Fender Starcaster Distortion

Pretty straight-forward to use. The Level and and Gain knobs are self explanatory. The 3-band EQ is nice and the adjustments are noticeable without being too touchy. The only thing that may confuse some people is the frequency adjust for the midrange.

It's not brootal gainz, but actually fairly tame distortion, yet thick with a hint of that fuzz/muff octave style thing. Many hard distortions I've had usually ended up sounding flabby and muddy when using a hard pick attack on a low gain setting. This actually excels with it on the lower gains. Running the gain knob on high winds up with the sound being too undefined, but on the lower settings it works really well.

I'm not an awesome lead player by any stretch, but long soloing notes work great with it. It doesn't work really well for strumming or parts where the high and low end intermix a lot. My style of playing jumps around between open power chords, palm mutes and single note riffs in the same measure, mostly on the low end strings. This pedal translates that sound well.

I have my Boss PH-3 phaser before this pedal in the chain. Using it with the Starcaster distortion, I get a kind of cocked-wah by giving the phaser a long sweep and reduced depth and resonance. I'm hunting down an overdrive to stick after it, kind of like a boost.

Hard to say. It's a new effect, but supposed to be a sister of the Johnson DEQ-2 Distortion EQ, so however those hold up should be a good indicator. It's a solid metal case with a good switch, so it appears it will last awhile.

If you're unsure, Target has a great return policy. Return it with the package and receipt for a full refund.

I really do think it was worth the $45 I paid at Target. Other big-box retailers carry it as well. I bought it on a whim, just to test it out, with the intention of returning it, but it actually has become a keeper. There aren't many good distortions in this price range. For my playing style this works out really well.