EMMA RF-1 ReezaFRATzitz

I'm going to try and make this review clear and concise, so you don't have to go looking around through a million other ones.

It took me about 2 minutes to find a variety of nice tones, and the knobs all do exactly what they are supposed to. The Bias knob in particular is easy to use and extremely useful.

The manual is a folded piece of paper, but gives you four of the basic sounds this thing can make.

Let me just say this: I play through a Fender Twin Reverb Reissue, and let me tell you, it is EXTREMELY hard to find a pedal that gives really meaty distortion that sounds natural and GOOD. I have spent lots of money on other pedals, but this is the one.

I was looking for a bread and potatoes distortion, one that I could base my sound around. You never really know how much a good distortion is fundamental until you don't have one, and now I have it.

The sound is meaty and FAT, but with enough clarity to warrant its hefty price tag. It is THE distortion for indie, punk, alternative, whatever. I mostly use it for high gain tones, but rolling down the gain knob gives you light distortion. Turn down your volume knob and instant blues tones emerge.

I will say this; this pedal is advertised as a distortion/overdrive pedal, but it is NOT an overdrive. I think why they say overdrive is because it does overdrive your amp BEFORE giving you distortion, yielding a really natural sounding distortion.

So, let me put this straight; if you were EVER looking for an all around great distortion and were recommended Boss Metalzones and the like, forget it. Throw all your other pedals away. I can't stand it when people tell me that DS-1s and Metalzones are great distortions. They are not! Anyone who has been playing for more than a year will tell you that they suck. And, it's true. They do. Stop wasting your money on cheap crap. Save up, and buy this pedal! It seriously is all you need for distortion.

Ever play at low volumes with a metalzone or an MXR distortion and said, "Damn, this is awesome!", but then cranked it loud and heard ALL of the low end dissapear? The ReezaFRATzitz preserves the low end. It preserves everything. It is your clean tone overdriven and distorted perfectly, with nothing else added.

The pedal is handmade, and it shows. Not much frills here, just a red metal plate on a thick, steel box. How strong is steel should be the question. It's pretty small, but I'm sure it wouldn't break unless you took a hammer to the knobs, or something.

Never dealt with them, because this pedal has never let me down. Plus, they're from Denmark.

I play mostly indie/weird crap. I'm only going to explain my set up because it is crucial to this review:

Gibson SG standard or an Epiphone Dot (with Z Vex Machine bulit in) > Z Vex fuzz probe > modded Big Muff Pi > EMMA reezaFRATzitz > Radial Bigshot > 2 Digitech Whammys > Boss RCE-10 > Fender Twin Reverb Reissue.

Although the Fender Twin Reverb has the best clean and overdrive sounds I have ever heard, I missed my meaty distortion from my old Marshall I sold. Most fuzz and distortion pedals sound fizzy through the Twin Reverb, but the EMMA really shines. I have the best of both worlds, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

Very easy to use, I didn't find it took me very long at all to get great tones out of this little red box.

Manual is one page with some 'suggested settings'

Not exactly the tone I was searching for when I was shopping for this box, but it did help me find a different tone I've been looking for, but never got quite there with my Crowther Hot Cakes.

This pedal has effectivley dropped my Hot Cake from being my 'lead' pedal, to being my 'crunch' pedal!

The Frat is a very cool pedal that gives off tons of high gain sustain and top/mid sizzle that cuts through the mix very nicely. Even with the tone control set to about 2:00 it's still very fat, but clear! Every note comes through with this pedal, even with the high gain and heavy bottom.

The only way to describe the sound is to compare it to a fresh steak being thrown onto the barbacue.

This pedal is currently sitting between my Gibson ES-335 (burstbucker pro in neck, Dirtyfinger reissue in bridge) and my eary '70's Vox AC30TB6.

My specimine of Emma construction was pre-owned, and pretty beat. But it still works great, and my tech claims that it looks as if it was never touched by a repairman. I'm sure I'll get many years out it, as it does sit in a rack being controlled by a GCX.

never delt

I play mostly rock, but our band takes influences from so many diffrent people and genres that we require a huge range of tones to provide us with our signature sound. Thus both myself and the other guitarist employ dual amp setups and many distortion pedals from classic tube screamer sytle boxes (Maxon OD808's to be exact) to crunchy overdrive, to high gain sizzle (but not fuzzy saturation).

