ToadWorks Mr. Ed

Very simple. I first cranked the Brown and Tone knobs all the way and Danced the Night Away. If you set the Brown and Tone at around 5-7 you get a very nice tight overdrive.

VH signature Music Man, Steinberger GM-Pro, Fender Strat
Mesa Boogie .50 caliber + Fender Twin hooked up in stereo
Other effects, Expandora 1, J+H, H20, Sparkle Drive, and Micro-Vibe

The sound of the Mr. Ed pedal is just what I hoped it would be. No bones about it, I want to sound like Eddie sometimes and this pedal allows me to do that. But wait . . . it will do other sounds as well. With my set-up I turn the Brown and Tone knobs to 10 and there it is. If I back them off I get a good overdrive sound that really leaves the VH realm.

Also, this pedal is the most dynamic pedal that I own. If you play hard it crunches and if you play soft it cleans up much like a good tube amp. With that said, if you really want the notes to sustain you have to play with some strength - the left hand is very important here as the pedal really does not mask any mistakes you might make because of its dynamic range

Seems very sturdy. I would use it without a backup - but then I don't have an exact backup for anything I own.

By the way, my Mr. Ed has an LED and the 9v jack with the stock red color

Ryan is very helpful.

I love to play and I love to be able to sound like my favorite players: SRV, EVH, Lynch - don't yell at me for this - I can easily sound like a nobody too! This pedal puts a big smile on my face because it helps me do what I want to do.

Very easy that gramma can use. 3 knobs. Brown, tone and level. Brown is apparent was cranked passed 2/3 of the way up. Tone changes are subtle. The level knob sensitivity is very good, works like a volume knob.

It sounds like something between an OD and distortion. This quality can be controlled with the brown knob. For what it does, it does it very well. The brown sound is rich, smooth and has excellent sustain. The breakup is even, very even. The best part is that is sounds nice even at low volume settings. Played with a delay, it oozes ambience. I have gotten a couple of hard-ons..... errr.. Since i am not a van halen fan, i could give a rat's ass if it sounded like him.

Looks very rugged. Only had it for 1 week, though. Seems like i can drive a tank over it and it won't break. No need for backup. Ed does not have a AC adapter however, but this is an optional upgrade. Battery life seems excellent so far, but make sure to bring an extra just in case. You will need a screwdriver to change the battery inside.

This is REALLY GOOD!!!! A freaking 10 plus., and that would be an underexageration.. The customer service that i got was undeserving.

I am not into Van Halen, but i heard the sound clips on the website and bought it based on those clips alone. I've been playing for 10 years. I play an LP through a Marshall tube DSL401 amp. Mr Ed is played with a boss DD5 delay usually (very nice combo). Stolen?? Haha, probably will hearing how good it sounds. Ed makes good lead sounds, and also some good rhythm but i prefer the former. This pedal is worth it. It is not the most versatile pedal ever, but it does give an excellent sound. Get it.

Please forgive the format of my review - but I copied this from a thread I ran about the Mr Ed on the Harmony Central Effects forum, and I just didn't feel like re-typing this whole thing.

Please see below for my complete review.

Well, here we go Bro?s - I received Mr. Ed today (#63), standard red w/white lettering, no additional options. I have spent the last 3 hours with this unit (& others for a side-by-side shootout comparison). For my review I A/B?d between a tube amp (Fender DeVille 2X12), and a solid state amp (Fender RocPro half stack). On both amps I set the bass, mid, and treble at 5, and the volume on both amps at 2, and I used the clean channels.
For my initial test run of the Mr. Ed all by itself - I incorporated (3) different guitars - A Gibson Les Paul Studio (humbuckers), a Fender Lonestar Strat (2 single coil Texas specials and an SD Pearly Gates humbucker at the bridge) and a Gibson Les Paul Special (with P-100 stacked humbuckers) just to see if this pedal sounded good/great with different types/configurations of guitars and pickups. It rocked! It also sounded equally excellent with both tube and solid state amps!

For my ?sweet spot? settings on the Mr. Ed, I dialed in the following: (For my settings description, let?s assume that all 3 knobs go from 0-10 with 10 being full out, or turned all the way up)

Brown - 8-10
Tone - 4
Level - 7

These settings prooved to be excellent on all 3 guitars and out of both amps - so that is how I determined my sweet spot.

Quick Summary

This pedal is excellent. Of all the descriptions of ?Brown Sound? that have appeared on this forum - no one really quite nailed it down for me, or explained it in a way that I could define in my mind on how it was different from other overdrives. I called Ryan as soon as I received the pedal - and had spent about 15 minutes with it using my Les Paul and the RocPro - and told him I was NOT returning this pedal. It impressed me that quickly.

