a no-brainer at all. It took quite some time to master the controls and above all to find the right spot for the pedal in the signal-chain. The controls are simple yeah, but to make it sound it's best isn't that easy. Another thing is the battery-compartment issue that lowers the points: the hassle to get to the battery and then there are four screws to lose.

Tele with Lollars > TS9 with TS808 mod > MXR phase 45 > ReezaFRATzitz > Voodo-Vibe > Ibanez Analog Delay to a RI 59' Bassman.
There are basically two sounds you can get from this thing, one highly compressed and other more open. I prefer the latter with modest gain: the distortion is very coarse-grained and there isn't excessive amount of sustain; I like to have a natural fade for the notes. If you DO want the sustain to be practically never-ending with whatever guitar, just turn the Bias off. The trade off is more sizzle and less rumble, if you get what I mean.
There's also a cool setting with zero Gain and the Bias at about halfway: clean boost with a hint of mud around the edges. That said I don't really think the Bias knob has any other options than full on or full off but then again I might be wrong...

Seems very solid. If you don't kick it around it should be undestructable, or at least as much so as anything else on the market. Don't need a backup, unless you're paranoid.

No experience.

I play roots-oriented rock, blues, funk etc. and think this is quite close to the sound I hear in my head. I've been playing for 16 years and I think I know by now what I like without neceserily needing to compare anything side by side. I DID compare this to a Fulltone OCD in the shop and liked this one better. It sounds good with the TS9 driving it's input and would probably sound nice with other boosters as well. It is very sensitive to pick-ups and everything else so you really need to find the right matches for it.
It made me sound good and I will keep it untill I find something that does the job better. Not that I'm looking anymore, though.

Takes a while to dial this pedal in. No manual is needed, just a good ear. This pedal loves single coils, and has the most useable range for Tele's and Strat's . You need to dial back the gain about a quarter turn for humbuckers, or plug into the number 2 input of a Fender amp.

I'm using this with a Fender '52 reissue Tele, a Les Paul with alnico humbuckers, and a Victoria 35310 (Tweed Fender Bandmaster). I dropped a Fulltone Distortion Pro for this pedal. I felt this pedal captures tube sag better than the Fulltone. It also makes the bass control on my amp come alive. That said, I still keep the bass between 3 and 4, as most Fender amps should never have the bass above 5. The Bandmaster sounds more focused and dampened, like a 4x12 cab. This pedal sounds nice at low volumes, where the Fulltone starts sounding good when the amp is driven. The Distortion Pro is a great pedal, but this is a hair cooler.

The class A and B knob is what makes this pedal. Class A is harmonically saturated. I tend to turn up the treble on my amp in this mode. Class B is more open and defined in the top end. Both sound great, and having a choice makes this pedal versatile. This pedal can go from fairly clean to smokin'. More gain than most classic rockers need. I generally use it from 9:00 to 12:00 ( When my neighbors go to sleep) Beyond 12:00 is the more modern Marshall/ Boogie territory.

Too early to tell.

No experience. I've heard good things.

I play just about everything. I don't play death/speed metal. I've owned: the TS9, the Turbo Tube Screamer, the Fulltone Fulldrive 2, Soulbender, and Distortion Pro, the Budda Phatman, the Meas V-Twin, the Way Huge Swollen Pickle, and the B.K. Butler designed Chandler Tube Driver. I've dumped them all, except the Way Huge 'cause it's Way Cool. As far as creamy tube amp overdrive/distortion, this unit is the best I've found. The only other pedal I wish I'd kept is the Fulltone Soulbender, though it's not really in the same class as this pedal.

I've owned most of the great amps of all time and know what they sound like cranked (Tweed Bassmans, Blackface Twins and Deluxe Reverbs, Matchless, etc.). No pedal captures it exactly, but the point is to get as close as possible at reasonable volume levels. This pedal can make a big amp sound great a low volume levels. On the flip side, I had my Bandmaster on 11 the other day, and I was listening from about 40 feet away. Amazing crunch tone on it's own. Turning on this pedal set to low gain, the Bandmaster sounded much bigger.