This box fits in nicely, and helps provide tones I've been searching for, but almost gave up on (high gain, big bottom, mid/high sizzle, but with amazing clarity), and then a friend recomended the Frat. I'll tell you this... if this is the only pedal my buddy relies on and recomended, and now It's my number one box... well then it's a damn good pedal!

I've rejected almost everything...and now I only own the best:

Emma ReezaFratZitz
Maxon OD808
Dr Scientist Woofer Wailer
Crowther HotCake Bluesberry
Crowther HotCake

It does take a little time to find the tone you are searching for but once you find it it is darn right awesome. Four knobs, level, tone, bias, and gain. There is a one page manual with some suggested settings.

This is why I bought it. My setup guitar (tele, strat, sg, les paul) - Crybaby - TS9DX Tubescreamer - EMMA RF-1 - MXR Phase 90 - EH Small clone - Dan Echo - A/B for silent tuning and guitar switching - Fender Pro Tube Pro Reverb Amp with AVATAR 2-12 Cab Closed Back with Celestion Vintage 30's. I always just used the amps clean and dirty channels and the pedals only added color or solo boost in the case of the Tubescreamer. What I wanted to do was just overdrive the clean channel on my amp for some nice classic rock/rock grit/overdrive. I still wanted to hear note seperation and clarity like I get from the clean channel. I wanted a pedal that could do this and also provide a good distortion sound if needed for heavy stuff. I really like the modern rock sound my amps dirty channel produces but I think it lacks a little clarity for classic rock or semi-clean rock guitar work.

I considered the following, Seymor Duncan Twin Tube, Carl Martin Plexitone, Hermidia Zendrive (can't get one), Menatone Red Snapper, MI Audio Tube Zone, Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet, Pigtronix OFO, and some other tube based pedals like the Radial ToneBone. The only one I actually auditioned was the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube which did not do it for me. Sometimes I think the Guitar magazine awards are based on advertising dollars spent and not actual equipment performance. The other shopping was done online listening to sound samples and reading harmony central opinions. I only use harmony central as a guide. I think everyones opinion is subjective.

OK this review is a one week old honeymoon review. I have been able to crank it at home but the first live test is this weekend. So far the pedal is doing what I have asked it to do. I think the key is the Bias knob. I have it turned all the way to Class A and my amp retains the brightness, sparkle and clarity while adding very pleasing tube sounding overdrive. I have the level set to unity, tone is around 11:00 and the gain is slightly below 9:00. It sounds great. Exactly what I have looked for in tube amps. It sounds like a VOX AC30 grit while retaining the sparkle and good clean tone. I was looking for that Tom Petty "American Girl" kind of sound. I think I am very close and I did not need to buy the Vox AC-30 which saved me $1000 and bringing a third amp to gigs. I also like the crunch sound with the gain up to about 12:00. The bias knob is like adding the cascading gain of stacked tubes. I like this harder rock sound from this pedal also. I don't hear any added noise until I put the gain up to about 3:00.

The tubescreamer pushing the input of this has been delightful. Don't go overboard on the tubecreamer setttings. I have the turbo model tubecreamer and my settings are Hot mode, drive 9:00, level at almost 1:00 and tone at 11:00. Sustain like crazy, lots of good hamonic content. I add a little delay and I think I sound like Steve Vai. I don't really care for vituoso players but a singing lead tone is awfully fun.

Right now I would give this a 10 since I am smiling. I am going to wait for about 2 months of gigging before I give a rating. I will also post a follow up.

To sum up great overdrive sounds, good crunchy tones, and good singing lead qualities when pushed by a tubecreamer. It also has performed well at adding gain to an already overdriven amp.

I have only had it a week. No comment. Switch seems to be a little low quality compared to the same style footswitch on my MXR and EH pedal.

I purhcased from MUSIC 123. No dealing with the manufacturer.

I wanted a pedal to add gain/overdrive to my tube amps clean channel. It has done a great job at adding pleasing tube like overdrive and distortion to my amps clean channel while mainting note clarity and separation. Not digital sounding at all. I have been able to vary the gain via pick attack. A quality I like in tube amps. It has given me the ability to add warm overdrive that is pleasing to the ears. I have a good dirty channel on my amp that can do heavier modern rock. I don't want this pedal to do that for me but I think it could.

Easy to use, but quite noisy towards full gain.

Very good crunch sound, better than most, but not as full as the zen drive that replaced it. Slightly thin sound.

Great

Not tried.

Good rythm sound, not so good for lead in a band.

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.