I told Ryan that no one had really defined the Brown Sound for me before, and Ryan?s description of what he envisioned it to be was ?natural tone plus a bit of overdrive?. I would concur with his description. And from that I would conclude that this is brown sound at it?s best. The best way I can, in a word, define the tone of this pedal versus other overdrives that I have used is ?unique?. It?s unique in that it fills a definitive void in the world of overdrives - in other words - there?s nothing else quite like it (as far as my own personal experience can attest to) and I believe in a blindfold test - I could easily pick out the Mr. Ed.

Side-By-Side Shootout Results

For my shoot-out, I used my Les Paul with the Fender RocPro. I A/B?d the Mr. Ed against the following:

Vintage Marshall Bluesbreaker
Visual Sounds Jekyll & Hyde
Marshall Guvnor Plus (GV-2)

I was going to also A/B it against the Ibanez Tube King, but I thought in fairness, I should not throw a tube-pedal into the mix.

When I opened the back of the Mr. Ed to put in a battery, I was amazed at the simplicity of the components in this pedal. Quite frankly, after looking into the back of so many pedals - my first impression was that, for the scarcity of electronic things staring back at me - I thought to myself - well, this isn?t going to sound like much... I was wrong.

Vintage Marshall Bluesbreaker

I started out with this one first because of Ryan?s definition of ?brown sound?. This pedal immediately came to mind because this pedal is what I think of when I think of Ryan?s definition. I set the Bluesbreaker knobs to get as close as possible to the Mr. Ed in volume, tone, grit, etc. (Gain - full out, Tone at 11:00, Volume at 2:00)

The Marshall was more suppressed or muddy by comparison. The Mr. Ed was clearer, cleaner, and grittier. Hands down Mr. Ed beat the living shit out of this pedal. If I could only have one - or the other - I would definitely pick Mr. Ed

VS Jekyll & Hyde

On both sides of the J&H - I set the drive to full out, volumes were at 11:00, tone at 10:00 (EQ on the Hyde side was all the way off). Again - remember these settings were dialed in to as closely as possible emulate the overall tone, punch and clarity of the Mr. Ed.

Built like a tank. Have not had it long enough to fully rate this - but because of Ryan Dunn's customer service and personal follow up's, I'm giving it a rating of 10 because it comes with a 5 year warranty.

Above and beyond what I have ever received from any other manufacturer. Where else can you get an effect unit and talk to the guy that actually made it..

Best price for a boutique pedal of excellent sound quality that I have ever experienced. I highly recommend this unit!

Very, VERY easy to use. 3 knobs as previously stated, Brown (gain), Tone, and Level. Ordered mine w/o the A/C jack, so only with a 9V battery. On/off button (similar to MKR buttons) is "different" and a little uneasy getting used to, but only because I'm so used to the Boss on/off buttons, which are easier to switch. The tone isn't that versitile, but it does nail the Brown Sound effectively, which is why it was bought. Amps certainly make a difference on what tone you'll get out of this pedal, Ryan's website defines that well, too. The 3 amps he tested the Ed with are a solid state 15W Vox pathfinder, a tube Carvin 2x12 (I think), and a Fender '63 brown face. The 3 tones are distinctively different, but to each his own. Nothing that a good EQ couldn't fix, if need be.

I run my Kramer Focus (with the upgraded quad rails pickups) into a Boss SD-1 for boost (level 50%, tone 100%, gain 5%), into the Mr. Ed (all three knobs pegged at 100%), into my Rocktron Gainiac clean, then the Lexicon MPX100, then my solid state Marshall MG30RCD. The pedal is very quiet when not playing; it's my Boss SD-1 that's a bit noisy. The "Brown" control doesn't affect the gain as much until you get to the 75%-100% range, where it's really touchy, yet easy to find the gain you're looking for. IMO my setup closely emulates the EVH's infamous "Brown Sound", and it's all solid state! The chords are the best part of the pedal; the breakup is very smooth and sounds a lot like a modded Plexi when coaxed right. The individual notes itself are a bit thin, but that's because it's solid state. If I were playing through a tube amp, surely it would be a different story.

This thing looks as though it's built like a tank. The knobs and on/off switch is very secure, the circuitry is very well soldered and sturdy. I wouldn't even hesitate to use this without a backup, as long as I carried extra 9V batteries.

Ryan at Toadworks is a great guy. Very nice and helpful. He's always kept me up to date with the status of the pedal. His website has a very broad range of soundclips of different amps so you can hear what you're buying instead of taking a shot in the dark. The waiting period from date of purchase to date of delivery is about 5 weeks now, but only because it's a very small shop and only 2 or 3 guys are making these pedals by hand. The wait is definately worth it.

