Krank Amplification Distortus Maximus

It's very easy to get the right sound because the knobs are very responsive. I gave it a 10 because it sounds great when you find "your" sound but be patient, it may some tweeking.

This is the best distortion (stomp box) pedal I've ever had. I've tried a lot of the Boss, Digitech...etc and they all have a sort of hissy-fizz sound (especially the metalzone). The Krank pedal has the high-gain crunchier "chug" sound I've been look'n for. I dialed in a great sound right away but then I added an MXR-M108 10-band EQ behind it and BLAMO, perfection. A good reference of bands you could come really close to sounding like are: Soilwork, Killswitch Engage, Slayer & Children of Bodom. Drop-tune to B and, with the right pick-up/AMP set-up you got Amon Amarth. With so many of our fans(local bar goers) requesting Lamb of God songs, this finally made it possible (well, close enough; I'm still saving up for a MESA/Boogie amp&cab). It DOES take a 9V battery and my best advise to you, for that much-needed depth and endless tone possibilities, is to add the MXR-M108 10-band EQ. Oh...It's not just for tube amps. The Krank and the MXR EQ are the perfect compliments to any valve/solidstate amp. My set-up is an Ibanez SZ520 (trans black) w/stock Duncan-Ibanez Humbuckers, BC Rich NJ Warlock with EMG-81/85 (Zach Wylde signature) pick-ups, the Krank Distortus Maximus followed by an MXR-M108 10-band EQ into a Marshall MG100HDFX set to clean (does the job well but save up for that tube amp you know you want). Just in case you're wondering, the settings on the Krank are: Treb 8-9, Mid 4, Bass 10, Master 4-5(must find a good balance between this and your amp master vol.) and of course the gain. Surprisingly enough, it's only set to 5-6, any higher and it starts getting that sizzle thing, I guess it depends on your set-up. Just tweek it, you'll find it (especially with the MXR-M108 EQ...gee you'd think this is a review of the EQ) Want a settings clue for it?...ok, don't just think "mid-sweep" try running the 31.25Hz and 1KHz all the way up and work with the rest from there. The volume and gain on the EQ really pump up the output but I keep them low to get more clarity out of the depth it provides.

Very dependably. I guess I'll use what has been said in many other reviews: "Built like a tank". I did have to tighten down one of the little allen screws on a knob but no big deal. I have no worries and no back-up during a gig. I always, and suggest putting in a fresh battery (no power adapter, I prefer less wires)

Never dealt with the company. Gave a 5 'cause I can't say one way or another

I play Metal; Death, Thrash, Speed & Viking. It's perfect for all because the fast picking (vibrato) has an excellent clear hum. Just listen to the song "Versus the World" by Amon Amarth. You can sound like that, if you can play it and drop tune to B (make sure you install the heaviest strings you can find, not baritone though,....hmm they don't quite fit, oops). Plus it gives those chunky, clear, mid-boosted "chugga luggs" we all love so much.

5 knobs, 3 EQ (low mid and high), a master volume and a gain, easy for eyes, if u spend a little time to adjust them, u will find the true power of this monster.

perfect! after testing the many other metal/distortion pedals, i have finally found the mr.right. it does produce enough highs and bass tones, but you need to fix it in the right position. my chain: fender us star -> boss boss od3 -> the krank -> boss bf3 -> dd6 -> fender amp

just got it in for few days

there's no needs to chat with them yet

stunning box, which fully fills my demands

It is very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. Every adjustment can be very useful. There is no manual but there are instructions imprinted on the bottom of the pedal.

