Seymour Duncan SFX-03

Tube driven, true bypass, cool overdrive/distortion pedal.
You know the specs. You gonna read most of these before you make up your mind anyway!
It doesn't get any easier to use. Just chicken-head knobs and your ears. Very easy to get useable classic rock, southern rock tones. Nice overdrives. It's a cool pedal. The manual has far too much information-never read it. Control layout is pretty insane!!

I have a heavily modded/halfway distroyed american tele, crybaby 535Q, EVH phase 90, DS1, CE5, DD3, to a blues Jr. I also have the digitech Whammy, Rt. 66, GE7, TR2, DL4, original 535Q, and others I can't remember because I've had a few. I have all my pedals mounted on a pedal train board with a dunlop brick. I like it. It always changes. I have alot of velcro. I've had alot of gear. I opt for simple with true bypass these days. Ya, Ya, I now I have a few boss pedals. It's taboo. But I like them and after Keeley gets his hands on them, they aren't really boss pedals anymore anyways. I have george L's cables as well as Monster Rock cables. I can't tell the difference, I just know the people that can say they are the best so I buy them. What the hell. I've spent alot of time on harmony central!! haha
Anyway, the SD has been on my board for a long time now.
It's not too noisy. Noise is inherent with OD's. It's not overly noisy at all.
The effects sound great to me. I can always find something that will inspire me to play something new. And that's all that counts. It's not going to make you angus. You have to become him yourself. I am a guitar junky. But this helps for sure.
If you like that 70's rock sound, it works good. I'm no good at descriptions like others. I'm a Neil Young fan and I can get alot of his style tones. Not exactly but close enough to make me feel like a rockstar! I haven't alway been neil young though. I went through the metallica stage, sepultura, prong, AIC, etc. Then I hit 30. I slowed down a bit. Really dove into the blues, Johnny Winter, R.L. Burnside, Howlin' Wolf. Then I went into a Johhny Cash/Willy Nelson phase. Now I'm still into it all and also a huge clutch fan. So I'm all over the place.

I have never had an issue with it.

No issues here either

You can alway improve on something. But I'm not going to nitpick it to death. I'm rating this against other effects that have common tonalities. I love the pedal. I use it when I want to get these tones. It's not metal. It's classic rock through and through. Now I'm sure with a combination of pedals you can make anything sound like something. But for getting that classic rock tone, this is it for me. Love it. I have been playing for 13 years. I still suck. I could tell you I have an ear for good tone but tone is in the ear of the beholder. So I'm not going to insult your taste. If it were lost or stolen I'd grab another one. I compared this to alot of other products. I liked the boss products, visual sounds, etc. too. I just stuck with this one. I still own the rest. they have their uses. I like the two in one pedal. Ya, it's big, but it's worth it to me. If I had one wish, that would be a mid control. But you know what? Mess with it a little and you'll find the spot. Or you won't and you won't run this pedal. It is musical. it's not going to get you from emo to screamo.

Easy to use : just the knobs anyone actually needs, to make sounds that anyone would want to hear.

All opinions in this area are heavily influenced by 1/ personal taste and 2/ the gear you use with the rated item. My taste are towards warm, seventies rock and prog sounds, and I use an extensively modified Epiphone Les Paul and two medium power, hybrid or solid state amps (Marshall and Vox). I use the SFX 03 as my tube crunch and lead channels, with the amps set on a good clean sound. I guess it is a reversal of the historic way of getting a rock sound (that is, putting an analog pedal in front of a tube amp). Anyway, the sound is excellent : defined, yet warm, sensitive to touch and to your pickup selection, natural sounding (compared to other tube overdrive pedals) and in spite of the limited number of controls, quite flexible.

Heavy, metal chassis, large knobs. Only been a few times to rehersal yet, but seems solid. I often change the position of the knobs between songs with my boot, and for the moment it's fine.

No problem yet, so no idea on that point.

It won't suit death metal guitarists, or lovers of thick square-wavey fuzz : but for lovers of classic rock sounds, it's excellent. I like the fact that it has its own sound, not a copy of Marshall or another. The crunch channel is warm and fuzzy like it should, can also be a wonderful clean and semi-clean channel. The lead channel is biting yet smooth, doesn't sound "hollow" like some do. I like the fact that it's not expensive : gear to play rock shouldn't be fragile and expensive.

This pedal is super easy to use, just like a tube amp:)

This is where this pedal shines. A previous reviewer said that this pedal draws the tone from your guitar, as opposed to have having to "push" the tone out. I agree.

I use this pedal with an Atomic 112-50 amp and a POD XT. I swear that this pedal not only brings tone from your guitar, but also out of the Pod. Using this pedal is like putting on 3-D glasses at a movie. Take them off and the picture is kinda unfocused. Put them on, and there's color all around you. Same with this Twin Tube/Pod XT/Atomic combo.