I play mostly 80's hard rock/heavy metal, mainly VH and Dokken/Lynch Mob. I've been trying to get the EVH sound from my solid state amp since the day I started playing guitar about 5 years ago, and now I have a tone that I'm more than happy with. I'm going to buy a Boss GE-7 EQ soon and see how the Mr. Ed fares with some George Lynch-style tones. I only wish it would come with the A/C jack and an LED, but I didn't buy the pedal for cosmetics or "creature comforts"; I bought it for the tone, which is what ultimately counts. Previous distortions I've used include (chronologically): Boss Metal Zone, Digitech RP200 (mainly Stack and Rectified), and Rocktron Gainiac. If it were stolen, I wouldn't hesitate to shell out another $100, because IMO I think it's worth more than that. All in all, this pedal is worth it's weight in gold. :)

Three knobs...Three tweaks very easy.I find the best sounds are when the knobs are cranked.It sounds great for solos and if you roll of your volume you get some cool tones also.

Stratacaster > Teese Wah > Sweetsound Ultravibe > Analog man Comprossor > Mr Ed > Fender blues junior with a greenback speaker.I can get some cool original classic hard rock sounds.

I've only had it a month I think so I can't comment.So farr so good though.

Prompt email nice guy.I wish all customer service was like this in the world.

Great price for a great pedal.If it got lost I would probally stick to what pedals I already have and I have alot.I will say this pedal has it's own charactor and that's what I like about it.

Well...straight up distortion pedal. Step on it to turn the effect on, step again to turn the effect off. "Brown", "Tone", and "Level" controls..the brown is simply a neat name for gain. Drummers can figure it out :) My only gripe here is that you have to unscrew all 4 screws on the back to put in or take out a battery. Small thing.....

The setup I used to test this (and use to play with, for that matter) is either an ash bodied USA Strat, or a Mexi Fat Strat..all stock. I ran this pedal into both a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and my old practice amp (SS). The pedal is not noisy when engaged, just beautiful overdrive to crunch to distortion. The controls react well with each other, although you don't seem to get a whole lot of gain till you get past 12 0'clock. Right before you hit the max on "Brown" is where you get the really saturated tones...dark and wholesome distortion right here. I do, however, get a pop when I turn the pedal off...I'll give it a few more days and see if she "breaks in", and if not, I'm sure I can talk to Ryan about it. I learned a couple EVH riffs (no leads, mind you) just to test this pedal with, and I'll tell you that it does a good job of hitting "Running with the Devil" and "Jamie's Cryin" sounds. Although the pedal is advertised to sound like Van Halen 1, I don't know if that's the exact sound to describe it. This is a very unique pedal..if you're looking for a Rat-get a Rat...no Big Muff here..no Boss Distortion. It's a Mr. Ed, and its great. Again, nothings perfect, and because of the popping noise I've been getting, I have to rate this a 9. Great sounds..great sounds. OH, I almost forgot. The way this pedal cleans up is second to none. I even tried all three knobs CRANKED, bridge humbucker or single coil, and just rolling the volume down to around 7 on my strats gives the clean sounds you had before you even turned the pedal on. I've never, never, played a pedal that cleans up, and is as responsive as Ed is.

I think you can definitely depend on this pedal. Ryan makes everything from the best components, and will NOT break that promise (as some of the people waiting for their Mr Ed's are painfully aware). Top notch parts, all the soldering looks great, and the case is nice and sturdy. I'm sure that Ed could hold its own at a gig..but backups are always needed for that stray flying bottle, rain, etc....

Absolutely stupendous. Ryan really got nailed with orders as soon as he put Ed on the market, but he's been really calm and cool with everything. We corresponded a good dozen times back and forth, giving advice both ways. He was just a great guy, not only dealing with his pedal, but we just got to chat guitars as well. I even got an LED on my Ed, and as far as I can remember, I didn't pay for it, so thanks Ryan! :) I also got my free T-shirt...extremely cool!

For any kind of dirty sounds, this is a great pedal. It seems capable of covering most bases well, some bases REALLY well. Incredibly responsive to dynamics and guitar volume, and can just scream if you wail on the strings. I compared this to a couple Rats, an old Ross Distortion, and even my old gain-laiden DOD Grunge. Easily the best sounding one of the bunch, with the Rats in close second. Again, a very unique pedal that allows you to speak with your guitar, no coloring of your tone. I only have two complaints, and they're both pretty minor. I wish this had an AC jack..I'm sure I will have Ryan mod it for me sometime down the road (once he's not so swamped with orders) but for the time being, I have to use batteries. On that same note, having to unscrew all 4 back screws is a pain...but something I'll put up with for the great sounds. Helps to make music, period.

