Gallien-Krueger Diesel Dawg

As overdrives/distortion pedals go, this one is slightly more complicated with tone shaping, which is its downfall. Mine didn't have a manual, but if you need one, you shouldn't be touching electronics.

Basic operation is just like any other pedal, though, you step on it until the LED lights, and it's on. Step again, it's off.

The battery drawer is nice. It's too large, though, fully 3x what it needs to be.

I did not get a sound I like. I agree with earlier posts that the bottom end drops out and the bottom control just muddies things up. I don't like the sound of the distortion, either, it's rather like the common solid state clipping diode "jackhammer" effect. It seemed quiet, and the range of gain was sufficient.

It could be used to break ice in the arctic, one solid, if slightly too large, piece. I rate my reliability based on that.

not dealt with.

I personally don't like it, and sold it back. It's a solid piece, but the tone controls are too complicated and sully the sound - and the distortion is not nice and crunchy, it's more in your face.

This is pretty much a full blown pre-amp in pedal form. It's as easy as using an amp.

I am not a professional bassist. I only play every couple of weeks to record a bass track. However I have used this pedal a lot and have a few other bass units to compare. I have had this pedal for over a year and it has impressed me.

A great choice for smoother more professional dirty tones. Other bass drives I've used have been weak or sounded like toys made for beginners. This is the pedal I use w/ my p-bass most often. For a heavy sound I use a fuzz instead.

I did not notice any bass loss, but I don't have a super hi-fi bass rig. I am recording direct or using my Fender Super 6 as an amp. These old fenders were meant to be go both ways (guitar,bass). Does sound good for bass 100+ watts into 6 10" cts. If there were bass loss that wouldn't bother me as long as it sits well in the mix and doesn't fight the kick. I play indie rock so super low bass isn't needed.

My chain is 1958 p-bass, EBS compressor, diesel dawg, pre-amp.

I bought this because it was cheap. I might have paid about $65 ? I always try Bass pedals and this is probably the single best pedal for bass I have ever used. I had the DAM Ezekiel at the same time but sold it because this one sounds so much better.

This thing is very simple and with the 3 tone controls (Bottom, Middle and Edge corresponding to Bass, Mid and Treble) you can quickly dial in a tone you like.

I consider the sound quality of this peddle to be good, but not great.
Can go from a little gritty drive to full on grunge. Nice.
Only problem is that, contrary to the other reviews, it DOES sacrifice bottom end. Now you can turn up the BOTTOM control, and it does add weight and warmth to the tone, but really has NO EFFECT on low bass!
I use 2 Acme Low B2 cabs, driven by a Carvin B1500 head so I am very sensitive to any loss of extreme bottom end. Most people, using other cabs will not notice this at all, so take this with a grain of salt! It sounds good, but I am selling mine because of the loss of bottom.

This thing is built like a tank.
Really.
Cool, slide out battery compartment too!

Never dealt with customer support at GK.

I really like this pedal and I really wish I could keep it.
I love the build quality, and the overall tone... great for anything from blues to metal, maybe even some jazz. It doesn't suck your tone when bypassed.
I even like the looks of it.

I am just really pissed that a company like GK would go to the trouble to build a pedal this nice, specifically for bass, and not go to great ends to make damn sure that it doesn't sacrifice ANYTHING in the bottom end. Especially in this price range.

Having said that, I recommend you try this thing. I doubt that you will notice the slight loss of bottom... unless you are an Acme user!
I'm STILL trying to find a reason not to sell this thing. If I could find someone to modify this thing I would pay for the mod and keep it for sure.

It's really simple kids. Volume, Bottom (bass), Middle, Edge (treble), and Gain. The manual gives some good basic sample settings to get you started, whether you want a really dirty fuzz or a more metal distortion.

I spent a long time looking for a distortion/fuzz pedal that would work for bass. Everything on the market was made for guitar. Big Muff's produced suitable fuzz but cut out all the low end. I thought I would have to buy another amp and split off the clean signal to get enough low end out of my bass. Then I found the Diesel Dawg, based on the circuitry from gain channel on Gallien-Krueger's 2001RB amp head. Off, it's completely transparent. On, you can leave it going, even during the quiet parts of songs. I use it for a very warm, dirty fuzz effect, but you can dial it in for anything. Considering that there are only 2-3 other distortion pedals designed for bass, this is the best sounding one and a good bargain. Everything is interactive, so as you turn up the gain, you'll probably need to turn down the volume and vice versa. I generally crank the gain and leave the volume at 1/4 when I want a dramatic effect. As far as bands go, think Radiohead, Interpol, The Walkmen, Fugazi, Hot Hot Heat.

My setup: vintage Hagstrom H 2NB bass, Sansamp Bass Driver DI, Diesel Dawg, Ampeg SVT-350H, 4x10 cab, 1x15 cab.

This thing is built like a tank. Heavy. I think they put most of the amp in there. You can go 9V or AC. The battery compartment is on the right side of the unit and opens with the turn of a "quick-turn" thumb screw. I play with no backup. Don't need one.

I haven't had to call them yet, so I wouldn't know.

This is one of the very few distortion/sustain pedals out there for bass guitar. And it's the only one designed specifically for bass by a company that manufactures bass amps. It's only real peer is Fulltone's Bass-Drive, but that pedal is more expensive and didn't have quite the punch I needed. This is a large, heavy pedal, so make room. No longer is distortion and fuzz solely the domain of the guitar and keyboard. Finally I can have my cake and eat it too, bass distortion with full, deep bass tone.

BASS DISTORTION BASS DISTORTION
this BASS Distortion pedal is really easy to use, it has VOL, Bottom (bass), Middle (mid), Edge (treble), and Gain (distortion) all these knobs are big like off their amps and it is big so you know which pedal you are engaging when you step on it, the only downfall is it is big like more than 2 1/2 boss pedals, but it is really ergonomicly designed. it is real simple to get from a little tube style overdrive to real grinding distortion with the turn of the grind button and it its just as simple as that.

i use a jackson C5A bass with a GK 1001RB head with a 2x15 cab i built with Eminence B15's, just so you know that is what i hear everything through instead of a DI or something, and this distortion pedal is the best for bass compared to digitech, boss, and ibanez because it is the cleanest, most defined distortion pedal without sacrificing the bottom, in fact i get way more bass when its on with the "Bottom" turned up, and for the ones i have named its the best, i havent tried eletro-harmonix or any nice tube amps with built in distortion, but for what i have tried, even some ampeg svt amps with all the eq's and built in effects like distortion and octaver, this pedal sounds better.

i dont know how reliable it is but it sure is built like their amps, with heavy aluminum cassing and its like a big box with knobs and a switch so it looks beefy and my gk head has taken a beating so i hope this will too

i havent dealt with the company but from what i have read they are real helpful and are really good with customers

i play just about every style of music, but i am in a band that plays many styles of hard rock and this pedal will help in the heavy parts of our songs because i love clarity, and i love meaty sound and this pedal gives me both with more than i could ask for. it sounds the way i think a distortion pedal should sound for bass, and i love how it has a 3 band eq instead of a stupid tone control or just bass and treble, even the 2001 RB head that GK makes doesnt have the mid control this one has and they are based on the same circuitry for the distortion chanel on that amp. its definitley worth the extra bucks you would shell out compared to the less expensive other brand models.