ToadWorks Death Rattle II

This if a follow up to a review below. As usual, I didn't wait long enough before writing my review and since then I've noticed some things that I hadn't noticed before . . .

Well, I was pretty excited about the DR when I first got it, but it was my first high-end type pedal, ever. Since then, I also got a Barber Direct Drive. The second I plugged in my Direct Drive I realized that the death rattle is hampered by the fact that it tries to do too much. Yeah, you can get a thick, fuzzy plexi-type lead (though without the full harmonic content), but you can't get a great straight-ahead overdrive. Also, the Plexi channel doesn't clean up like the Direct Drive does. It's also way more compressed, which is fine at times, but because of how compressed it is, it means that the Plexi channel is lacking in versatility. It fits uncomfortably between fuzz and distortion and plays a distant second fiddle to the Direct Drive for most overdriven tones. I really just want a great fuzz with octave for the fuzz sounds, so once I got my DD, I found the plexi side to be pretty much useless to me.

The Tweed side still seemed good, but after getting the direct drive, I figured that my opinion of it might shift if I tried another pedal. enter the Barber LTD. Amazing pedal that, in my mind, nailed all the lower gain tones that I was going for with the tweed but with more articulation. You really have to want the "tweed-like" sound that the DR provides to like this channel. Once I got the LTD, my vox sounded so much better. The Tweed sound didn't make my vox sound fendery. It just fought the original sound I had with it. The LTD worked much better.

Finally, the boost is just too muddy . . . to bassy and you can't change that with internal trims. If you could adjust that, the boost would be great . . . but you can't so again the versatility is lost.

It has been perfectly reliable.

This pedal offers a lot of options, which I like, but it is NOT as versatile as it should be. I feel that all three channels are too bassy. If you could alter this, some of the muddiness would be lost. But, as a warning to all you buyers who, like me, think that this pedal will fill all of your overdrive/distortion needs, keep in mind that the Plexi and Tweed sides are VERY specific in their sound. The Plexi is a fuzzy distortion and the tweed is . . . well, it's low overdrive but it doesn't sound quite tweed like to me and it definitely didn't paired with my Vox. It doesn't mean that this is a bad pedal, but it has very, very specific sounds that you may not like in the long run. Plus, even if you do like one of the specific sounds, you may not like the other, which means you have a very, very large and expensive one function pedal on your board. Anyway, I hope this helps.

I have been using the Death Rattle for a couple of months now, and am only now beginning to get the best out of it. I found it frustrating initially that the tone controls seemed to have very little effect. However, I now know that if I want less bite, then the best way is to back off the gain a little. I leave the tone controls pretty much the same and vary bite with the gain knob on both channels now.

Other than this - which may seem subtle to some people, the set up itself is pretty straightforward.

I started at 7, but upped the score to 8 because the sound was excellent straight from the box.

I did encounter some noise when using the plexi and the boost together, but switched to a Boss power supply and hey presto - no noise.

I use a Jap 50's reissue with Seymour Duncans, a Mex 60's classic and an Ibanez Artstar with Duncan '59's. My gigging amps are a Blues Jnr and a Pro Jnr run together through a Palmer ABY box.

I actually bought the Death Rattle purely for my second board so I could leave a setup in church and still be able to practice with my band on Friday nights. My main board has a V Twin, and original TS808 , a Blues Driver and an EMMA Reezafratzitz - pretty good stuff. However, I found that I missed the DR so much that I had to dig it out of my second board and ditch the V Twin and the Reezafratzitz.

I listen to Joe Bonamassa, Eric Johnston, SRV, Robert Cray, Steve Lukather, Larry Carlton, and Robben Ford. I used to use the Blues Driver and the TS808 for my slightly overdriven tones, but the tweed channel blows them away. I sounds so much more natural - much more like my Blues Jr or Pro Jr would sound like turned up to 7 or 8.