Very easy to dial in that one EVH sound, but it's not the most flexible pedal you''ll find. I would have given it a 9, but I was surprised to discover that it is 9V battery only - it has no power jack, so it won't find its way onto many pedalboards. No manual, but one isn't really necessary. All the grit seems to be in the last 1/4 turn of the "Brown" knob. The first 3/4's don't seem to do anything. I suppose there is nothing wrong with this, but a longer, smoother transition from clean to dirt would probably be more flexible.

Great Marshall sound - the name does say it all - it's a very good impression of early EVH.

Only had a day or two.

The people are very helpful and responsive. Mike Fuller could learn a thing or two.

It's real easy to get a great sound out of this fine pedal. 3 knobs to work w/, Brown/Tone/Volumn, think of brown as a gain and the tone as a mid shift/presence knob and volumn is pretty obvious.
No manual, but it's not needed in anyway.
Edit, schmedit. Turn the knobs to increase or decrease the desired effect.

I use 2 amps for a stereo sound, one side is a Hiwatt 2x12 combo the other a Polytone 1x15 2x8 combo.
This pedal is completely incredable, I've been buying,trying and selling overdrive/distortion pedals like mad lately to solidify my sound before recording and after using this at practice I'm finally happy!!
If you've not heard of this pedal it's suppose to emulate the early Van Halen sound thus the Mr.Ed title, I don't know if it does that but here's what it does do for sure. It has an original voice , it sounds like no other pedal I can think of but pedals that are in the ballpark would include the Menatone King Of the Britains, the Crowther Prunes and Custard and the Rat pedal and here's why.....
It does sound like a marshall type tone, it's not as gainey as you would believe it to be , it never sounds like shred but it can if ask to, it's incredably dynamic like a real amp more so than almost every other pedal I've tried. It has a strange almost hiband filter sound when it decays as it's being driven real hard. This was noticable when I sat home and played w/ it but at practice volumn I didn't notice it at all, regardless it's an awesome effect that's subtle but adds a tremendous amount or character to the sound when called upon. The natural overdrive doesn't show any unnatural decay or strangeness just as you would expect. But the most telling part is like the Rat pedal it has a voice all it's own, do not mistake what I'm saying as it sounds like the Rat which it doesn't but those of you that have played Rat pedals for sometime know they sound different. Well this pedal stands out in that respect, it sounds different, not something I can point out thru an eq chart or reference via the countless stereotypes like Jimi-tone, SRV-tone etc.. Just something that is pleasant and original and I think that's the most important part.
Here's a list of the pedals that have come and gone in my pedalboard over the last 3 months of which only this pedal is staying.
Fulltone Distortion Pro-lots of gain and some unnatural fizziness at the top end Crowther Hotcake-too much bass and not true bypass, woofiness Banzai Fireball-good but not the original voice I was looking for, loss of bass EH Graphic Fuzz- takes up too much space but can be tailored to sound how you want, perhaps too much eq possibility to get the right sound EH Hot Tubes-metal like gain w/ no warmth and it's huge Digitech pds-1550- very processed sounding and no natural tones to be had, extremely bassy.
This pedal wins at any price but at the $75 plus shipping I paid I feel like I stole something.

Only had it for a week, looks very well built don't anticipate any problems.

Ryan is a great guy who has emailed me every night w/out fail whenever I've had a question for him and he's coming to my house for me to try another pedal to make sure this one is working as it should (which I believe it is, regardless he will not take this pedal from me because it's irreplacable) how's that for customre service?!? And he painted it grey w/ red lettering and knobs as I asked and delivered the product in exactly the amount of time he promised. He is the man and changing the boutique world by bringing world class tone and build at a price any teenager or working musician w/out the aid of huge record deal can afford. What more can you ask for?!?
If you're interested go check him out at www.toadworks.com the orders are piling up quick so I would hurry to get yours.

This pedal is a Godsend for tone freaks everywhere!!! And more so for the tonefreaks like me w/ a budget, for under $100 as of now you can get a great not good overdrive pedal w/ an original voice hand built in America by real people that offers professional grade everything and complete true bypass , like I said earlier whatelse can you ask for?!? One of the best purchases I've made in the past couple of years. And one pedal I expect to be looking down at for years to come.
There is NO BETTER VALUE out there believe me I've looked. When Guitar Player does their review all hell will break loose.