I can get the lead sounds of Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, and SRV (when you turn down the gain and use the pedal as a boost driving an amp on almost ten).You can get a wide variety of sounds from this pedal. From mild overdrive to heavy distortion. From Blues to Metal. You can get a decent amount of gain, however, not as much gain as a Boss Metal Zone.
My setup right now is simple. Guitar, Distortus Maximus, Amp. My guitars are: Ibanez RG 2550, Fender standard telecaster w/ Bill Lawrence pickups, Fender standard stratocaster w/ DiMarzio Tone Zone and Hs-3 Pickups. My amps are: Crate V58, Fender Blues Deville, and Marshall TSL-100 head into a 2x12 slant cab fitted with JBL MI-12 speakers.
This pedal is not noisy at all. Every setting illicits great tone.
The name of the pedal throws a lot of people (including me)off. This is not a pedal only for Metal. This is a pedal for all Rock Genres. Very, Very versatile. The knobs and controls are set up like an amp channel. Master, Gain, Bass, Midrange, and Treble Knobs.
The pedal is very hi-fi sounding. It adds dimension to the basic sound of any amp. It is like adding an additional channel to your amp. This pedal contains a lot of headroom for a distortion pedal. Sounds better with a tube amp, IMHO. I wish it had a tad more gain like a Metal Zone.

It feels dependable and already gigged live with it without a backup (although it is not wise to do so). It feels solid enough for road work. I don't think I owned it long enough (2 months) to have a say on this issue.

Never dealt with them.

I play instrumental rock, Old school Metal, Blues Rock, Classic rock, R&B, Funk, Reggae, Hawaiian Contemporary, and a little Jazz , Jazz fusion. This pedal can illicit useful tones with all of these genres. I've been playing since 1983. Other distortion pedals I own are Boss DS-1, Boss HM-2, Boss MT-2, Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde, and an old Realtube pedal. The Maximus Distortus, to me, sounds superior to all of them in one way or another. I just wish it had a little more gain. The overall sound, however, compensates for the lack of gain.
I would buy another one if this one was stolen. I've never been so satisfied with a distortion pedal before this one.

It is really easy to use. There's a volume/level knob, bass knob, mid knob, treble knob, and a distortion knob. It did not come with a conventional manual but it does have use instructions on the bottom plate (underneath the pedal. There is no dedicated battery compartment. You have to disassemble the pedal to get to the battery which is wedged against the inside chasis by a piece of foam rubber. Because of this battery situation, I will give this rating a 9 instead of a 10.

I keep my setup fairly simple. For guitar I use either a telecaster with Bill Lawrence pickups, or an Ibanez RG2550 with DiMarzio IBZ pickups. I run my guitars through the Distortus Maximus with a Line 6 PODXT Live either set up before or afer (depends on what the recording or line of effects call for). From the PodXt Live/ Distortus Maximus I run the line to my Crate Vintage Series amp. I've also tried the Distortus Maximus through a JSX mini collosal, Peavey Classic 30, Krank Rev Jr., and straight into the PodXt Live straight into a studio recording consol.
This pedal really sounds amazing. This is the most hi-fi sounding distortion pedal I have ever heard. It seems to add a lot of headroom to my sound. It does not sound like a distortion pedal. It sounds like I just added an additional great sounding lead channel to my amp. It sounds like a lead channel of a high end amplifier.
The only thing that may or may not be of any significance is that the name of the distortion pedal implies that it is a very high gain distortion pedal. I assumed, befored I tried it out and bought it, that it was going to hold up against a Boss MT-2 as far as gain was concerned. It comes close but not quite. It does, however, sound very natural and tubelike in contrast to the very compressed and exaggerated gain of the Boss MT-2. Because of this, I knocked out 1 point. If the gain could hold up to the gain of a Boss MetalZone, I would have given this pedal a rating of 10.
The Distortus Maximus, in my opinion, will sound best used in front of a tube amp.

It feels reliable and rugged. I don't know for sure because I really haven't gigged exstensively with this peal. I have a back up Boss pedal. I would never gig without a backup if I could help it. I just bought this pedal and used it only for studio purposes.

Never had to deal with them and I hope I will never have to.

This pedal is for all types of Rock music. If you want to have a good Metal sound and gain, then I would advise using an overdrive pedal ala tubesreamer or Krank krank shaft pedal in addition to the Distortus Maximus. If lost or stolen, I would buy it again. I've owned Boss DS-1, Boss HM-2, Boss BD-2, Boss MT-2, VisualSound Jekyll and Hyde, and a B.K. Butler Realtube distortion pedal. The Distortus Maximus is by far the best one out of all of them.