The plexi channel is completely different, which I think is good. It has a fantastic, thick sustaining sound which is great for dirty rhythm and perfect for solos. With the gain at 9 o'clock, the sound is really amp like - plenty of character and you can really hear the sound of your guitar coming through. The sound is bright in a good way with lots of natural dynamics at this setting. Turn the gain up to 12 o'clock and it sounds a little like you're adding a fuzz to that JTM45 - in a good way.

I've found that the tweed channel is great for those Keith Urban moments - Fendery lead sound (I know he uses other amps but you know what I mean). the Plexi channel covers all the way from Bonamassa to EJ to Doyle Bramhall.

My rig has plenty of "stuff" - a crybaby, Boss CS3, Voodoo Labs Microvibe, TS9, Boss Tremolo, Chorus Ensemble and DD2. - I also add some BF2 and some EH Phase 90 to the mix sometimes.

Build quality looks great. Thankfully I've had no reason to question the pedals reliability, but it's early days.

I certainly do gig without a backup.

I love to play blues orientated rock - like Doyle Bramhall II's stuff - or the Arc Angels. However, I play in a wedding band who cover everything you can imagine, and some you can't! I also play in our church worship band - so we get through a huge variety of music.

Before the Death Rattle, I thought my slightly overdriven tone was happening with either the Blues Driver or the Reezafratzitz - but in my opinion the Death Rattle's tweed channel blows these away.

I don't think the pedal has been built which can blow the V Twin away for a thick, sustaining lead sound - but I am amazed that the Death Rattle has stood face to face with my other gear and come out on top.

Before buying the Death Rattle I tried out several pedals at considerable length - the EH English Muff'n, the Womaniser (whatever make that is), the MXR DoubleShot and the H&K Tube Factor. Some were good - the MXR was very good, but I didn't think it sounded as authentic as the Death Rattle.

I would have no problem selling my other stuff now and sticking only with the Death Rattle now, but since variety is the spice of life, I'll keep swapping stuff between my boards for a while yet.

I would certainly buy another Death Rattle if this one was stolen - for me it's hard to imagine another two channel pedal sounding as good as this one.

The greatest compliment I can give is that when I used this pedal for the first time in anger, I had more compliments about my sound than I've had for years.

I have been using the Death Rattle for a couple of months now, and am only now beginning to get the best out of it. I found it frustrating initially that the tone controls seemed to have very little effect. However, I now know that if I want less bite, then the best way is to back off the gain a little. I leave the tone controls pretty much the same and vary bite with the gain knob on both channels now.

Other than this - which may seem subtle to some people, the set up itself is pretty straightforward.

I started at 7, but upped the score to 8 because the sound was excellent straight from the box.

I did encounter some noise when using the lexi and the boost together, but switched to a Boss power supply and hey presto - no noise.

I use a Jap 50's reissue with Seymour Duncans, a Mex 60's classic and an Ibanex Artstar with Duncan '59's. My gigging amps are a Blues Jnr and a Pro Jnr run together through a Palmer ABY box.

I actually bought the Death Rattle purely for my second board so I could leave a setup in church and still be able to practice with my band on Friday nights. My main board has a V Twin, and original TS808 , a Blues Driver and an EMMA Reezafratzitz - pretty good stuff. However, I found that I missed the DR so much that I had to dig it out of my second board and ditch the V Twin and the Reezafratzitz.

I listen to Joe Bonamassa, Eric Johnston, SRV, Robert Cray, Steve Lukather, Larry Carlton, Robben Ford. I used to use the Blues Driver and the TS808 for my slightly overdriven tones, but the tweed channel blows them away. I sounds so much more natural - much more like my Blues Jr or Pro Jr would sound like turned up to 7 or 8.

The plexi channel is completely different, which I think is good. It has a fantastic, thick sustaining sound which is great for dirty rhythm and perfect for solos. With the gain at 9 o'clock, the sound is really amp like - plenty of character and you can really hear the sound of your guitar coming through. The sound is bright in a good way with lots of natural dynamics at this setting. Turn the gain up to 12 o'clock and it sound a little like you're adding a fuzz to that JTM45 - in a good way.

