ToadWorks Death Rattle

This is the original model and whilst it's very easy to use and simple to get some great tones, it does show the lack of refinement of the later versions - e.g. separate gain controls for both tweed and plexi channels. I bought this for silly money on e-Bay because the Plexi channel wasn't working. I packed the pedal straight off to PedalMods UK, where Chris found that one of the transistors had failed. He ordered three replacements from the USA and replaced all the transistors in the unit as well as fitting a lot of upgraded components - for the princely sum of about 20 GBP!

Despite the name, this is not by any stretch of the imagination, a metal pedal. It attempts to reproduce the sounds of a late fifties Fender with the tweed channel and a Marshall 'Plexi' with the plexi channel. There is also a boost switch for soloing. I'm at a slight disadvantage here as I was only able to hear the unmodded tweed channel on my original pedal. I have to say it sounded very good and captured the 'just breaking up' tone as well as any pedal I've heard. However, after I got the modded version back it sounded amazing - very, very close to a good valve amp. There was also the bonus of the plexi channel - serious hot rodded Marshall tones here. I have used it with a Trace Elliot Trident, 3 channel valve amp and with a Crate Powerblock transistor amp and it sounds good with either (obviously better with the Trace)and really brings the Crate alive (they're great little amps).

Mine's been modded and in my experience, PedalMods workmanship is second to none. They clean and re-laquer the board as well as testing any component changes extensively. They guarantee their work and I've had no problems up to now, nor do I expect any.

Not dealt with Toadworks as I bought this secondhand and had it repaired and modded straight away. I know that PedalMods customer support is excellent.

I play in a classic rock covers band (AC/DC, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, etc.) and this pedal is great for that type of music and for lighter stuff too. It's not a metal pedal, unless you use it in conjuction with a Boss MT-2 or similar (no, I've not tried it and I don't know whether it would work - suspect it would over-saturate and sound horrible). If you're into tone, give one a try. I think if I was prepared to pay full price, I'd like the features rom the later models but I can't complain at a total cost (including the mods) of 42 GBP!!

Pretty easy to use once you figure out that the gain does both Plexi and Tweed sounds. I know they changed this for the next version up. Good move. I don't find it too much of a problem though because you can nudge the gain up and down with your foot as required.

Fender '73 Telecaster (with Seymour Duncan Little '59 'bucker fitted at the bridge for a bit more versatility) > TU-2 > TOADWORKS Mr Squishy Compressor > DS-1 > DEATH RATTLE > E-H Memory Man > Clean channel of Marshall AVT2000 Valvestate

I'm using this straight into the clean channel of my amp and using the Death Rattle to give me overdrive and dirty distortion when required.

I got great sounds from both channels. I like the crunchy rock sounds from the Tweed channel (you can dial up a cool Paul Kossof type setting pretty easily enough) and it responds well when you are thumping out powerchords, but the Plexi channel really sounds creamy. I found I needed to go easy on the gain for that channel though - otherwise I felt I got a bit too much mush. Fiddle with the settings and you can find what you need.

I found it very responsive to my guitar volume. Backing off the volume knob on my tele cleaned things up nicely but gave a nice overdriven sound with rich harmonics.

Looks pretty solid to me. Not much on there to break. Metal case etc.

Never had to deal

I got this cheap on Ebay because it's the older model but I'm more than pleased with the versatility. I can get a LOT of different rock rhythm and lead sounds from this baby - which is useful because that's what I play most of.

This isn't a metal pedal by any stretch of the imagination but it does pretty much everything else.

I bought this on a whim, without really hearing one properly first but I'm glad I did. Highly recommended

Not rocket science, but I would like 2 gain controls. Also, the volume pots are strange in that there is a gradual increase in volume up until unity gain (about 3 oclock), at unity gain, the volume controls are very touchy, a slight increase on the knob has a great effect on actual volume. This is however a minor niggle, as this is the best overdrive/distortion pedal I have ever heard!

Here's where the Death Rattle shines. It really is perfect for my application. I get a great clean sound with my Mesa Mark IIIB, The Tweed channel of this pedal is a great low-medium overdrive sound. It's very musical, and when boosted, it's great for leads, even this channel has amazing sustain. It's the most transparent overdrive pedal I have tried to date, and I've tried them all! Your guitar's tone really comes through. The Plexi channel has an incredible amount of distortion, with amazing harmonics, and sustain. When boosted, it is incredible for leads. The Boost circuit is completely independant, and works perfect, completely transparent. As I said, this pedal really lets your guitar's tone shine through. The sound on both channels is very real sounding, very tubelike. I have tried many many overdrive and distortion pedals, and this one really sounds better than any of them regardless of price.

This pedal will probably outlive me.

Haven't needed it, and probably never will.