Used with regular amps still produces a nice Tube Driver type tone.

Seems built like a tank. I don't like wallwarts, but I do appreciate the fact that it keeps the price of the pedal low, keeps the pedal smaller, and keeps 120VAC away from your feet:)

Never had to deal with them.

This is a wonderful Twin channel pedal from Seymour Duncan. Unlike some tube pedals that use a "starved plate" method in which the tube is starved for voltage-causing it to clip llke a diode, the Twin Tube is %100 tube driven. It's gain is the result of high voltage tubes funning full tilt, making it much more amp-like in response and tone.

Easy as using a tube amp. Turn the knobs for Bass and treble for the overall sound. Turn the volume and gain knobs for the rhythm and lead channels.

This pedal is great for what I use it for, which is as an amp "modeler" at the end of my chain. er, however, is kind of a misnomer because it truely has its own sound. I keep both my rhythm and lead channels fairly clean, using the lead as more of a boost. The tubes in this pedal give it just the right amounts of warmth and bite that I was looking for. Plus it is a whole lot lighter and cheaper than an AC-30 or Bassman would be.

I haven't owned this pedal but a week but it seems to be very solid.

I haven't delt with them but have a friend who had a problem with a set of pick-up he bought and they treated him well.

I play on a couple of worship teams (also why I chose this pedal instead of an amp [reduces stage "noise"])and play Rock, Jazz, blues... This was the best solution for me considering its versatility and sound

Fairly easy to use- set your levels for each channel and stomp on it. It shares EQ for both channels and doesn't have a mid knob- It should- see below.

This pedal sucks in front of my '73 Marshall amp, period. I agree with some other people that the low end is very mushy. I believe this pedal was probably designed for a Fender type amp as it adds a lot of midrange that colors the Marshall tone to the point it is just crappy sounding. I tried every trick in the book to EQ it to work but no dice. I have an H&K Tubefactor that absolutely blows it away. The Maxon tube pedal is also way better. Actually the Fulltone OCD, which is not a tube pedal sounds much better. The overall sound is no where as big as any of those pedals. It probably does a decent Rolling Stones, Keef-type OD but that is about it. The high gain sounds, if you want to call them that are just not there at all, and I'm not even a high-gain guy. For me, Seymour, missed the boat on this one. I know it got great reviews but I've been playing and gigging for over 20 years and have to call it the way I see it- its going back.

Looks like it is built well and will hold up.

I hear Seymour is great.

Sorry, to rain on this pedal's parade but it just wasn't making it for me at all. I liked the idea of having two channels as the first channel on the H&K is good but could use more gain and it makes the other channel have two much when you turn it up. I should have tried it in a Fender to see if it faired better there- I suspect it would. All I can say is that it does not work with old non-master volume Marshalls at all.

Pretty straigh forward.

This is the best OD/DIST pedal I have ever used. I have a Mesa Boogie F-50 and I wanted to ge the sound of Channel one when you overdrive it but be also able to have it clean when I wanted it. I tried many different pedals but liked none until this came along. It sounds fat. It also responds so well to dynamics like turning the vulume down on your guitar. I would like to have tone controls for each channel but I am a control freak.

So Far So good

Great Bunch of guys

I TRY to play everything from Clean latin style to heavy metal and all in between. The only thing that would make this pedal more versatily would be tone controlls for each channel but then that would probably be a preamp not a pedal

in our days where everything needs fat manuals the sfx 03 looks very simple.

i just got it and i was between this and a vpd1 tc electronics because i want to pair it with G system (tc elect. effects ).Now i feel very happy because it has an incredible sound together.
i compared it to a rocktron voodu valve preamp and it sounds mutch better.
what i like the most is the mild hi frequencies it creates while keeping fat lows ,something that hepls me play better..
its overall dist is smooth and sustained..
my fears of getting somethin without listen to it dissapeared..

it seems like a heavy duty stomp..
i wonder if i can find these tubes when i need them..but the S.D .says they will last for a long time..

someone that made a so nice job with it ,must love the whole thing so i believe they must have good support..after all it doesn't seem to need it

my style is between jazz and rock sound and i play and teach for about 20 years .I would buy it again since it really respects its price.
i wish i could by it a little cheaper like the others in USD but anyway i think it is still cheap for it's sound quality!

How difficult can it be to operate an overdrive pedal?
I'd give it a 10 but some people may not get how the EQ effects the amount of gain and the conrols are sensitive (meaning they are very flexible), so 9 it is.

This is the best overdrive pedal I have used yet.
I have various guitars - single coils, humbuckers, p-90s, etc with various amps - VHT, Ampeg, Gibson, Epi Valve Jr and Vox Valvetronix.
This pedal sounds great with all of them.