I've found that the tweed channel is great for those Keith Urban moments - Fendery lead sound (I know he uses other amps but you know what I mean). the Plexi channel covers all the way from Bonamassa to EJ to Doyle Bramhall.

My rig has plenty of "stuff" - a crybaby, Boss CS3, Voodoo Labs Microvibe, TS9, Boss Tremolo, Chorus Ensemble and DD2. - I also add some BF2 and some EH Phase 90 to the mix sometimes.

At only two months and counting I'm not really qualified, but I am certainly gigiing without a backup. External appearances are of an extremely well made piece of equipment.

Thankfully no opinion here either.

I love to play blues orientated rock - like Doyle Bramhall II's stuff - or the Arc Angels. However, I play in a wedding band who cover everything you can imagine, and some you can't! I also play in our church worship band - so we get through a huge variety of music.

Before the Death Rattle, I thought my slighty overdriven tone was happening with either the Blues Driver or the Reezafratzitz - but in my opinion the Death Rattle's tweed channel blows these away.

I don't think the pedal has been built which can blow the V Twin away for a thick, sustaining lead sound - but I am amazed that the Death Rattle has stood face to face with my other gear and come out on top.

Before buying the Death Rattle I tried out several pedals at considerable length - the EH English Muff'n, the Womaniser (whatever make that is), the MXR DoubleShot and the H&K Tube Factor. Some were good - the MXR was very good, but I didn't think it sounded as authentic as the Death Rattle.

I would have no problem selling my other stuff now and sticking only with the Death Rattle now, but since variety is the spice of life, I'll keep swapping stuff between my boards for a while yet.

I would certainly buy another Death Rattle if this one was stolen - for me it's hard to imagine another two channel pedal sounding as good as this one.

The greatest compliment I can give is that when I used this pedal for the first time in anger, I had more compliments about my sound than I've had for years.

it's pretty straight forward and sounds good at almsot any setting but it can be tricky to find that really sweet spot.

washburn idol with lace sensor transbucker,deathrattle to crate vc120h. soudns is very transparent so if you have a good sound already on your clena channel the death rattle will sound good and vice versa. i lvoe the tweed channel especially when you add the boost to it and the plexi is great for leads and those dirty smashing pumpkinish sounding chords but has a little too bass for my setup as it gets a little too mushy on chords

seems very welll built. i would gig it without a backup easily.

havent had to deal with them

it is very versatile and you can't find a bad setting on it.

I would have given the Death Rattle a 9 or 10 for this since the actual layout and operation of the control knobs is very easy to understand. However, the knobs do require some experimentation to get the best out of the pedal.

For example, I find that instead of touching the tone control on the tweed setting, it is much more effective to back the gain off a little. The tweed sound gets much brighter when the gain is moved above 1 o'clock. If I need less treble, I now reduce the gain from it's normal 3 o'clock position instead of touching the tone knob.

I am comparing the Death Rattle to some very high quality gear. I bought this pedal for my standby pedal board - my main board has an original TS808, a Reezafratzitz and a Boogie V-Twin.

I normally use either a Japanese 50's (Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio pickups) or stock Mexican 60's strat. However, I've recently aquired an Ibanex Artstar AM50 and fitted SD '59 pickups. For amps my main rig is a Pro Jnr and a Blues Jnr run together, and I also have a Peavey Classic 30. In my stdnby board with the DR are a Boss CS3, a TS9 the DR, a Chorus of some type (currently a Dano Rocky Roads bmodded to unity gain), a Dano Tremolo pedal and a Shaller volume pedal.

I think that the best way to describe how happy I am with this pedal is that I gigged it on Sunday. When I arrived home I packed away my standby board and played though my main board as normal, but quickly had to go and dig the Death Rattle out of the standby board because I missed playing through it so much.

The pedal is not at all noisy, although I use a variety of power supplies and found that there is quite a high level of hum with the cheaper power units. As soon as I changed to one of the Boss power supplies the noise disappeared completely.