This is not a metal pedal (thank god), so if you play metal, don't buy it, (also, if you play metal, please don't attempt to play within earshot of anyone with an I.Q. over 100; it will not be truly appreciated). All joking aside, this pedal will work perfect for anything from blues to hard rock. I can't believe I bought this for $149 new! Truly an amazing sounding Overdrive and Distortion and Boost pedal!

I find this pedal very easy to use, it has many great overdrive & distortion sounds. It works extremely well with a band playing behind you, and that's the real test. As far as the shared gain control, if that's a problem, you don't have much experience with effect pedals!

This is the only pedal I've tried(I've tried at least 40 Overdrives) that can compete with the zinky True Grit. I'm not sure if I like this pedal better than the True Grit, as it's very close. Forget about the hype that this will sound like a Tweed, or Plexi amp, NOTHING will! What you do get is a great organic Overdrive (Tweed) a great Distortion (Plexi), and a great transparent (completely independent) clean boost. The big deal, is that this pedal sells for about $150.00, a real steal. I sold my Blackstone Appliances Overdrive, which sounded thin, and lifeless compared to the Death Rattle, and the Zinky. I felt completely ripped off spending $300.00 for the Blackstone, a total ripoff! The guy that gave this pedal a "5" for sound quality either has a tin ear, or he can't manage to setup a simple overdrive pedal!

A tank!

Mark's the best, quick to respond to emails, and very helpful!

At $150.00, you will not find a better Overdrive and Distortion and Boost pedal! It also works incredibly well with my other pedals!

A few issues make this pedal kind of tricky to use. The level controls do almost nothing until about 2-3:00, then boost the level from there. I find unity gain around 4:00 and from there until the end of the span you get a huge boost, so live your foot better not tweak it or you could be SOL since it's so sensitive. I really like the layout of the 3 footswitches and the fact that the plexi/tweed channel light always stays lit. The fact that the boost channel can be engaged with or without the overdrive gives this pedal a level of flexability not found on too many other pedals. The shared gain knob for both channels is the major drawback since the two channels have different sweet spots. Not too big a deal, but I would have rather seen a shared tone pot and two gains.

I use a 62 reissue strat and a Yamaha 335 copy through a 68 Super Reverb. This pedal gets good low volume sounds but the goods are let out of the bag when the amp is on the verge of breakup. One thing everyone should note if they are considering this pedal is that even though the name is "Death Rattle" this pedal is designed to sound like a tweed or a plexi amp, neither of which is particularly high gain. This pedal will yield very amp-like sounds and dynamics, but it will not give you a modded marshall sound or any sound resembling master volume preamp distortion (which I hate anyway lol).
The tweed channel resonds very much like a cranked non-master Fender. It's a bit dark, not much chime, but the complexity and dynamics are there. Pick hard, and it breaks up. Ease off and it cleans up. Not too many OD pedals will do this. The pedal also gives nice clear tones with the volume on the guitar rolled back, a characteristic not found on TS type ODs. You can get some singing sustain with the boost engaged but I find it a bit too fat for chord work in this mode.
Plexi side is just what you would expect. I think people dissing this pedal must not know what Marshalls really sound like- this pedal is the ONLY thing I have found that will give a Fender amp a genuine Marshall sound (I haven't tried the KOB or the Tonebones- I'm sure they are nice also). The boost gives this side of the pedal a harshness I don't care for but it could just be my setup.
The boost by itself will give you a moster volume boost or push your preamp. Since I use a pretty clean amp and don't usually crank it past 3-4 I mostly just get more volume here. With a diry amp I would expect this feature to shine a bit more. The boost is fairly transparent but it does accentuate the lows/low mids a bit.
My other OD pedals (modded SD-1, Route 66, DOD 250) are taking a backseat to the Death Rattle on my board now. Overall I would say this pedal sounds great if you are looking for classic tube amp tone. For modern sounds it's not what most would be looking for IMO.

It's built like a tank. I've only had it for 3 weeks or so but I expect to get many years of service out of this unit. I'll give it a 9 since it appears to be quite well built, but we'll have to wait and see how these units hold up over time.

Even though the preorder process got FUBAR'ed (almost a 4 month wait when promised a 6 week delivery) I have to say that Ryan is very professional and I'm sure would bend over backwards to take care of any concern he could. He emailed my several times to keep me updated while i was waiting.

I play everything from rock, jazz, and funk to spacey experimental stuff and I find that this pedal has the goods. Very versatile with many great sounds. The main thing I look for in every piece of gear I use is that it responds to the dynamics and feel from the guitar. If you love the breakup on old single channel non-master tube amps, this pedal is for you. It responds well to being goosed by other OD's and it REALLY makes a fuzz sound right into a clean amp. True bypass, rock solid construction, and great sounds all add up to a great value. Keep 'em coming Toadworks!

It was pretty easy to use, plug in and go. It's much harder to try to get a decent sound out of it.

