Washburn WSR-42 Stack-in-a-Rack Distortion

Its easy to use. It a simple rack with a 6 band EQ and 2 distortion effects that can be cascaded into each other or used individually. The EQ can be bypassed. The distortion effects each have Tone, distortion, level knobs. If you can use a distortion pedal, you can use this thing. I like that it has a set of input/output jacks on both the front and back of the unit. It has a footswitch jack too but I have never used it and dont know what it switches.

Sound is subjective. What I hate somebody else loves.
There isnt alot of gain in the distortion even if you "cascade" the 2 distortions together.
No modern metal tones I can find. I'm getting basic rock tones with it. Somewhat raspy If you ask me. For heavy metal tones I use other pedals that have a lot more gain in them.

With a name like "stack in a rack" and having 2 distortion units built into it........ I was expecting a MONSTER OF A DISTORTION unit. That's not what I got. At first I didnt like it at all until I used it into a tube head. That is where I fell in love with this device. I love the lead tone it creates with my marshall style amp. I'm getting a very smooth almost "holdsworth-like" violin-like tone (with my main guitar anyways).
I don't use it for rhythms much since I need more gain than it provides and I don't really like the rhythm tones with my rig setup.

The EQ is very useful and makes this unit very versatile tonally.
I dont like using both distortions at once (thats when it gets raspy and weird). I prefer using just one at a time and leaving the other one bypassed. That seems to sound best to my ears. The distortions appear to be identical in sound when used individually. I like to set one for low gain and one for full up gain and switch between them with my hands when recording sometimes.

I'm only rating it for what I use it for: leads.
I like it for that and its a permanent part of my tube amp rig.

Yep. Its a solid unit. Made of metal. Every knob works. Should last decades. When were these made??? It might have already lasted decades for all I know.

no clue. No personal experience with them.

I play modern metal and this isnt a good match for it. Like I said, I love the lead tones I get when using it. That's why I keep it. Would I buy another one? It seems so rare that I doubt I'd ever find one again. Yes, I'd buy one again though. I'll give it a very generous 9 for my purposes. If I were using it for rhythms I'd give it a 6 or 5. Not bad. Just not the rhythm tone I'm seeking.