At bedroom levels I find the tweed channel quite bright and a little hard to tame. However, at performance or band practice levels I find it is just right. I use the TS808 or a TS9 for low gain sounds, and the Reezafratzitz or a Blues Driver for Fendery type mild gain. Since buying the Death Rattle, I've found it hard to use any of my other pedals for Fender type overdrive because I feel that the DR has a much more authentic sound than any of my other pedals. It definitely has less gain on offer than the Blues Driver, but I have not found that to be an issue so far.

The Plexi channel is absolutely beautiful. With the gain at 9 o'clock the sound is really articulate, and with the gain increased to 12 o'clock the sound becomes really thick and sustainy - with a hint of fuzz in an appealing way. I have not yet needed to go above 12 o'clock.

I find it really cool the way you can go from tweed alone to tweed + boost, to Plexi, to plexi + boost and the gain increases in very even, useable steps. With the Plexi gain at 9 o'clock the sound is very similar to the tweed at 3o'clock plus the boost at 3 o'clock - just a little more compression and fatness.

The definition on the lowest notes at high gain is slightly looser than my V Twin, but again I have not found this to be an issue so far - in fact it is rather appealing - rather like running a fuzz at low gain into a cooking Marshall.

Using the boost alone with my Blues Jr turned up is the most heavenly sound. Very similar to using the Tubescreamer as a volume boost except with slightly more bass boost to the sound. In fact I find that the TS808 with the gain off, into the DR with only boost activated is none of the mst heavenly sounds I've ever heard. It's like the perfect tubescreame sound x 10!!

The reason I'm not scoring a 10 here is that the tone controls are quite odd. Really I have not dfound that I've touched them in the past week. I find that adjusting the gain is a much more effective way of making either the tween or plexi channel brighter or warmer.

No idea - but I have to say that the pedal is very confidence inspiring - it feels solid and well built. I definitely gig without a backup.

I play mainly blues orientated rock (like Eric Johnson, SRV, Doyle Bramhall II Joe Bonamassa etc), and I play in a church worship band and also a covers band playing mainly weddings. The whole reason I bought the DR was to try to downsize my pedal board for church - it was just overkill. Before I bought the DR I gigged with the TS808, a Blues Driver, the Reezafratzitz and the V twin - all together in my main board. Now I only use a TS9 and the DR.

I have never had more complments on my sound than on Sunday after church where I took a couple of lead lines in instrumental pieces and the DR just blew me away. I had a string of people saying the sound was fantastic - people who'd never complimented my sound before.

I deliberately waited a few weeks before writing this review to try to avoid the over exuberance of getting new gear and thinking its great before you realise the downsides. The DR is definitely a little unusual - the tone controls affect the sound much more than any other pedal I've every owned - you kind of have the tween sound and the plexi sound and you either like them of you don't. However, I find the DR an abbsolutely knock-out piece of kit - and so do the audience so far, judging by the comments I've received!

10. It may have a lot of knobs, but it's basically like having two overdrive pedals and a boost pedal in one box. Piece of cake. And I know the effects reviews don't have a 'features' section, but the individual gain, volume, and tone controls for the tweed and plexi channels make this things really easy to use in a live situation.

I play a MIJ '62 RI Tele with tele vintage pups through a Boss TU-2, Death Rattle, Turbo Rat (Soon to be replaced with a Barber Direct Drive), Visual Sound H20 Chorus and Echo, and an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phaser into a Vox AC30cc2.

I was interested in the Death Rattle because I saw no other hand-made pedal that had as many options for the price and I think that the price of overdrive pedals has gotten way out of hand. I just don't have that kind of money. So I was hoping the Death Rattle would fit basically all of my overdrive needs, especially since I no longer cared for the Turbo Rat. The Death Rattle is almost successful.

Tweed: The tweed channel is actually very nice. It can get really bright just like and old fender, especially with my single coils, but I can role back the tone on the pedal and it's fine. The Boost function works well to add some bass to this channel. The channel also cleans up pretty well, so I tend to leave it on all the time to push the Top Boost channel of my vox. I'll use the boost to push it into light crunch overdrive. Using picking dynamics, I can coax a lot of umph out of the tweed channel without having to max the gain. Now I know that the tweed channel is supposed to be voiced in a fendery way, but it works as a substitute for my almost break-up vox tone (which I adore) in live situations.