I had a Homebrew Electronics Powerscreamer (slightly modified) and a Barber Direct Drive DDSSS. I consider them both to be very good pedals. But when I heard the SFX-03 there was simply no contest, at least as far as what I value most. The SFX-03 so natural. The others pedals never sounded artificial until they went up against the SFX-03. It doesn't force it's way onto your tone.....your tone comes through it. It does sound very big though, huge in fact.

Channel 1 can go from a clean boost-like to raging crunch and the crunchiness of the pedal is awesome. It is very neutral in character.
Channel 2 goes from crunch to a lot of drive. It has a bit more mid presence but still is not syrupy in that regard.

In all, the box sopunds like an amp...or an extansion of your amp.
It plays nice with every combo I tried. It makes the Vox come alive, really it does and is equally at home with my VHT, a $3,000 amp. In fact, it is the only pedal I would consider using with the VHT.

In all, just a great pedal.

The thing is a monster, built like the proverbial tank.
It is more than 2x the girth of the Homebrew and Barber.
The tubes are soldered in, maybe not good for when the time comes to change them, but they won't be popping loose, not that they pop loose from an amp, etc.

It all, it inspires confidence.

I never had to deal with Seymour Duncan.
Hopefully the pedal won't be a cause to do so.

Overall rating is a 10.
It simply is the best pedal of it's type I have used....it's perfect for me.

I play all different types of music using all different types of tones. As for overdrive, I prefer great crunch but at times need something more or less. This pedal covers a lot of ground. I wouldn't say it does really intense metal or does the scooped out thing by itself but there isn't much else it won't do from clean to crunch to scream and do it all with class.

FWIW, I have already sold the Homebrew and the Barber, which are fine pedals in their own right. I mention this because I think it says a lot about this pedal.

I wish it had seperate tone controls for each channel. Still, this hasn't been a problem at all.

Anyone wondering about this pedal owes it to themselves to try it out.

Pretty straight forward controls, volume and gain for each channel with global bass(40Hz~200Hz) and treble(2kHz~20kHz) controls. The tone controls work well, but I really would have liked some mid eq. Idealy independant bass, mid and treble controls for each channel, that would make this thing much more tweakable. I do appreciate the ease of use the simple controls afford though. You can pretty much dial in a couple of good sounds within minutes and then do your tweaking at the amp.

I have a G&L ASAT Z-3(similar to a Tele/Strat) and a Tom Anderson Cobra(similar to a LP or PRS). I ran the guitars straight into the Twin Tube and then into a Yamaha DG80 1x12 combo set to clean.

There's a lot of different sounds in the Twin Tube. The way you set the tone controls on your amp can have a huge effect on how it interacts with the Twin Tube, so dialing in your sound takes a bit of patients. With a moderate gain setting the rhythm channel can do a really nice "on the verge of breaking up" sound. A little more gain and you've got AC/DC. Switch to the lead channel and you'll find everything from a fat crunch to saturated overdrive. Playing leads with this thing is a joy. At higher gain settings you get violin like sustain, rich in harmonics and warm tube goodness. The trade off is that chords can get a bit muddy at higher gain settings, especially with humbuckers.

Overall I'm very pleased with the sound of the Twin Tube. It's turned my modest Yamaha 1x12 combo into a really nice amp. Until I can scrape up the $2000 I plan to spend on my next amp it will do nicely.

Seems well built, steel chassis, metal jacks. I wish Seymour Duncan would actually tell us the approximate life expectancy of the tubes.

At $200~$220 you just can't go wrong with the Twin Tube Classic, it sounds better than any "boutique" pedal I've heard. It also sounds better than the Mesa Boogie V-Twin and Formula Pre I once owned. It is the closest thing to an overdriven tube amp you're going to find in a pedal.

The Seymour Duncan SFX-03 is very easy to use. You have bypass, a rhythm channel, and a lead channel. There's bass and treble controls, which affect both channels. Each channel has volume and gain (distortion) controls. It has a switch for true-bypass.

You get tube quality sound when using either of the two channels allowing for each channel to provide its own unique tonality (clean to distorted) and volume. The global bass/treble controls allow you shape the tones of the two channels as compared to the bypass mode tonality
of your amp. I would strongly recommend getting this (or any other) tube based pre-amp particularly, if you are plugged directly into your recording equipment or PA system or if your amp is not a tube amp. Is is my opinion that you need to hve tube shaping somewhere in your guitar's output path to get the rich tube harmonics, distortion, and clarity.

It seems very well built.

I have not had to contact Customer Support.

Using the pedal you can now have 3 different sounds (Your amp straight, a Rhythm sound, and a Lead sound). You also get the rich tube harmonics, distortion, and clarity. This unit is great! My only recommendation is that you check out the Damage Control Womanizer or Demonizer pre-amp pedals. They are more expensive than the Seymour Duncan SFX-03, but offer more flexibility of tones (ie. compression and filter notching).