Well this little baby has got a good sound,but no manual inside!
Krank surely know the guys that will buy this thing,cause it's really easy to use.
Has gote 5 knobs:Bass,Treble,Mids,Gain and Master.
Getting the sound you want could take some time,but in the end if you have patience you can get really great results.

I've used an ESP alexi 600 and a marshall jcm 2000 super dual lead to test this little thing.
Also some other stomp:A Boss NS 2,an MXR Super Comp,than the Krank,an Ibanez Flanger and a Boss Super Chorus.
Surely it's killer,but if you want the Dime Darrell sound you're really miles away.The name Krank on it can make you say:"Hey,if Dime was still alive,he would be using one of this"...sorry that's False!
It sound great,and it's really great especially with a good valve amplifier.
But do not try to sound like Dime...with this,it's nearly impossible.

This pedal seems like a tank,it seems indestructable,and you can bet I'll use it without a Back up!

No dealing with the company,but since they are a new sensation in stomp bpxes and amplification,I hope their custom support will be good.

I play thrash metal,near to Kreator,Destruction,Testament,Pantera And Megadeth.This thing is good,I buy it to substitute the Metal Zone I was using,cause everyone use it...I want a sound different from the usual sound the metal heads want.
Don't misunderstand...the Metal Zone is still one of the best in the market,but simply I got tired by the way it sounded.
The Krank is a little bit different,and can reach some other sound other than that of the Metal Zone.
I think it's just a matter of taste.I like the Krank and The Metal Zone,but the Krank has got different sound options and that's a thing that I love.

Its pretty straight forward. there is gain, volume, treble, mid, and bass controls. a nice change to the standard all-in-one tone control on most distortion pedals

unfortunately, for the most part this thing sounds like ass. im playing this with an ibanez rgt42fm w/seymour duncans thru a mesa dc-5 and a couple of other pedals along the way, and the only thing i can really use it for is a little extra gain for lead work. as a stand alone distortion, the only word to describe it is 'rashery'. actually, the sound somewhat resembles the scummy sound of a marshall mg10 going full whack, but with a horrible top end. it sounds slightly better on lower gain settings, but this is certainly not the skull crushing sound implied by the endorsements os dimebag and shadows fall. all in all i was pretty disappointed. i went with this over an mxr doubleshot distortion and im thinkin that was a mistake...

well it works, and iv never had any problems with its operation, but all the knobs have fallen off! i know that this is only a matter of tightening the small bolts on the side of each knob, but the effort! especially when it keeps on happening! a small thing i know, but it still shouldnt happen...

havent dealt with them

the sound i was looking for was a petrucci meets gilbert tone, ie singing lead tones and a heavy as hell yet defined rhythm sound. unfortunately, this didnt help. ok its not terrible, but its certainly not the balls to the wall metal tone you might hope for.
if it was stolen id probably replace it with the zakk wylde OD pedal. it does exactly what i use this pedal for, except better!

Its easy to use, but you don??t get a good sound of it.
There is a "manual" printed on the backsite of it.

I test it with a Marshall Studio Tube Combo in clean Channel with a very neutral sound.
If you get a "acceptable" adjustment - a metal sound -, you have the problem that you have no highs. Its too thuddingly. If you turn the high an middle knob over 12o??clock, you will get a extrem compressor sound with a spirit of a chainsaw. EXTREME BAD.
The bass frequency is too little of the pedal and if you turn the knob over 8 you??ll get a big oooooooomp!oooooomp!oooooomp!

I don??t trust it.

I play metal. Deathmetal, Thrashmetal and Hardcore. I play since 15 years and have tested a lot of pedals (from Boss, Rocktron, Ibanez, Zoom and Line6) and can say, that this thing is not worth the money.

It??s not a distortion, it??s a maximum overdrive and sound bad!

Save you bucks and look for other, better pedals.

Simply very easy to use.