Plexi: I agree with the viewer below who says that this channel has more in common with a fuzz effect than it does an overdrive. It is not a fuzz pedal at all, but it feels very smooth and bass heavy. I like the fact that it is extremely thick, but it is too loose in the bass for overdriven chord work, even in lower settings. I was disappointed in this because I had hoped that I could use the Plexi channel for overdriven Chords and then kick in the Boost when I wanted to stand out, but this side only works for saturated leads. It has tons of sustain and sounds thick and huge when doing single note work. And I love the dirty-ness of this channel. However, it just does not cut it for chords. Even power chords are a little too muddy in the bass. And remember that I use vintage single coils . . . very low output. I imagine this would only be accentuated if I used high output humbuckers.

Boost: Fat boost adds a nice amount of bass and smoothness. The boost doesn't really boost the volume of the Tweed or Plexi channels if I have the gain already up pretty high. Then it just serves to add more gain. Since the Plexi side is pretty thick, I rarely use it with it. But since I keep the gain pretty low on the Tweed side, it's really nice to use it to thicken it up and give the Tweed channel some balls. The boost also feeds my Turbo Rat really well. The turbo rat has a pretty narrow frequency response (not as deep as either the tweed or plexy sides) but the boost more than compensates for this. Until I get the direct drive, the Rat with the boost on is my main overdriven chord guitar sound. The boost also adds some noise, but it's a boost, so that's kind of what it does. It's not loud enough to mess up live performances and I don't use pedals (usually) in the studio, so no biggie here.

Big, thick, sturdy knobs. Strong housing. No-nonsense design. No computer chips to overload or break down. Handmade with care. It'll last forever, especially kept safely in my pedal board.

I have heard it is great. The website has tons of sound clips so you can get a really good idea of how this baby works.

I play all things rock. I wanted a pedal at an affordable price that does many things. With six different tonal options (including the clean sound of my Vox) available with just one pedal, I had to give it a go. I don't think this is the best overdrive out there, but I do think it is a great one. If only the Plexi side were more articulate for chords! The Tweed side has the light overdrive side of things covered. It can get heavy, but it isn't aggressive enough. It remains too sensitive. The Plexi, on the other hand, is a little too aggressive, which I love for leads (I enjoy notes that sustain forever and sound fat even way up the neck on the high E string), but it just can't handle chords. I don't use pedals to record but I do use them to simulate my recorded tones live, especially since I play in many bands and play many different styles. The Tweed channel is good enough to satisfy my need for a Voxy almost break-up sound when I use it to push my Vox. The plexi side is fun for dirty phat leads, but that in-your-face rock power chord sound is lacking. If the plexi side were a little more tame and left the insanity to the boost function, then this pedal would be perfect. As it is, this pedal doesn't quite do it all (as no pedals really do). Hopefully my Barber Direct Drive will be a little more useful for the straight-up overdriven sounds that fall between Tweed and super-hot Plexi.

Still, despite it's shortcomings, it is a very good and useful pedal. However, it is not universal and it really isn't comparable to a Fulldrive 2 or most other double or triple pedals. If you're thinking about getting one of these, I would recommend that you make it a supplement to an overdriven tone that you already love and adore. Then you'll have huge tonal variety. The boost works really well with other pedals, too, as does the tweed channel. I love my vox and between the tones that the Vox, the Death Rattle, and the Direct drive offer, I will have instant access to a wide range of sounds. But again, do not expect this to be your mainstream stomp-box. It is very unique and doesn't sound Tube Screamery, Rat-like, Boss-like, or anything like that. For the price I got this pedal at, I'll give it a 9 because it has a ton of options, and it's top quality at a great price. However, I'm not positive I would replace it if it got lost or stolen. 179 dollars is a lot and there are tons of pedals out there.

