Seymour Duncan SFX04 TWIN TUBE MAYHEM

Getting a great sound of of this thing was a piece of cake, though I did have a little advance help watching the demo video on the SD website. It's set up just like an amp channel, so if you know what you usually like on an amp that should get you in the ballpark. I never looked at the manual...why would you need to?

I'm running into a Marshall JVM 215C, which I love, but no amp can do everything. The TTM is like adding a Mesa channel to my Marshall, it just brings tones I could never get from the amp. I use it with all kinds of guitars, though I use it most with my Ibanez Prestige, just because the TTM wants to scream (though it can sing if you dial things back a bit). It's the last thing I run before the amp. Some posters complained that there was not enough crazy gain, which is partially true (but what it has is musical as hell) so I'll sometimes drive it a bit more with my Fulltone OCD or Fat Boost. I also get very different character out of it by switching between a fully clean amp channel (more biting highs and lows) and a lightly distorted one (more mid warmth). It can certainly do a great Vai/Satriani sort of thing! By the way, very little noise and still good clarity even at crazy gain settings. Oh, the boost function is great also, though why anyone would ever need the 8db boost, I don't know!!!

So far so good. My only little complaint is the feel of the knobs...the mid knob is really tight, almost hard to adjust smoothly, and the master vol knob is so loose I sometimes move it by accident when going over it to switch another pedal. Not a big problem and everything else has been perfection.

Don't know...

The TTM is great for singing leads, powerful crunchy rhythm...just about any hard rock tone you might want. This, in combination with my amp, gives me pretty much any tone I could think of. I've been playing for 35 years, most of that professionally, and this amp/pedal combination is the best and most versatile tone grouping I've ever played.

I would definitely replace this if something bad happened. I've tried pretty much every tube preamp out there and this is by far the best for the hard rock tones I seek.

Plug it in, turn some knobs, rock out, turn some knobs some more, rock harder, press button with foot, rock out even louder..Yea, its pretty easy to use. Some people wont like having to use the power adaptor everywhere you go, but nothing breaks up tubes like AC power. If you have another pedal that claims to have tube distortion and runs on a battery you have been lied to and ripped off. 9V DC is not enough to cause a tube to distort, these pedals work by making the tubes clip, which is not really distortion.

Sound quality is awesome, as mentioned on another review you cant get that really tight (sounds clipped to me) distortion that you can get with some BOSS pedals, but im cool with that, I really like the tube distortion sound that it gives. One thing that anybody needs to be absolutely clear on is that this is basically a tube overdrive device, just like the overdrive channel on a tube amp. You can get tons of gain and distortion out of this thing but its going to sound alot different than distortion done through other pedals and more like a distorted amp. I play a Gibson Robot V through a cheap Marshall combo practice amp sounds great with this pedal. Same setup plugged into a Fender twin reverb sounded awesome.

Built like a tank! Had it 6 months with no problems

Never dealt with them.

Play rock, metal,etc.. I like this pedal, great for some things, not so good for others (then I use something else). Shure would be nice if it had an A/B channel so you could have different settings for different songs without having to bend over and tweak, but oh well thats life. If stolen I would buy another. Overall really good pedal!

it's very ease to use, the knobs are the same as in most pedals, and yet if you play with it you can get al sorts of tones

what most people dont understand is that this pedal cant have as much gain as other pedals like boss mt2 or digitech death metal or such because this isnt an analog pedal it has 2 tubes inside a its purpose is to give you a tube amp sound, especialy if you wanted a engl or a mesa boogie sound!

I play it with a custom made guitar B&k and a Music Man Sub 1 into a Laney mxd 65w amp with a laney 4x12 box, and I couldnt be happier!

I've used it a couple of times on concerts and every day on rehersals and it completely reliable!!

it works perfectly so there was no need for customer support :)

the best pedal that simulates an hi gain tube amp! (ENGL, Mesa Boogie)

Ive been playing for 6 years now and Ive had al kinds of pedals (boss mt2, digitech death metal, digitech grunge, mi audio crunch box, etc. ) and this is and will probably always be THE BEST!!!

easy to use but doesnt give you the metal crunch like a boss MT-2

it makes microphonic feedback when stomping on the switch

It's gigable

Seymour duncan has a great team

It needs more crunch for a metal pedal try a boss MT-2 befor going here! if you like fat distortion then this is the one for you. I could not get the right crunch tone for metal out of this.

simple & easy to use, plug & play

This is marketed as a "metal" pedal. this thing ooozes tone, brilliant sounding,HOWEVER, there may not be enough gain for some. to give you an honest comparison the twin tube mayhem on 10 is about the same as an mi audio tube zone on about 7.

i run the gain flat out but wished i had a little more, it's almost like this pedal is "nice", as a metalhead i want mean!

dont get me wrong this is one fantastic sounding pedal, tone tone tone, but it falls short of the promised 'metal mayhem" in my opinion. you can scoop mids, add the chunk, mellow it out, this thing will do anything, just needs a little more gain to make it hit the home run!
i give this a 7 as it doesnt reach the gain heights it promises
i give it an 11 for tone & flexibility

looks like its built like a tank

dont know

overall this gets a 9 cos it's definately worth it & more, however, i wouldnt buy another one as it doesnt quite cut for me as a metal pedal. i brought this based on the reviews & the video on the website, usually i always try before i buy & i wished i did! i must say i am a little disappointed but it will definately get used, it is that good.

i could bore you by bragging about how much gear i've had over the years & what an awesome player i am blah blah blah, but the bottom line is, us metal players love to go over the top, if this thing went up to 13 on the gain dial it would be flawless,

I had this pedal for about 2 months

* How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
For me, it is very easy to get good sound using this box. The boost switch helps a lot when doing some

solo on "2 lead guitars in a band" situation. Also helps me in one guitar in a band situation too.