Sound wise this pedal is amazing,i used it with my ring fender hot road deluxe,soldano supercharger,roger mayer voodoo vibe,carl martin delyla xl,visual sound route 66,e-h small stone,vox wha.The pedal sounds 100% tube like,can do nice bluesy lead or warm old style overdrive,i also use mesa formula for direct recording and guess,distortus maximus add nice variations to an already perfect sound,like an extra channel on formula.

So far no problem.

? never used it.

It's one af my fave,along with Soldano supercherger,and Tech 21 double drive,and at the same time very different than those,so i give it a 10.

Pretty simple, three band eq, volume, and gain level. Wish it had the sweep feature of the Krank Revolution head for a little more versatilitiy. You may have to tweek a little at different volumes, but sounds good on most settings. I like the treb and bass around 3-5 o'clock, mids at around 9ish.

When I first plugged it in I was blown away at how close it sounded to my friends Krank head. At higher volumes however, and played with a band, it loses just a little bit of that crunch. Hands down the best distortion pedal I've ever heard, but I would not compare it to an overdrive pedal such as a tubescreamer. This should be run just with the clean signal through a tube amp for maximum death. Didn't like how it sounded on my gain channel, it's not one of those Zakk O/D pedals that you would use to push the edge and solo. Can get an oldschool Metallica/Randy Rhoads/Zakk Wylde tone, nice and crunchy and heavy as shit, just gotta tweak it to your needs. Could probably play nu-metal screamo crap with it too, just turn the bass up really high and chug on an E chord.

Use it with my LP custom through my Crate V30 Class A tube head. Can be a little fuzzy/farty at times, but overall for a high gain pedal it's got a pretty rounded tone. EQ is very sensitive, not like other pedals. It really effects your tone and can be shaped accordingly. It's not noisy using the battery, even at really high gain and volume settings, however, when I plug it into my powered SKB pedal board, it hums very loudly and is not very usable. Sounds like it's picking up feedback from the current or something. Has anyone else had this problem? Not sure if I got a problem with mine. Works just fine on the battery though.

Seems pretty sturdy, I would gig without a backup. Only thing that sucks is it's one of those back screw off battery input suckers that the battery rests right against the circuit board. Piss-poor design if you ask me. Seems pretty sturdy otherwise. It's a heavy pedal for heavy metal. Wait, that wasn't funny.

Called them and e-mailed them about the issue, they said to send it back, but I never did. Just using it with the battery. I'm too f'n lazy and I don't want to be without. I get tired of shipping shit back and forth.

Overall, it's basically a really cheap solution to buying a Revolution head. I love the rev head, but I don't love spending $1,600 bucks, and I love the sound of my Crate v30 which I paid $600 for, so I figured I'd check this bad boy out. I'm pretty happy with it. For the most part, I use my amps gain, but when we play stuff like Korn, Lacuna Coil, Alice in Chains and Ozzy, this baby's a beaut. If it were lost or stolen, not sure if I would buy it again, only because I love my amps gain, but if you have a great clean sounding tube amp, and your not happy with your gain channel (or you don't have one) this will more than suffice for your metal shredding needs.

This pedal is quite easy to use. Treble, Midrange and Bass controls, as well as Master and Gain. Very responsive to changes in the settings.

I want to say at the outset that the previous reviewer who ran this into a solid state amp definitely does not understand the purpose of this pedal. It is expressly created for the purpose of overdriving and distorting a TUBE amplifier. I use this pedal to add distortion to TUBE amplifiers such as the Bogner Shiva and Germino Lead 55.

The Distortus Maximus provides excellent overdrive and distortion into a TUBE amplifier, and I can even say that it is the best distortion pedal I've tried, and I have tried quite a few.

Don't be mislead by the aforementioned reviewer, this pedal DOES deliver the classic Krank tone! Nuff said! Turn it up and enjoy the roaring tone and still have plenty of definition in your notes.

So far so good:)

Haven't deal with Krank, but I am impressed with the build quality of the pedal.

The Krank Distortus Maximus is a great way to ad some serious 1400 pound violin rockin' tone to your TUBE amplifier. Crank it up and listen to the smooth singing tones. Definitely a keeper.