Hope this review is insightful.

It gets an 8 because it's not as easy to use as most overdrive pedals. This one has more options and controls to set. The manual is very easy to understand but it takes getting used to the way the controls work to adjust the sound. I was really excited at the many features it offered, but it didn't deliver the sounds to match. See below...

While not the worst I've ever heard, it's not even close to the best overdirve pedal I've heard. My Maxon OD-9 beats it at the slightly gritty blues tone that the Tweed channel is supposed to provide. I foudn that the Tweed channel's overdrive was just strange. It would be very clean up to a point and then start adding some edge that seemed to be layered on top of the clean sound and not in a good way. It sounded like there were two different sounds at the same time in a way. The other TS-9 and clones I've used do this much better and more natural sounding. The Plexi side was somewhat better, but it sounded more like a fuzz than a Plexi. I found it unusable with most chords except maybe simple power chords. At lower settings, it seemed to have the same strange layered effect as the Tweed side. I also did not like the Fat Boost/Boost option. It made stuff just sound muddier unless you used it as straight boost with one of the other channels active. By itself, it added muddiness and more overbown sounding volume weirdness. I think they put the frequency center of the Fat boost too low. The sounds(or lack thereof) were the main reason I replaced it with a Fulldrive II custom cream! It's too bad because this one had more features for the money.

I seemed fairly well built but when I opened it, it didn't look as good inside as some boutique pedals I've seen. Thinner PCB etc... Should last awhile though. I didn't keep it for long so I have no way of knowing for sure. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one and go for a rating of 8.

They are very nice and want you like their pedals. I like their promotional writings.

I play mostly classic style rock, alternative rock, and jazzy blues stuff too! I have been playing for 21 years and I have nice gear. My setup at the time I tried the Death Rattle was an original 80s TS-9>Death Rattle>'71 Silverface Twin Reverb. It had tons of features for the money but the sound quality wasn't what I was looking for. I think some players who want overdrive all the time woudl like this pedal. I needed something more versatile.

I can hardly believe that I ever lived without it. The day I got it I could get the sounds I wanted immediately. With only seven very simple knobs for each seperate channel. The knobs are two gain knobs, two tone, two level, and one boost. It is a very very simple user friendly layout. I agree with the reviewer before mine. If you can't figure this pedal out stay unplugged.

This is without a doubt one of the best sounding overdrive/gain pedals that I've ever owned or heard. I am amazed that I hadn't ever heard of one of these before. I think the name on this pedal is very misleading the name "DEATH RATTLE" sounds like some dumb ass kids first pedal he bought because it had a weird scary name. The name "Death Rattle" I don't think appeals to many of those that are willing to spend over $150.00 for a pedal. The description of the what is Death Rattle? on the manufacturers web site is mildly entertaining, monkey gods, Egyptology, GEEZ Louise! for the Middle Schooler! It just doesn't tell you how great this pedal really is. The boost does ad a little tone when boosting. It is a nice boost and an extra on this pedal the Tweed and Plexi channels alone are worth every penny. The slightly colored boost does not detract from the fact that this pedal sounds so darn good.

This pedal is fricking incredible and is a bargain high quality piece of gear. I know I took it a part and had a look. No crap junk stuff inside this pedal, and the lay out is an engineering marvel. I have stomped and kicked the POOOOO! out if it. I think it may be indestructable.

Wouldn't know never had to call them. I have read good things on the net about them.

I bought this used in a pawn shop in Reno "My Lucky Day". It caught my eye because of the name "Death Rattle" which as I have stated is a very misleading stupid name for the classy quality made piece of gear this is. I bought it just because it was priced real cheap (what a steel) and I got to play it before I bought it. I have been playing over 20+ years semi pro weekend warrior. I have had several pedals over the years none as cool and usable as this one. If someone had told me about this pedal I would have gladly ponied up the $175.00 they sell for in a heart beat. If this thing were marketed better I don't think the maker could keep up with the demand. Maybe they sell as many as they already want. It sure is secret that needs to be shared. Players come up to me at a gig and go what the #%@* is that?