* How is the manual for it (if there is one)?
I only read the manual once. This box don't need an operation manual. I just read it to know what freq change when I tweak bass/mid/treble knob. Like what's been said on manual, the sound is getting
better after 5 minutes of use.

* Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?
I love John Petrucci's, KSE's and Michael Ammot (Arch Enemy) tone but don't want to copy their tone. I use their tone only for starting point.
I found that when I'm using an EQ Box (Behringer EQ700) between mayhem and amp, it helps me a lot to get my own tone and make me love mayhem a little more.
I also set the drive/gain knob on mayhem about 50-70% and use Digitech Bad Monkey to boost it little more just for make my face happy when doing pinch harmonic or dive-bombing. Before that I try boost mayhem with Boss DS1 but found it too compressed, not to say DS1 bad for boost because it also a good fx (mine is modded) but I hear it too compressed.


* Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?
I use it this way: Guitar=>boss ns2(send-return=bad monkey=>Mayhem=>eq)=>Amp.



* What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with? What amp are you using it with?

I'm using this for test:
-Guitars: Schecter Omen 6 with duncan jb and jazz pickups, Ibanez S520 with stock pickups and Schecter Demon Series with Duncan Designed stock pickups.

-Amps:
Crappy Reggio 25W combo with open back. Bss/Md/Tre=9/9/5 o'clock knob setting. Although with this crappy amp, it still sounds good but lack of good low. But it's crappy combo amp with 10" speaker.

HiWatt (forgot the series) solid state Head-Cabinet. Bss/Md/Tre=1/12/12 o'clock knob setting. Sound so good. Good low and punch also.


* Is it noisy? On what settings?
I hear acceptable noise, but when I actived my Boss NS2 the noise is reduces significantly

* Can you depend on it?
Yeaah! Built like a bullet proof and rudal proof robot..

* Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
Yup! It's a drive pedal. So if it broke I change the clean channel to amp's dirty channel :D

I had contacted them once but it's when I try to find if my used duncan jb pickup is original or not. And they reply me fast. This Mayhem is also their product.

* What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
I played mostly 80's rock and metal with my band. I also played my own modern metal stuff using this pedal.

* If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
If it were stolen I'm buying it again. This is my best tube distortion unit.
I was using Tonebone HotBritish and I hate it's noise and the sound is always getting bad when I use neck pickup for some solo stuff.

Other FX setting used on this test:
BadMonk: Lvl=10-11 o'clock;Low/High=12/1 o'clock;Gain=11 o'clock
DS1: Lvl=9-10 o'clock;Tone=11 o'clock;Gain=11 o'clock
EQ (only for lead boost):I boost freq 6kHz and cut a little on freq 800Hz. Damn, sounds so good!

Once dialed in, punch and go.

Currently use a PRS singlecut trem through a Hughes and Kettner DFX60 amp.

Solid, built like a tank.

Not yet.

I play everything from classic rock to heavy metal, and can get any sound I'm looking for with a twist of a knob. The boost switch is spot on for solo's and to add just a bit of volume. Do wish it had a bit more top end with the gain channel for a little more headroom. Traded a MT2 for it and wont be looking back.

SEYMOUR DUNCAN SFX-04 TWIN TUBE MAYHEM VALVE HIGH GAIN PREAMP STOMPBOX SPECIFICATIONS
Gain Before Level Compensation: 97 dB.
Gain After Level Compensation: 71 dB.
Nominal Output Level: 0.25 Vrms (-10dBu).
Max. output level before clipping: 5 Vrms (16dBu).
Input Impedance: 100KOhm.
THD @ 100mV RMS output: 0.5%.
Noise @ Output: 4mV (< 3dB hum content).
Boost Footswitch Gain Two selectable boosts, 4dB and 8dB. No effect on tone, just increased level.
Active Equalization Section:
Bass Control: 126 Hz, Q = 1.5, Gain = +/-12dB.
Midrange Control: 596 Hz / 1389 Hz, Q = 1.5, Gain = +/-12dB
Treble Control: 2.93 KHz, Q = 1.4, Gain = +/-12dB
Power Consumption: 11 Watts.
External Dimensions: 7.50X 6.62 X 1.96-Inches (190mm X 168mm X 50mm).
Weight: 3.15 lbs. (1.43KG).

The Seymour Duncan SFX-04 Twin Tube Mayhem features a pair of sub-miniature USA-made Phillips-Sylvania 62051 pentode valves in a high gain guitar preamp stompbox voiced to provide the raw valve sound, thick distortion and tone heavy that metal guitarist are looking for. Great for old school metal, new metal, thrash, death and doom! You playing a pointy black guitar with twin humbuckers? Then you need the Seymour Duncan SFX-04 Twin Tube Mayhem pedal.

SEYMOUR DUNCAN SFX-04 TWIN TUBE MAYHEM GUITAR PREAMPLIFIER PEDAL FEATURES
All the thick, raw valve distortion and low order harmonics you expect from a valve preamp.
Voiced for heaviest rock tones.
Dual USA made 6205 MIL-E-1 spec sub-miniature pentode valves.
Low-noise Class-A discrete input stage coupled with two-stage valve distortion section.
No clipping diodes, reave vavle distortion and feel.
Active EQQ plus switchable mid-range gain.
Over 80dB of insane gain.
Switchable 4dB or 8dB of boost to preset shythm and lead levels.

High voltage fully-encapsulated toroid transformer for quiet operation.
True hard-wire bypass.
Nickel plated chassis.
Stylish "chicken head" knobs.
16-volt AC transformer is also included.

Not Yet

GOOD UNIT!