I used this with my Gibson SG Standard and Gibson Les Paul 58 Historic Reissue into the clean input of my Bad Cat Hot Cat 30. I was hoping to use this with my Matchless HC-85, but since it was so miserable sounding with this set up, I never bothered. Tone wise, this thing ALMOST useless. The two gain channels suck. The clean boost is kinda nice. Not the best out there, but decent fat sounding boost. Without the clean boost, I would have gave this pedal a 3.

It worked fine when I had it, but the guy I sold it to is having some issues.

Never dealt with them

If you want a good and fat sounding clean boost, this might work for you. For overdrive... buy something else. I'm glad I got rid of it.

This pedal is easy to use...... you turn the dials until you get the sound you want. And stomp on the switches to turn it on/off... select plexi/tweed.... and to turn on the boost.

This pedal gives a very very good overdrive/distortion sound.
I should explain how I am using this pedal: I play through a Green amp with the gain on 10, bass on 8 and no treble, using an SG. So, I can't really give an opinion on whether this reproduces satisfying plexi or tweed sounds, because I use this pedal to 'colour' the distortion that already exists in my amp. So, basically, I'm using it a an extra 2 gain channels with slightly different sounds to one another. I got the tweed set up for a warm type of distortion, and the plexi set up to sound a bit more harsh.

Only had it 5 or 6 weeks, but I would sat that its a VERY strong box, and I have no doubt this'll take a lot of stompin. The controls are all very rugged lookin and really well conected.

I know Ryan had a LOT of problems getting these made, (none of which were his fault) but all through the process he kept me updated and offered probably a million apologies over time. He's an extremely helpful and friendly chap.
At the end of the day, I'm so glad I waited all that time. The pedal is feakin ACE!

This pedal gives a good range of sounds, and does the job really well, all tones are very sweet, and what's most important - it sounds top quality when used at gig volumes.
The box is dead smart, the controls are awesome, the printing is very cool, and the insides are neater than a filing cabinet owned by someone with OCD.

I didn't get a good sound out of all 3 "channels" of this pedal. The boost sounded the best. The tone controls seemd oddly voiced. I used it live into a clean Fender, maybe its designed for a amp on the edge of breakup. The volume for both the tweed and plexi side seemed too low, I had to turn the volume almost all the way up to make it loud enough. the plexi side was ok, but a Menatone KoB or Barber Burn Unit sounds better to my ears. I was indifferent to the tweed side--it seemed to lack the complexity I like for live work.

I use a custom strat and a PRS McCarty, a Fender Blues Jr. and a Top Hat Club Deluxe, this is not noisy, but the shared gain control is a bad idea...to get a good sound of the tweed side you need to turn the gain all the way up, which leaves the plexi side in near metal territory. Since the overall volume levels of both channels are close, it would have been better to have the volume shared for each channel and 2 seperate gain knobs. That arrangement would make this pedal more flexible and usable for the gigging musician. As I stated above, the tone control seemed oddly voiced where there was only one tiny sweet spot and that was it. Most boutique pedals are easier to set up than this one.

I only had it a week then sold it, but it seemed very robust and sturdy.

Very friendly.

I play blues and classic rock. This is a good idea that needs tweaking, as I stated above. A pedal that gives 3-5 different sounds that are footswitchable is very cool idea, but If I used this, I could only get 1 or 2 sounds I could use live, without bending over and turning knobs. I am sure many will love this. For me, the pedal fell short and I would not use it live.

Although this may look like a tough pedal to use -- with 3 stomp switches, 4 LEDs, and 6 knobs -- it's really VERY easy. The first knob is Gain, which adjusts the amount of distortion. Second is Boost, which controls the amount of "fat" boost when the boost feature is engaged. The next 4 knobs are Tone and Level controls for the two channels -- Tweed (Fender Bassman-like) and Plexi (Marshall-like). As for the footswitches, the first is to engage the effect, the second is to switch the channels, and the third is to engage the boost. Plus, if you have problems, there is a nice manual included!

Just plug in and turn the knobs anywhere -- you'll get a great sound!

I use this with a Mesa Maverick 4x10 and numerous guitars. This pedal is all about tone. The Plexi channel, in my opinion, is probably what Mr. Ed should have been all along (NOTE: I still like my Ed). When I first got the pedal I spent all my time on the Plexi channel -- think Eddie's tone on "Fools". But one day I kicked in the Tweed channel and was very impressed. The Plexi channel has a real crunchy feeling. The Tweed channel has more rounding to it. About the only downside I have found is that the Gain control is shared by both channels. That means you lose a little flexibility -- but nobody's perfect!

Seems very well built -- shouldn't be a problem.

Ryan and Co. are about as good as there in in this department.

This really is a great unit -- especially for the price. I dare you to find more bang for the buck for under $150. Definitely a keeper. Burp on, Toad!