Extremely easy if you can't figure this pedal out you should just stay unpluged and play your accoustic.

I have owned the following at one time or another Boss OD1 nice limited pedal, DS1 crap, Ibanez TS9, TS9DX,usual ts9 sound, Maxon OD808 smooth mild od limited again, Jekyll Hyde the newer red one cool idea like this pedal only cheap parts and Jekyll side doesn't get smoth enough Hyde side is Distorion like cheap Boss DS1, Nobels OD1 original model, Fulltone Fulldrive II, Aramat TS9 808 mod, RAT original, T-Rex Dr.Swamp is two TS9's in one box, and probably some more I can't remember. This is the best pedal I have ever owned out of the bunch. The Tweed side is dead on Fender from slight smooth overdrive to a more aggressive still smooth overdrive. The Plexi is a Marshall Stack and will Sustain to the Moon and back I use this for Link Wray, and Davie Allen and the Arrows. The seperate gain and tone controls for each channel is the ultimate for control. The Boost is a bonus it is not a "clean" boost ads a little flavor to your sound. It is clean enough for boosting your clean or overdriven solos in a live situation. I have used it for some very clean finger style solos with very pleasing results. This is a great pedal, best I have ever owned.

It appears to be extremely well made So I think it will be fine

Ryan is the best. He will talk to you until the cows come home answer any questions and is easy to get a hold of. He even calls you back on his dime.

Rockabilly, Surf, Vintage Rock 50's through 70's. This pedal really covers it all. Playing 77 Guild X500 with Bigsby, 2003 Guild Starfire IV with Bigsby, 2002 Danelectro Hodad with Bigsby. I like Bigsbys. 59 Martin 0017 for the accousticTwo Musicman HD130 reverb/trem heads two seperate 12 cabs with Celestion Vintage 30's and one 212 original Musicman 212 RH130 cabinet. Sounds awesome on stage. THIS PEDAL IS THE ABSOLUTE BOMB!!!

it's a stomp box.. no lcd, no deep editing.. no hidden functions

burns bab y bison / les paul >>> HBE UFO >> boss PS3 >>> RM VooDoo 1 >>> Line 6 Delay Modeler >>> Death Rattle>> Music Man 410.. but this changes according to my mood.. so forget about all that.. the death rattle sounds great in any of my set ups and SUPRISINGLY good direct to hard disk.. I like the tweed side w/ the gain cranked and the marshall side sounds good at any medium to high gain setting.. I don't know how well this models the respective amps but the death rattle blows my voodoo1 away.. roger mayer has goten chincy.. the early voodoo1's were the sweetest creeamiest distortion boxes around but the newer ones just don't cut it.. the death rattle is the best distortion pedal I've ever used. I'm giving this a 9 because there's no such thing as a 10.

What could go wrong? I opened up the case and this thing is built very well, no cold solder joints, quality parts.. elegant design.

OK there is such a thing as 10.. rather than bore you to tears w/ my customer service story let me just say that you can buy toadworks pedals w/ absolute faith that if there is anything wrong w/ your unit then toadworks will make it right.. honest, responsonsive, informative.

Buy this instead of that other two in one distortion box you've been looking at. Sounds Great, Looks like it went for a walk and never came home, indispensable, and easy to use. I didn't mention the boost but I use it a lot for "solos" i.e. clean single note guitar lines cut right thru a murky mix.

Don't get freaked out by all the shiny knobs. Remember you are basically dealing with three effects in a single pedal, so they are neccesary. This thing sounds good at every setting I have tried.

OK, I got this to add some dirt to my little Fender Pro Jr., a 15 watt 1x10, with my Nashville Tele, and sometimes an old Washburn hollowbody with humbuckers. Seems to like the Tele more.
PLEXI: The Plexi gave me the sound I was looking for. It definitely will push your sound towards the Marshall range. If I can get a deep overdrive crunch out of my setup, anyone can.
TWEED: The tweed is a great model of a Fender. Very clear and clean, with the breakup coming at just the right spot. I don't use the tweed a lot, because essentially it sounds what my amp and guitar sound like by themselves. Thats a testimony to Toadworks for getting it right!
BOOST: NOT a clean boost. This is a Fat boost, it will add some more girth and crunch, but hey, when you want a boost isn't that what you are looking for anyway? I am. NOTE* This boost works independently of the overdrive, unlike a Fulldrive. It does pop a little when you kick it in, but I love despite its faults.

Gig it without a backup and have never had one problem. Very sturdy tank, I could unplug it to defend myself if neccesary.

I emailed them and got a quick and coutreous reply. They seem like the kind of guys who really care about making great pedals and standing behind them.

I lead worship in a large churcha nd play about 2-3 times a week. The Death Rattle name is always hillarious to me in a church, but hey God loves to be praised with rock 'n roll as much as anything else. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it as soon as my wife would let me! Very musical and very useful 3-in-1 pedal.
I played other pedals like Fulltones and Line 6 stuff, but this is as close to Marshall stack sound as you can get in a box. The Boost and Tweed were icing on the cake. Plus the Toadworks website is pretty clever www.virtualtoad.com

self explanitory not much to it if you can turn a nob this pedal is for you .

I use a tele and a les paul studio through a boss tu-2>>>>Vox wah>>>keeley compressor>>>big muff>>>>keeley phat mod bd-2>>>>death rattle>>>Fender twin amp and this pedal is amazing and I wish I would have bought it a long time ago.Toadworks masterd it when they put the seperate gain nob on it and it sounds good with both guitars.The plexi side sounds best with humbuckers than with my tele's single coils but still a pleasing sound and I cant get this pedal to sound bad and I have tried.I even pulled 2 other dirt boxes out of my pedal board so this will take their place . The boost is the pedals secret weapon its like having 3 pedals that sound great

have only had it for a short time but its an all metal case and is really solid

again Ive only had it a short time so I haven had to deal with customer support yet

I play rock and roll mostly and venture into alot of todays rockin country and this pedal will work for whatever I do .

Three foot switches and seven knobs, I was a little intimidated by that. It turns out the controls are so intuitive it takes only a few hours playing until you've got it down. The only thing I needed for reference was the update paper slip to tell me which gain control to use for each channel. Yup, a separate gain control for the "Plexi" channel. Ryan seems to have read the reviews of the first model and fixed all the complaints.

My current set up is Tribute S-500>Toadworks "Mr. Squishy">Death Rattle> Rocktron "Tsunami" chorus/delay>Fender Vibro-Champ. The "Boost" (which now works independently or additively with the distortion channels) is really quiet, the "Tweed" channel likewise. The "Plexi" channel is slightly noisy but can be controlled by the output level knob. One of the things that makes this and the "Mr. Squishy" so easy to use is the limiting ability of the level controls. The "Tweed" channel is a lovely Fender like overdrive, kind of like my Champ turned up to 10. The "Plexi" channel is serious raging distortion, especially in combination with the Boost on. The Boost has a nice full bottom and clear ringing highs, I can actually get electro-mechanical feedback out of a six watt amp. Using the Boost alone with Mr. S makes some really pretty sounds. One problem that I had was my practice cable allowed a lot of noise to get into the effect, switching to my Cobalt Cables interconnect solved that problem.

It's built like a tank, the actual postage by USPS Priority Mail was $10.80. We'll see how it holds up but the build quality is very solid.

I've sent humorous e-mails to ryan after buying each of his effects and he comes back rapidly with funnier missives. I'm sure from the pride he obviously has in his products that he would be easy to deal with if a problem cropped up.

If it were stolen or lost, I would you buy one again. Where else can you get an elaborate handmade by space monkeys effect that has a price/performance ratio like this thing? I try not to buy Chinese merch. and this costs like Chinese built by somebody who cares about his products. As mentioned earlier, all of the previous niggles about the original D.R.as noted by your reviewers have been fixed. And, heck, this and its stable-mate require you to firmly grasp the box to unplug cables.